Vulnerability · Published May 11, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-41256jq: Embedded NUL truncates top-level jq programs loaded with -f
Medium 5.5
In plain English
A medium-severity security flaw in jq from jqlang. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 5% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
jq is a command-line JSON processor. In 1.8.1 and earlier, Top-level jq programs loaded from a file with -f are truncated at the first embedded NUL byte on current upstream HEAD. A crafted filter file such as . followed by \x00 and arbitrary suffix compiles and executes as only the prefix before the NUL. This leaves jq with a post-CVE-2026-33948 prefix/full-buffer mismatch on the compilation path even though the JSON parser path has already been fixed.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.22 | jq | 1.8.2-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Alpine:v3.23 | jq | 1.8.2-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Alpine:v3.24 | jq | 1.8.2-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Debian:12 | jq | 1.6-2.1+deb12u2 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Debian:13 | jq | 1.7.1-6+deb13u3 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Debian:14 | jq | 1.8.1-6 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | jq | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | jq | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | jq | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | jq | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41256 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | jq | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-41256 |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-158 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
References
- https://github.com/jqlang/jq/security/advisories/GHSA-vf2h-chrj-q3fg x_refsource_CONFIRM