CVE-2025-5472: Denial of Service via Uncontrolled Recursive JSON Parsing in JSONReader in run-llama/llama_index

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.5 v3.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2025-07-07 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-674

Description

The JSONReader in run-llama/llama_index versions 0.12.28 is vulnerable to a stack overflow due to uncontrolled recursive JSON parsing. This vulnerability allows attackers to trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by submitting deeply nested JSON structures, leading to a RecursionError and crashing applications. The root cause is the unsafe recursive traversal design and lack of depth validation, which makes the JSONReader susceptible to stack overflow when processing deeply nested JSON. This impacts the availability of services, making them unreliable and disrupting workflows. The issue is resolved in version 0.12.38.

Affected products

run-llama/llama_index: from 0.12.28 before 0.12.38 — fixed in 0.12.38

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: run-llama/llama_index 0.12.38. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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