GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Maven
GHSA-6cx8-rjf8-pr8g yawkat LZ4 Java: LZ4DecompressorWithLength allocates the unvalidated size from the 4-byte length header, so a 5-byte input triggers a 1 GiB allocation and OutOfMemoryError
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-106453
- Ecosystem
- Maven
- Packages
- at.yawk.lz4:lz4-java, org.lz4:lz4-java
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- Weaknesses
- CWE-789
- Reviewed
- 2026-10-07
Affected packages
• Maven at.yawk.lz4:lz4-java: < 1.11.2 → fixed in 1.11.2
• Maven org.lz4:lz4-java: <= 1.8.1 (no fix yet)
Description
Summary
`LZ4DecompressorWithLength.decompress(byte[], int)` allocates whatever size the 4-byte length header declares, before it reads a single byte of compressed data. A 5-byte input whose header says `0x40000000` makes the JVM commit a gigabyte and can cause heap exhaustion.
Details
`net.jpountz.lz4.LZ4DecompressorWithLength` reads the header and passes it straight on:
```java
final int destLen = getDecompressedLength(src, srcOff);
return fastDecompressor.decompress(src, srcOff + 4, destLen);
```
and `net.jpountz.lz4.LZ4FastDecompressor` allocates it:
```java
public final byte[] decompress(byte[] src, int srcOff, int destLen) {
final byte[] decompressed = new byte[destLen];
decompress(src, srcOff, decompressed, 0, destLen);
return decompressed;
}
```
`getDecompressedLength` performs no validation: no comparison against `src.length`, no ceiling, no rejection of negatives. `LZ4SafeDecompressor.decompress(byte[], int, int, int)` has the same shape with `maxDestLen`.
The sibling overload that callers pass their own buffer to, `decompress(src, srcOff, dest, destOff, destLen)`, is fine, because there `destLen` is chosen by the caller rather than by the input. The bug is specific to the convenience overloads that take the size from the header, and that difference is the whole finding.
Impact
Any application that decompresses attacker-supplied LZ4 frames through the with-length convenience API can be made to allocate up to 2 GiB per call from a 5-byte message. On a service that decompresses request bodies, a few concurrent 5-byte requests exhaust the heap. No privileges are needed, only the ability to get bytes into the decompressor. Confidentiality and integrity are untouched.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-106453 yawkat LZ4 Java provides LZ4 compression for Java. vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-789 Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value weakness
References
- https://github.com/yawkat/lz4-java/security/advisories/GHSA-6cx8-rjf8-pr8g web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-106453 advisory
- https://github.com/yawkat/lz4-java/commit/6492ce5aca6bd03ff9e08ee18a2beb94c431371a web
- https://github.com/yawkat/lz4-java package
- https://github.com/yawkat/lz4-java/releases/tag/v1.11.2 web