CVE-2021-39194
mediumpriority · track · 27EPSS 0.017 · 77 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
kaml is an open source implementation of the YAML format with support for kotlinx.serialization. In affected versions attackers that could provide arbitrary YAML input to an application that uses kaml could cause the application to endlessly loop while parsing the input. This could result in resource starvation and denial of service. This only affects applications that use polymorphic serialization with the default tagged polymorphism style. Applications using the property polymorphism style are not affected. YAML input for a polymorphic type that provided a tag but no value for the object would trigger the issue. Version 0.35.3 or later contain the fix for this issue.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode
weaknesses
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affected products (3)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- GHSA-fmm9-3gv8-58f4Improper Handling of Missing Values in kaml2021-09-07ghsa · osvUS
### Impact Attackers that could provide arbitrary YAML input to an application that uses kaml could cause the application to endlessly loop while parsing the input. This could result in resource starvation and denial of service. This only affects applications that use polymorphic serialization with the default tagged polymorphism style. Applications using the property polymorphism style are not affected. YAML input for a polymorphic type that provided a tag but no value for the object would trigger the issue, for example: ```yaml !<x> ``` The following is a sample application that demonstrates this issue: ```kotlin import com.charleskorn.kaml.Yaml import kotlinx.serialization.SerialName import kotlinx.serialization.Serializable @Serializable private sealed class K { @Serializable @SerialName("x") data class X( val property: String? = null, ) : K() } const val s = """ !<x> """ fun main() { println("Started.") val result = Yaml.default.decodeFromString(K.serializer(), s) println("Finished, result is $result") } ``` On vulnerable versions of kaml, the `decodeFromString()` operation hangs and never returns. ### Patches Version 0.35.3 or later contain the fix for this issue.
also known as (3)
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sources
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references (10)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/commit/e18785d043fc6324c81e968aae9764b4b060bc6acnnvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/issues/179cnnvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/security/advisories/GHSA-fmm9-3gv8-58f4cnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39194cnnvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/commit/e18785d043fc6324c81e968aae9764b4b060bc6aenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/issues/179enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/security/advisories/GHSA-fmm9-3gv8-58f4enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/charleskorn/kaml/commit/e18785d043fc6324c81e968aae9764b4b060bc6aPatchThird Party Advisorynvd
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