Apache bRPC: Out-of-bounds read via non-object fields in Discovery naming-service reply parsing

Summary

The Discovery naming-service reply parser in Apache bRPC (versions < 1.18.0) calls RapidJSON object-only accessors (FindMember) on JSON values without first validating that those values are objects. A malformed Discovery response whose data/service members or instances list contain non-object entries (e.g. a bare integer) triggers the RapidJSON object-access precondition on the client, reading memory out of bounds and potentially crashing the bRPC client. Root Cause: In src/brpc/policy/discovery_naming_service.cpp, DiscoveryNamingService::GetServers() and DiscoveryNames::ListDiscoveryNodes() access JSON values with member functions on non-object values. RapidJSON only defines these operations for object types; invoking them on a non-object violates the class invariant and results in undefined behavior (out-of-bounds read), commonly crashing the process. Affected Scenarios: An operator-configured (or compromised) Discovery backend returns a malformed /discovery/nodes or /discovery/fetchs response whose data/service/instance entries are not JSON objects, crashing any bRPC client that refreshes its server list. How to Fix: 1. Upgrade bRPC to version 1.18.0 or later, which fixes this issue. 2. Apply this patch: https://github.com/apache/brpc/pull/3533 The fix validates that the Discovery response data, per-service data, and instance entries are JSON objects (and skips non-object node/instance entries and rejects non-object data/service values) before calling member accessors.

Timeline

1. Oct 21, 2026, 12:18 PM UTCCVE published
2. Oct 22, 2026, 9:34 PM UTCFirst seen by cve.now
3. Oct 26, 2026, 1:54 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

4. Oct 26, 2026, 1:54 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• apache/brpc

  fixed in 1.18.0

References 2