jq: stack overflow in deep structural equality
jq is a command-line JSON processor. Prior to 1.8.2, comparing two sufficiently deeply nested arrays with the == operator exhausts the C stack on jq's ordinary command-line surface, resulting in denial of service via stack exhaustion (uncontrolled recursion). The crash occurs in jq's recursive structural comparison code, with the recursion repeating through jvp_array_equal() and jv_equal() in src/jv.c when comparing deeply nested arrays; a nearby sort comparator path through jv_cmp() in src/jv_aux.c overflows the stack at a larger nesting depth from the same missing recursion guard. Anyone running jq comparisons on attacker-controlled deeply nested JSON values, or embedding jq in a context where untrusted data can reach the == comparison path, is affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.8.2.
- Products
- Not specified
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-47770
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 4 Nov 2026, 16:53 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
jq: stack overflow in deep structural equality
core-osv · Original sourcePublished 25 Jun 2026, 17:22 UTC
jq is a command-line JSON processor. Prior to 1.8.2, comparing two sufficiently deeply nested arrays with the == operator exhausts the C stack on jq's ordinary command-line surface, resulting in denial of service via stack exhaustion (uncontrolled recursion). The crash occurs in jq's recursive structural comparison code, with the recursion repeating through jvp_array_equal() and jv_equal() in src/jv.c when comparing deeply nested arrays; a nearby sort comparator path through jv_cmp() in src/jv_aux.c overflows the stack at a larger nesting depth from the same missing recursion guard. Anyone running jq comparisons on attacker-controlled deeply nested JSON values, or embedding jq in a context where untrusted data can reach the == comparison path, is affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.8.2.
osv:CVE-2026-47770
Complete source record
{
"id": "c64e28bcf37a78827b9c8618122c3a73087eb8e06bc15ab59f5224672553daf7",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-47770",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "jq: stack overflow in deep structural equality",
"summary": "jq is a command-line JSON processor. Prior to 1.8.2, comparing two sufficiently deeply nested arrays with the == operator exhausts the C stack on jq's ordinary command-line surface, resulting in denial of service via stack exhaustion (uncontrolled recursion). The crash occurs in jq's recursive structural comparison code, with the recursion repeating through jvp_array_equal() and jv_equal() in src/jv.c when comparing deeply nested arrays; a nearby sort comparator path through jv_cmp() in src/jv_aux.c overflows the stack at a larger nesting depth from the same missing recursion guard. Anyone running jq comparisons on attacker-controlled deeply nested JSON values, or embedding jq in a context where untrusted data can reach the == comparison path, is affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.8.2.",
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"modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:37.513578787Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
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"https://github.com/jqlang/jq/security/advisories/GHSA-3pgx-frr7-3jxp",
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"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 504927,
"published_at": "2026-06-25T17:22:21.531+00:00"
}