CVE-2023-39685: Hjson Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-94w5-rf69-2h6c
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-125 CWE-94
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-39685 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read) affecting Hjson libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves hson-java vulnerable to denial of service. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.0.1.

CVE-2023-39685 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-39685
GHSA Identifier GHSA-94w5-rf69-2h6c
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
Affected Product Hjson
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-39685

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

org.hjson:hjson fixed: 3.0.1 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.hjson</groupId>
    <artifactId>hjson</artifactId>
    <version>3.0.1</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.hjson

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-39685, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.hjson

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Hjson in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.0.1), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.hjson command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read, where the product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. In Hjson, 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

An issue in hjson-java up to v3.0.0 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via supplying a crafted JSON string to string a `StringIndexOutOfBoundsException`.

CVE-2023-39685 Affected Hjson Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.0.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.hjson:hjson
maven/org.hjson/hjson
Maven
< 3.0.1
3.0.1

References

NVD — CVE-2023-39685 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-39685
Hjson Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java/issues/27
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java/commit/aff0b607929b4397d93dc0d029a56aeefb242602
Hjson Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-39685?
CVE-2023-39685 is a security vulnerability in Hjson involving hson-java vulnerable to denial of service under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read.
Which Hjson versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.0.1 across affected packages: org.hjson:hjson.
What version fixes CVE-2023-39685?
Upgrading to 3.0.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is hjson affected?
Yes, org.hjson:hjson is affected in releases prior to 3.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 3.0.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-39685?
CVE-2023-39685 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-39685?
CVE-2023-39685 is classified under CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read (The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-39685?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.hjson'. 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-94w5-rf69-2h6c",
  "modified" : "2023-09-07T21:20:03Z",
  "published" : "2023-09-01T12:30:44Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-39685" ],
  "summary" : "hson-java vulnerable to denial of service",
  "details" : "An issue in hjson-java up to v3.0.0 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via supplying a crafted JSON string to string a `StringIndexOutOfBoundsException`. ",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.hjson:hjson"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-39685"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java/issues/27"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java/commit/aff0b607929b4397d93dc0d029a56aeefb242602"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hjson/hjson-java"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-125", "CWE-94" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-09-01T21:54:16Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-09-01T10:15:08Z"
  }
}