Jackson-core is a widely used Java library; async parsers in major frameworks can be driven to JVM heap exhaustion by unauthenticated streaming input, causing service-wide DoS.
CVE-2026-68494
Async Jackson parser allows heap amplification via streamed numeric JSON, leading to DoS.
Is CVE-2026-68494 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-68494 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.37% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-68494?
CVE-2026-68494 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.7. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-68494?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-68494. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-68494 affect?
CVE-2026-68494 affects com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core 2.15.0 - 2.18.7, com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-core 2.19.0 - 2.21.3, tools.jackson.core:jackson-core 3.0.0 - 3.1.3, Reactive frameworks: Spring WebFlux, Reactor, Quarkus, Helidon, Vert.x (when using non-blocking parser). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-68494?
Upgrade to jackson-core 2.22.0+ or 3.2.0+; restrict chunked numeric inputs and limit concurrent connections.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Unauthenticated attackers can stream crafted JSON numbers to async non-blocking parsers to exhaust JVM heap and cause denial of service.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 2.15.0 and < 2.18.8
- affected>= 2.19.0 and < 2.21.4
- affected>= 3.0.0 and < 3.1.4
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.