Advisory details:
github_osv / GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94
| Advisory ID | github_osv/GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94 |
| Aliases |
CVE-2026-102554
|
| Summary | Google Guava: CompactHashMap/CompactHashSet/MapMakerInternalMap deserialization triggers uncontrolled memory allocation # CompactHashMap/CompactHashSet/MapMakerInternalMap native deserialization triggers uncontrolled memory allocation ## Summary `CompactHashMap`, `CompactHashSet`, and `MapMakerInternalMap` implement `readObject(ObjectInputStream)` by reading an attacker-controlled `elementCount` or `initialCapacity` from the stream. On the very first insertion during or after deserialization (for the `CompactHash*` collections, inside `allocArrays()`) or immediately during deserialization (for `MapMakerInternalMap`), the implementation eagerly allocates arrays sized to that full, unvalidated value (up to `CompactHashing.MAX_SIZE` = 2^30-1, ~1.07 billion, for example) before the rest of the stream's actual content has been consumed. A 72-byte malicious serialized stream containing a single tiny element can force a multi-gigabyte allocation and crash a JVM with `OutOfMemoryError`, dynamically confirmed against the current release. ## Details `CompactHashMap.readObject()` (`guava/src/com/google/common/collect/CompactHashMap.java`): ```java private void readObject(ObjectInputStream stream) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException { stream.defaultReadObject(); int elementCount = stream.readInt(); if (elementCount < 0) { throw new InvalidObjectException("Invalid size: " + elementCount); } init(elementCount); for (int i = 0; i < elementCount; i++) { K key = (K) stream.readObject(); V value = (V) stream.readObject(); put(key, value); } } ``` `elementCount` is only checked for being non-negative; there is no upper bound and no relationship enforced between the declared count and how much data actually follows in the stream. `init(elementCount)` (line 251) just stores the value (clamped to `[1, CompactHashing.MAX_SIZE]`, i.e. up to 2^30-1): ```java void init(int expectedSize) { Preconditions.checkArgument(expectedSize >= 0, "Expected size must be >= 0"); this.metadata = Ints.constrainToRange(expectedSize, 1, CompactHashing.MAX_SIZE); } ``` The real allocation is deferred to `allocArrays()`, which fires lazily on the *first* `put()` call — i.e. after only one key/value pair has actually been read off the wire: ```java int allocArrays() { ... int expectedSize = metadata; int buckets = CompactHashing.tableSize(expectedSize); this.table = CompactHashing.createTable(buckets); setHashTableMask(buckets - 1); this.entries = new int[expectedSize]; this.keys = new Object[expectedSize]; this.values = new Object[expectedSize]; return expectedSize; } ``` With `expectedSize` near `CompactHashing.MAX_SIZE` (2^30-1), this single call allocates a hash `table` plus three `expectedSize`-length arrays — multiple gigabytes — triggered by a stream that has, at that point, only supplied one small real element. `CompactHashSet.readObject()`/`allocArrays()` have the identical shape. `CompactLinkedHashMap`/`CompactLinkedHashSet` extend these classes and inherit the same unguarded path. The problem with `MapMakerInternalMap` is similar, with [a size read from the serialized data and stored in a `MapMaker` instance](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L2848-L2851) for [later user during deserialization](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L2897), when [the `MapMaker` is passed back to `MapMakerInternalMap`](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMaker.java#L287) and [segments are allocated](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L173-L200) by [calling `newSegment`](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L1143), whose implementations ([example](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L443)) create `Segment` instances ([example](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L2019)) that [allocate arrays of the requested capacity](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L1234) through [the `newTable`](https://github.com/google/guava/blob/1278ad9c2257f48dc82fb7b7c625ab563605aa24/guava/src/com/google/common/collect/MapMakerInternalMap.java#L1262) helper. This is the same amplification shape as the already-fixed **CVE-2018-10237** (`AtomicDoubleArray`/`CompoundOrdering`: attacker declares a large size, library eagerly allocates before validating against actual stream content). That fix rewrote `AtomicDoubleArray.readObject()` to grow an `ImmutableLongArray.Builder` incrementally per element actually read, rather than pre-allocating from the declared size — Guava's own `HashBiMap.readObject()` documents the same defensive principle explicitly in a comment: `init(16); // resist hostile attempts to allocate gratuitous heap`. `CompactHashMap`/`CompactHashSet` do not follow either of these two patterns already present elsewhere in the same codebase. **Reachability**: All classes are top-level, `implements ... Serializable`, and require no special classpath setup beyond Guava being present (near-ubiquitous on JVM backends). A native Java deserialization attacker names the class directly in a hand-crafted stream — no particular Guava factory method needs to have been used by the victim application, exactly as with the precedent CVE. ## PoC Full source and run instructions in the attached `poc-guava-compacthash-dos.zip` (Maven project, `guava:33.7.1-jre` — the current latest release — as the only dependency). The PoC: 1. Uses reflection only to legitimately obtain a `CompactHashSet` instance (it is package-private; a real attacker does not need this step, since they craft the serialized bytes directly rather than calling Guava's own serialization code). 2. Serializes one set with 1 element and one with 2 elements, diffs the two byte streams to locate the exact offset of the `elementCount` field (byte-precise, not guessed). 3. Patches that one 4-byte field in the 1-element stream from `1` to `0x3FFFFFFF` (`CompactHashing.MAX_SIZE`), leaving the rest of the 72-byte stream (one real `"A"` element) untouched. 4. Feeds the resulting 72-byte malicious stream into a plain `new ObjectInputStream(...).readObject()` call against the real, unmodified `guava-33.7.1-jre.jar`. Actual run output: ``` ### -Xmx8g (generous heap) ### Located size field at offset 63, value=1 (expected 1) Malicious stream size: 72 bytes Declared elementCount: 1073741823 (~1.07 billion) Real payload: 1 tiny string element ("A") === RESULT === Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space Time to allocate+fail: 4013 ms Heap used before: 3 MB Heap used after (at failure point): 4103 MB JVM max heap (-Xmx): 8192 MB ### -Xmx128m (ordinary service-sized heap) ### Located size field at offset 63, value=1 (expected 1) Malicious stream size: 72 bytes Declared elementCount: 1073741823 (~1.07 billion) Real payload: 1 tiny string element ("A") === RESULT === Exception: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space Time to allocate+fail: 24 ms Heap used before: 4 MB Heap used after (at failure point): 2 MB JVM max heap (-Xmx): 128 MB ``` A 72-byte input forces ~4.1 GB of real allocation before failing on an 8 GB heap, and crashes a 128 MB heap in 24 ms — over 50,000x amplification between input size and forced allocation. To reproduce: `mvn -q compile dependency:build-classpath -Dmdep.outputFile=cp.txt && java -Xmx128m -cp "target/classes:$(cat cp.txt)" poc.Poc` ## Impact Uncontrolled resource consumption (CWE-770 / CWE-400) via native Java deserialization: any application that runs `ObjectInputStream.readObject()` on data reachable by an attacker, and has Guava on its classpath (true for a large fraction of the JVM ecosystem), can be crashed with a single ~72-byte payload, regardless of what type the application itself expected to deserialize. ## Severity CVSS 3.1: `AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` — identical vector to CVE-2018-10237, the precedent this is a sibling of. Recomputed with the full formula: exploitability = 8.22×0.85×0.44×0.85×0.85 = 2.221; ISS = 1-(1×1×0.44) = 0.56; impact = 6.42×0.56 = 3.595; base = roundup(5.816) = **5.9 (Medium)**. ## Affected `com.google.guava:guava`, all editions (`-jre`/`-android`) — confirmed on the current latest release, 33.7.1-jre. `CompactHashMap`/`CompactHashSet`/`CompactLinkedHashMap`/`CompactLinkedHashSet` have had this same `readObject`/`allocArrays` shape for a long time (probably since they were added in Guava 23.6), and similarly for `MapMakerInternalMap` (which was introduced in Guava 4.0); not tested against older individual releases. ## Suggested fix Apply the same defense already used elsewhere in this codebase: either clamp the initial `init()` capacity to a small constant regardless of the declared `elementCount` (as `HashBiMap.readObject()` already does — `init(16); // resist hostile attempts to allocate gratuitous heap`) and grow incrementally as elements are actually read, or grow the backing arrays incrementally per iteration of the deserialization loop (as the fixed `AtomicDoubleArray.readObject()` does via `ImmutableLongArray.Builder`) instead of eagerly sizing to the full attacker-declared count on first insert. |
| Status | Published |
| Exploitability | 0.5 |
| Weighted Severity | 7.4 |
| Risk | 3.7 |
| Affected and Fixed Packages | Package Details |
| Introduced and Fixed Package Commit Patches | Package Commit Patches Details |
| System | Score | Found at |
|---|---|---|
| cvssv3.1 | 5.9 | https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/10/GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94/GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94.json |
| cvssv4 | 8.2 | https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/10/GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94/GHSA-xxph-c9ww-hj94.json |
| generic_textual | HIGH |
No EPSS data available for this advisory.
| Patch URL | |
|---|---|
| There are no known patches. | |
| Attack Vector (AV) | Attack Complexity (AC) | Privileges Required (PR) | User Interaction (UI) | Scope (S) | Confidentiality Impact (C) | Integrity Impact (I) | Availability Impact (A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
network adjacent_network local physical |
low high |
none low high |
none required |
unchanged changed |
high low none |
high low none |
high low none |
| Attack Vector (AV) | Attack Complexity (AC) | Attack Requirements (AT) | Privileges Required (PR) | User Interaction (UI) | Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) | Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) | Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) | Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) | Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) | Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
network adjacent local physical |
low high |
none present |
none low high |
none passive active |
high low none |
high low none |
high low none |
high low none |
high low none |
high low none |
There are no SSVC decisions available.