# CVE-2023-4043: Parsson DoS when parsing numbers from untrusted sources

> Attackers can cause denial of service by sending JSON with numbers that trigger excessive processing time in the Parsson library.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g8p6-p27c-52fx

## What is CVE-2023-4043?

CVE-2023-4043 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Eclipse Foundation Parsson, published on 3 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Eclipse Parsson before versions 1.1.4 and 1.0.5, Parsing JSON from untrusted sources can lead malicious actors to exploit the fact that the built-in support for parsing numbers with large scale in Java has a number of edge cases where the input text of a number can lead to much larger processing time than one would expect.

To mitigate the risk, parsson put in place a size limit for the numbers as well as their scale.

Weakness: CWE-834 (Excessive Iteration), CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-4043?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.eclipse.parsson:project. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.eclipse.parsson:project` | Maven | All versions | 1.0.5 |
| `org.eclipse.parsson:project` | Maven | All versions | 1.0.5 |
| `org.eclipse.parsson:project` | Maven | From 1.1.0 | 1.1.4 |
| `org.eclipse.parsson:project` | Maven | From 1.1.0 | 1.1.4 |

Products: Eclipse Parsson.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-4043?

Upgrade org.eclipse.parsson:project to a fixed version for your release line: 1.0.5 or 1.1.4.

## Is CVE-2023-4043 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-4043 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Eclipse Foundation Parsson

- [CVE-2023-7272](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-7272/): Eclipse Parsson stack overflow with deeply nested objects (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-4043 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-4043 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Eclipse Foundation Parsson, published on 3 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-4043 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.eclipse.parsson:project (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.0.5
- org.eclipse.parsson:project (Maven): affected all versions; fixed in 1.0.5
- org.eclipse.parsson:project (Maven): affected from 1.1.0; fixed in 1.1.4
- org.eclipse.parsson:project (Maven): affected from 1.1.0; fixed in 1.1.4

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4043/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4043/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-4043
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4043
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-4043

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-4043/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.