Vulnerabilities in pkg:maven/org.connectbot.sshlib/sshlib

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-ch3q-cw5r-f4hg
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-54700 is a MODERATE unbounded ssh field lengths can vulnerability (CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value) affecting ConnectBot SSH Client Library libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves unbounded ssh field lengths can cause excessive memory allocation. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

2 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:maven/org.connectbot.sshlib/sshlib

2 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:maven/org.connectbot.sshlib/sshlib. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-ch3q-cw5r-f4hg CVE-2026-54700 MODERATE ConnectBot SSH Client Library: Unbounded SSH field lengths can cause excessive memory allocation
GHSA-vc8p-8pxg-rfwg CVE-2026-54697 MODERATE ConnectBot SSH Client Library: Excessive allocation and integer overflow in DER private-key parsing

CVE-2026-54700 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-54700
GHSA Identifier GHSA-ch3q-cw5r-f4hg
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value
Affected Product ConnectBot SSH Client Library
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2026-54700

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected ConnectBot SSH Client Library 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.connectbot.sshlib:sshlib fixed: Latest secure release
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.connectbot.sshlib</groupId>
    <artifactId>sshlib</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</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.connectbot.sshlib

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-54700, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.connectbot.sshlib

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

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.connectbot.sshlib 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-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value, where the product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated. In ConnectBot SSH Client Library, 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

## Summary The SSH protocol parser trusted attacker-controlled length and count fields without first checking that the declared values fit within the containing packet. When a client connects to a malicious or compromised SSH server, the server can send a small, malformed packet containing an inner field whose declared length is much larger than the packet itself. The Kaitai Struct Java runtime attempts to allocate a byte array using the declared length before it discovers that the input is truncated. A sufficiently large value can therefore cause excessive memory allocation or an uncaught `OutOfMemoryError`, potentially terminating the application process that uses the library. Applications that enable SSH agent forwarding have an additional attack path: the connected server can send malformed agent protocol messages containing the same class of oversized inner length. ## Details SSH uses unsigned 32-bit length prefixes for strings and other protocol structures. Before the fix, several Kaitai Struct definitions passed these lengths directly to generated parsing code. For example, the byte-string definition read a `uint32` followed by an array of that size without validating the size against the bytes remaining in the current stream. The SSH transport limits the size of an outer packet, but an inner field in that packet could still declare a length approaching the Java array size limit. The Kaitai runtime allocates the destination array before reading from the bounded input stream. Consequently, an attacker does not need to transmit an equally large packet to trigger the allocation attempt. Malformed count fields could also cause parsers to attempt an unreasonable number of repeated elements. The fix validates both byte lengths and element counts against the size of their containing stream. Parsing failures previously surfaced inconsistently as unchecked runtime exceptions. The fixed version converts malformed SSH packets to a transport protocol error and returns an SSH agent failure response for malformed agent requests. ## Attack Requirements For the general SSH packet path: - A user or application must initiate a connection to an attacker-controlled or compromised SSH server. - Authentication is not required. - No optional library feature is required. - The server only needs to return a malformed SSH packet containing an oversized inner length or count. For the agent protocol path, SSH agent forwarding must additionally be enabled. ## Impact Successful exploitation can cause excessive heap allocation and loss of availability of the application process. In constrained environments, a single small malicious packet can cause an `OutOfMemoryError`. No confidentiality or integrity impact has been demonstrated. ## Remediation Upgrade to version `0.3.1` or later. The fix: - Validates length-prefixed fields against the remaining bytes in their containing Kaitai stream. - Validates repeated-element counts against the minimum encoded size of each element. - Validates SSH transport and agent frame lengths and padding constraints. - Converts malformed SSH packet parsing failures into `TransportException`. - Returns `SSH_AGENT_FAILURE` for malformed forwarded-agent requests instead of allowing parser exceptions to escape.

CVE-2026-54700 Affected ConnectBot SSH Client Library Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.connectbot.sshlib:sshlib
Maven
≤ 0.3.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-54700?
CVE-2026-54700 is a security vulnerability in ConnectBot SSH Client Library involving Unbounded SSH field lengths can cause excessive memory allocation under CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value.
Which ConnectBot SSH Client Library versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: org.connectbot.sshlib:sshlib.
What version fixes CVE-2026-54700?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is sshlib affected?
Yes, org.connectbot.sshlib:sshlib is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-54700?
CVE-2026-54700 is classified under CWE-789: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value (The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-54700?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.connectbot.sshlib'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-ch3q-cw5r-f4hg",
  "modified" : "2026-07-08T17:35:55Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-12T21:02:01Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-54700" ],
  "summary" : "ConnectBot SSH Client Library: Unbounded SSH field lengths can cause excessive memory allocation",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nThe SSH protocol parser trusted attacker-controlled length and count fields without first checking that the declared values fit within the containing packet.\n\nWhen a client connects to a malicious or compromised SSH server, the server can send a small, malformed packet containing an inner field whose declared length is much larger than the packet itself. The Kaitai Struct Java runtime attempts to allocate a byte array using the declared length before it discovers that the input is truncated. A sufficiently large value can therefore cause excessive memory allocation or an uncaught `OutOfMemoryError`, potentially terminating the application process that uses the library.\n\nApplications that enable SSH agent forwarding have an additional attack path: the connected server can send malformed agent protocol messages containing the same class of oversized inner length.\n\n## Details\n\nSSH uses unsigned 32-bit length prefixes for strings and other protocol structures. Before the fix, several Kaitai Struct definitions passed these lengths directly to generated parsing code. For example, the byte-string definition read a `uint32` followed by an array of that size without validating the size against the bytes remaining in the current stream.\n\nThe SSH transport limits the size of an outer packet, but an inner field in that packet could still declare a length approaching the Java array size limit. The Kaitai runtime allocates the destination array before reading from the bounded input stream. Consequently, an attacker does not need to transmit an equally large packet to trigger the allocation attempt.\n\nMalformed count fields could also cause parsers to attempt an unreasonable number of repeated elements. The fix validates both byte lengths and element counts against the size of their containing stream.\n\nParsing failures previously surfaced inconsistently as unchecked runtime exceptions. The fixed version converts malformed SSH packets to a transport protocol error and returns an SSH agent failure response for malformed agent requests.\n\n## Attack Requirements\n\nFor the general SSH packet path:\n\n- A user or application must initiate a connection to an attacker-controlled or compromised SSH server.\n- Authentication is not required.\n- No optional library feature is required.\n- The server only needs to return a malformed SSH packet containing an oversized inner length or count.\n\nFor the agent protocol path, SSH agent forwarding must additionally be enabled.\n\n## Impact\n\nSuccessful exploitation can cause excessive heap allocation and loss of availability of the application process. In constrained environments, a single small malicious packet can cause an `OutOfMemoryError`.\n\nNo confidentiality or integrity impact has been demonstrated.\n\n## Remediation\n\nUpgrade to version `0.3.1` or later.\n\nThe fix:\n\n- Validates length-prefixed fields against the remaining bytes in their containing Kaitai stream.\n- Validates repeated-element counts against the minimum encoded size of each element.\n- Validates SSH transport and agent frame lengths and padding constraints.\n- Converts malformed SSH packet parsing failures into `TransportException`.\n- Returns `SSH_AGENT_FAILURE` for malformed forwarded-agent requests instead of allowing parser exceptions to escape.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.connectbot.sshlib:sshlib"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.3.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/connectbot/cbssh/security/advisories/GHSA-ch3q-cw5r-f4hg"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/connectbot/cbssh"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/connectbot/cbssh/releases/tag/v0.3.1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20", "CWE-789" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-06-12T21:02:01Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}