CVE-2026-39956

Description

jq is a command-line JSON processor. Prior to version 1.8.2, the _strindices builtin in jq's src/builtin.c passes its arguments directly to jv_string_indexes() without verifying they are strings, and jv_string_indexes() in src/jv.c relies solely on assert() checks that are stripped in release builds compiled with -DNDEBUG. This allows an attacker to crash jq trivially with input like _strindices(0), and by crafting a numeric value whose IEEE-754 bit pattern maps to a chosen pointer, achieve a controlled pointer dereference and limited memory read/probe primitive. Any deployment that evaluates untrusted jq filters against a release build is vulnerable. This issue has been patched in commit fdf8ef0f0810e3d365cdd5160de43db46f57ed03, which is part of version 1.8.2.

Weakness classification

• CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read
• CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
• CWE-843: Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion')

Primary references

• security-advisories@github.com — Patch
• security-advisories@github.com — Exploit, Vendor Advisory
• 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 — Exploit, Vendor Advisory