Medium severity · published May 11, 2026
CVE-2026-43896
jq: Stack Overflow in Recursive Object Merge
5.5
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
jq is a command-line JSON processor. In 1.8.1 and earlier, unbounded recursion in jv_object_merge_recursive() allows a crafted jq program to crash the process with a segfault. The function is reachable through the * operator when both operands are objects.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 4% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
JQ
jq · jqlang
<= 1.8.1 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-43896
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43896
Exploit
https://github.com/jqlang/jq/security/advisories/GHSA-mg96-6h3q-g846
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