CVE-2026-54899: ohler55 oj Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-54899 is a medium (CVSS 6.3) Use After Free vulnerability in ohler55 oj. EPSS estimates a 0.33% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 25% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 30-06-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 01-07-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Oj (Optimized JSON) is a JSON parser and Object marshaller packaged as a Ruby gem. Prior to version 3.17.2, disabling symbol_keys on a reused Oj::Parser instance triggers a heap use-after-free. When symbol_keys is toggled from true to false, opt_symbol_keys_set frees the internal key cache (cache_free) but does not clear the pointer. The next parse call reads from the freed cache via cache_intern, producing a use-after-free. This issue has been fixed in version 3.17.2.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.