# CVE-2026-33947: jq: Unbounded Recursion in jv_setpath(), jv_getpath() and delpaths_sorted()

> An attacker can crash applications using jq by supplying a large JSON array to path operations, causing stack exhaustion and denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2026-33947, AZL-82925, BELL-CVE-2026-33947, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-33947, ECHO-a573-f4d9-1605, GHSA-xwrw-4f8h-rjvg

## What is CVE-2026-33947?

CVE-2026-33947 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in jqlang jq, published on 13 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

jq is a command-line JSON processor. In versions 1.8.1 and below, functions jv_setpath(), jv_getpath(), and delpaths_sorted() in jq's src/jv_aux.c use unbounded recursion whose depth is controlled by the length of a caller-supplied path array, with no depth limit enforced. An attacker can supply a JSON document containing a flat array of ~65,000 integers (~200 KB) that, when used as a path argument by a trusted jq filter, exhausts the C call stack and crashes the process with a segmentation fault (SIGSEGV). This bypass works because the existing MAX_PARSING_DEPTH (10,000) limit only protects the JSON parser, not runtime path operations where arrays can be programmatically constructed to arbitrary lengths. The impact is denial of service (unrecoverable crash) affecting any application or service that processes untrusted JSON input through jq's setpath, getpath, or delpaths builtins. This issue has been addressed in commit fb59f1491058d58bdc3e8dd28f1773d1ac690a1f.

Weakness: CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-33947?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Jqlang Jq.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-33947?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-33947 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-33947 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in jqlang jq

- [CVE-2026-32316](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32316/): jq: Integer overflow in jvp_string_append() allows Heap-based Buffer Overflow (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2024-53427](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53427/): Memory corruption in jq (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2025-48060](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48060/): AddressSanitizer: stack-buffer-overflow in jq_fuzz_execute (jv_string_vfmt) (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2023-49355](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49355/): Memory corruption in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-49839](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-49839/): jq --rawfile invalid-state reuse after String too long causes heap-buffer-overflow (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-33947 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-33947 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in jqlang jq, published on 13 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-33947 exists.

Affected product: jqlang jq. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2026-33947/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33947/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-33947
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-33947
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-33947

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33947/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.