Description
jq is a command-line JSON processor. Commits before 6374ae0bcdfe33a18eb0ae6db28493b1f34a0a5b contain a vulnerability where CLI input parsing allows validation bypass via embedded NUL bytes. When reading JSON from files or stdin, jq uses strlen() to determine buffer length instead of the actual byte count from fgets(), causing it to truncate input at the first NUL byte and parse only the preceding prefix. This enables an attacker to craft input with a benign JSON prefix before a NUL byte followed by malicious trailing data, where jq validates only the prefix as valid JSON while silently discarding the suffix. Workflows relying on jq to validate untrusted JSON before forwarding it to downstream consumers are susceptible to parser differential attacks, as those consumers may process the full input including the malicious trailing bytes. This issue has been patched by commit 6374ae0bcdfe33a18eb0ae6db28493b1f34a0a5b.
Published: 2026-04-13
Score: 2.9 Low
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
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History

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description jq is a command-line JSON processor. Commits before 6374ae0bcdfe33a18eb0ae6db28493b1f34a0a5b contain a vulnerability where CLI input parsing allows validation bypass via embedded NUL bytes. When reading JSON from files or stdin, jq uses strlen() to determine buffer length instead of the actual byte count from fgets(), causing it to truncate input at the first NUL byte and parse only the preceding prefix. This enables an attacker to craft input with a benign JSON prefix before a NUL byte followed by malicious trailing data, where jq validates only the prefix as valid JSON while silently discarding the suffix. Workflows relying on jq to validate untrusted JSON before forwarding it to downstream consumers are susceptible to parser differential attacks, as those consumers may process the full input including the malicious trailing bytes. This issue has been patched by commit 6374ae0bcdfe33a18eb0ae6db28493b1f34a0a5b.
Title jq: Embedded-NUL Truncation in CLI JSON Input Path Causes Prefix-Only Validation of Malformed Input
Weaknesses CWE-170
CWE-20
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 2.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-04-13T23:51:04.144Z

Reserved: 2026-03-24T19:50:52.105Z

Link: CVE-2026-33948

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-04-14T00:16:06.867

Modified: 2026-04-14T00:16:06.867

Link: CVE-2026-33948

cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses