GHSA-rj39-cv6w-8wv7
kin-openapi: YAML NaN/Inf Values Bypass Built-in Guards and Panic via OAS 3.1 Validation Path
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/getkin/kin-openapi | < 0.148.0 | 0.148.0 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
## Summary
kin-openapi guards against `NaN` and `Inf` values in its built-in schema visitor (`visitJSON`) by returning `ErrSchemaInputNaN` / `ErrSchemaInputInf` when a `float64` input violates those constraints. For OAS 3.1 specs, however, `Schema.VisitJSON` routes through `useJSONSchema2020`, which hands the value directly to `santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6` v6.0.2 without applying the same guard.
Inside `jsonschema/v6` v6.0.2, `numValidate` builds a `*big.Rat` from the input via `big.Rat.SetString(fmt.Sprintf("%v", v))`. For `NaN`/`Inf` this parse fails silently and returns `nil`. `numValidate` then dereferences the nil `*big.Rat` (in `math/big.(*Rat).Cmp`), producing a Go runtime panic.
An attacker delivers this by sending an HTTP request with `Content-Type: application/yaml` (or `application/x-yaml`) and a YAML body containing `.nan`, `.inf`, or `-.inf`. The `YamlBodyDecoder` decodes those tokens into `math.NaN()` / `math.Inf(±1)` (standard YAML 1.2 behavior), and they propagate to the unguarded `useJSONSchema2020` path whenever the schema declares a numeric constraint (`minimum`, `maximum`, `exclusiveMinimum`, `exclusiveMaximum`, or `multipleOf`).
## Details
### Root Cause
The built-in visitor `visitJSON` at `openapi3/schema.go:1968` guards NaN/Inf explicitly:
```go
case float64:
if math.IsNaN(value) {
return ErrSchemaInputNaN
}
if math.IsInf(value, 0) {
return ErrSchemaInputInf
}
```
For OAS 3.1 specs, `VisitJSON` dispatches to `useJSONSchema2020` (`openapi3/schema_jsonschema_validator.go:204`), which contains no such guard:
```go
func (schema *Schema) useJSONSchema2020(settings *schemaValidationSettings, value any) error {
validator, err := newJSONSchemaValidator(schema)
if err != nil {
return schema.visitJSON(settings, value)
}
return validator.validate(value) // value handed straight through
}
```
`jsonSchemaValidator.validate` calls `jsonschema/v6.Schema.Validate` (line 146), which reaches `numValidate` in v6.0.2. There, `big.Rat.SetString(fmt.Sprintf("%v", v))` returns `(nil, false)` for `NaN`/`Inf`, and the code dereferences the `nil` `*big.Rat` in `Rat.Cmp`, causing the panic.
## Proof of Concept
### Environment
- kin-openapi v0.144.0 (tag `v0.144.0`, commit `f0407d5`)
- santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6 v6.0.2 (transitive dep)
- Go 1.26.7
### Spec
Minimal OAS 3.1 spec (`spec.yaml`) declaring a YAML body with a numeric constraint:
```yaml
openapi: '3.1.0'
info: { title: Test, version: '1.0' }
paths:
/test:
post:
requestBody:
required: true
content:
application/yaml:
schema:
type: number
minimum: 0
responses:
'200': { description: OK }
```
### Trigger
A single `POST /test` with `Content-Type: application/yaml` and body `.nan`, `.inf`, or `-.inf`. All three variants panic:
```
=== RUN TestNaNInf
[nan] PANIC (confirms vuln): runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[inf] PANIC (confirms vuln): runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[neginf] PANIC (confirms vuln): runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
```
### Panic stack trace (confirms exact chain)
```
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
math/big.(*Rat).Cmp(0x0, ...) <- nil *big.Rat dereferenced
C:/Program Files/Go/src/math/big/rat.go:492
github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6.(*validator).numValidate(...)
.../jsonschema/[email protected]/validator.go:525
github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6.(*validator).validate(...)
.../jsonschema/[email protected]/validator.go:168
github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6.(*Schema).validate(...)
.../jsonschema/[email protected]/validator.go:34
github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3.(*jsonSchemaValidator).validate(...)
openapi3/schema_jsonschema_validator.go:146
github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3.(*Schema).useJSONSchema2020(...) <- MISSING NaN/Inf guard
openapi3/schema_jsonschema_validator.go:211
github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3.(*Schema).VisitJSON(...)
openapi3/schema.go:1946
github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.ValidateRequestBody(...)
openapi3filter/validate_request.go:364
github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/openapi3filter.ValidateRequest(...)
openapi3filter/validate_request.go:96
```
### net/http behavior (severity nuance)
Behind a standard `net/http` server, the panic is recovered per-connection. The client sees a dropped connection; the server process continues:
```
Sending POST /test body=.nan against real net/http server...
2026/08/25 http: panic serving 127.0.0.1:40625: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
CLIENT ERROR (connection dropped): Post ".../test": EOF
Process still alive after request: true
```
This is a **recoverable panic**, unlike the recursion finding. `recover()` catches it (verified by capturing the panic value in a `defer` in the same goroutine). Non-`net/http` hosts or validation performed in an application-spawned goroutine are not covered by that recovery and would experience a full-process crash.
### Fix verification
Upgrading only the transitive dependency to `jsonschema/[email protected]` (via `go get github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/[email protected]`) eliminates the panic entirely; all three payloads return a clean validation error:
```
[nan] Returned normally, err = request body has an error: doesn't match schema: validation failed due to: at '': invalid jsonType float64
[inf] Returned normally, err = request body has an error: doesn't match schema: validation failed due to: at '': invalid jsonType float64
[neginf] Returned normally, err = request body has an error: doesn't match schema: validation failed due to: at '': invalid jsonType float64
```
This confirms the upstream `jsonschema/v6` v6.0.3 release treats the NaN/Inf case as a bug and fixes it at the source. It also confirms `useJSONSchema2020` is the reachable path: patching only the transitive dep removes the panic without touching kin-openapi code.
## Why This Is a Vulnerability, Not by Design
- The library explicitly refuses NaN/Inf in its own visitor (`ErrSchemaInputNaN` / `ErrSchemaInputInf` at `schema.go:1968`). The stated policy is: these values are not allowed.
- The OAS 3.1 dispatch (`useJSONSchema2020`) simply omits the same guard — a coding gap, not a design decision.
- Upstream `jsonschema/v6` v6.0.3 fixes the same case as a bug. Two independent code owners agree it should not panic.
- The trigger is a single HTTP request body an unauthenticated client can send. There is no legitimate content-authoring reason to submit `.nan` / `.inf` as a numeric field.
## Impact
- **Per-request denial of service (net/http hosts).** Every crafted request kills its own connection with zero attacker cost. Sustained flooding degrades service reliability and log noise.
- **Full-process denial of service (non-net/http hosts or goroutine-spawned validation).** No `net/http` recovery wrapper is present; the whole process crashes on a single request.
- **Attack surface is any OAS 3.1 API that accepts YAML bodies with numeric constraints.** These constraints (`minimum`, `maximum`, `exclusiveMinimum`, `exclusiveMaximum`, `multipleOf`) are common on any numeric field with a range.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/security/advisories/GHSA-rj39-cv6w-8wv7
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100352
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/commit/4487f198ab8be0c37d6ca72c54f5dca4dc25270e
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi
- https://github.com/getkin/kin-openapi/releases/tag/v0.148.0