CVE-2025-5302: Llama index core Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7753-xrfw-ch36
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CVSS 8.6
CWE-674
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-5302 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.6) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion) affecting Llama index core libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves llamaindex affected by a denial of service (dos) in jsonreader. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.12.38.

CVE-2025-5302 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-5302
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7753-xrfw-ch36
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.6
CWE Classification CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion
Affected Product Llama index core
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.6

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2025-5302

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Llama index core dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

llama-index-core fixed: 0.12.38 
pip install llama-index-core>=0.12.38
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show llama-index-core

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2025-5302, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show llama-index-core

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Llama index core in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.12.38), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show llama-index-core command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion, where the product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack. In Llama index core, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A denial of service vulnerability exists in the JSONReader component of the run-llama/llama_index repository, specifically in version v0.12.37. The vulnerability is caused by uncontrolled recursion when parsing deeply nested JSON files, which can lead to Python hitting its maximum recursion depth limit. This results in high resource consumption and potential crashes of the Python process. The issue is resolved in version 0.12.38.

CVE-2025-5302 Affected Llama index core Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.12.38
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
llama-index-core
pypi/llama-index-core
PyPI
< 0.12.38
0.12.38

References

NVD — CVE-2025-5302 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-5302
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index/commit/c032843a02ce38fd8f284b2aa5a37fd1c17ae635
Llama index core Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index
huntr.com/bounties/70041b81-d... WEB
https://huntr.com/bounties/70041b81-de9e-4046-8c0e-6ccd557048a6

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-5302?
CVE-2025-5302 is a security vulnerability in Llama index core involving LlamaIndex affected by a Denial of Service (DOS) in JSONReader under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion.
Which Llama index core versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.12.38 across affected packages: llama-index-core.
What version fixes CVE-2025-5302?
Upgrading to 0.12.38 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is llama-index-core affected?
Yes, llama-index-core is affected in releases prior to 0.12.38. Upgrade your dependency to 0.12.38 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-5302?
CVE-2025-5302 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-5302?
CVE-2025-5302 is classified under CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion (The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2025-5302?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show llama-index-core'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-7753-xrfw-ch36",
  "modified" : "2025-08-26T17:43:43Z",
  "published" : "2025-08-26T00:31:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-5302" ],
  "summary" : "LlamaIndex affected by a Denial of Service (DOS) in JSONReader",
  "details" : "A denial of service vulnerability exists in the JSONReader component of the run-llama/llama_index repository, specifically in version v0.12.37. The vulnerability is caused by uncontrolled recursion when parsing deeply nested JSON files, which can lead to Python hitting its maximum recursion depth limit. This results in high resource consumption and potential crashes of the Python process. The issue is resolved in version 0.12.38.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "llama-index-core"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
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      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.12.38"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-5302"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index/commit/c032843a02ce38fd8f284b2aa5a37fd1c17ae635"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://huntr.com/bounties/70041b81-de9e-4046-8c0e-6ccd557048a6"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-674" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-08-26T17:43:43Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-08-25T15:15:42Z"
  }
}