jq: stack overflow in deep structural equality

Description

jq is a command-line JSON processor. Prior to 1.8.2, comparing two sufficiently deeply nested arrays with the == operator exhausts the C stack on jq's ordinary command-line surface, resulting in denial of service via stack exhaustion (uncontrolled recursion). The crash occurs in jq's recursive structural comparison code, with the recursion repeating through jvp_array_equal() and jv_equal() in src/jv.c when comparing deeply nested arrays; a nearby sort comparator path through jv_cmp() in src/jv_aux.c overflows the stack at a larger nesting depth from the same missing recursion guard. Anyone running jq comparisons on attacker-controlled deeply nested JSON values, or embedding jq in a context where untrusted data can reach the == comparison path, is affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.8.2.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.15% · top 96% of all CVEs (5 Nov 2026)

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.8.

Weakness

• CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-674 and its CVEs

Affected products

• jqlang · jq

  • affected < 1.8.2

References (1)

• https://github.com/jqlang/jq/security/advisories/GHSA-3pgx-frr7-3jxp (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2026-47770](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2026-47770.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-47770)

Record last updated 26 Jun 2026, 18:42 UTC.