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GeezerVison is showing github.com — gh-145244: Fix use-after-free on borrowed dict key in json encoder by raminfp · Pull Request #145245 · python/cpython

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@raminfp

@raminfp raminfp commented Feb 26, 2026

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Fix use-after-free in encoder_encode_key_value() where borrowed references to dict keys from PyDict_Next() can become dangling pointers if the default callback mutates the dictionary during encoding.

  • Issue: _json: Use After Free in encoder_encode_key_value() - borrowed 'key' used after free #145244

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@raminfp
gh-145244: Fix use-after-free on borrowed dict key in json encoder
4847088
In encoder_encode_key_value(), key is a borrowed reference from
PyDict_Next(). If the default callback mutates or clears the dict,
key becomes a dangling pointer. The error path then calls
_PyErr_FormatNote("%R", key) on freed memory.

Fix by holding strong references to key and value unconditionally
during encoding, not just in the free-threading build.
@bedevere-app bedevere-app Bot added the awaiting review label Feb 26, 2026
@bedevere-app bedevere-app Bot mentioned this pull request Feb 26, 2026
_json: Use After Free in encoder_encode_key_value() - borrowed 'key' used after free #145244
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ZeroIntensity
ZeroIntensity reviewed Feb 26, 2026
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Comment thread Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-02-26-12-00-00.gh-issue-145244.Kj31cp.rst Resolved

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@raminfp @ZeroIntensity
Update Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-02-26-12-00-00.gh-issue-145244.K…
8a8bf04
…j31cp.rst

Co-authored-by: Peter Bierma <[email protected]>
@raminfp
raminfp requested a review from ZeroIntensity February 27, 2026 06:00
@gpshead
Merge branch 'main' into fix-gh-145244-json-uaf-key
e4c91c1
# Conflicts:
#	Lib/test/test_json/test_dump.py
gpshead
gpshead reviewed Apr 11, 2026
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Comment thread Modules/_json.c
Py_INCREF(key);
Py_INCREF(value);
#endif
if (encoder_encode_key_value(s, writer, first, dct, key, value,

@gpshead gpshead Apr 11, 2026

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reviewer note for the future: I explored if we could deterministically understand if encoder_encode_key_value was going to call user code which could lead to the problem... it's too complicated. while a couple heuristics exist for a subset of cases, they'd be fragile.

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gpshead
gpshead approved these changes Apr 11, 2026
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@bedevere-app bedevere-app Bot added awaiting merge and removed awaiting review labels Apr 11, 2026
@gpshead gpshead added the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label Apr 11, 2026
@gpshead gpshead self-assigned this Apr 11, 2026
@gpshead
gpshead enabled auto-merge (squash) April 11, 2026 22:07
@gpshead
gpshead merged commit 8a466fa into python:main Apr 11, 2026
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@miss-islington-app

miss-islington-app Bot commented Apr 11, 2026

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Thanks @raminfp for the PR, and @gpshead for merging it 🌮🎉.. I'm working now to backport this PR to: 3.14.
🐍🍒⛏🤖

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@bedevere-app bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting merge label Apr 11, 2026
@miss-islington-app

miss-islington-app Bot commented Apr 11, 2026

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Sorry, @raminfp and @gpshead, I could not cleanly backport this to 3.14 due to a conflict.
Please backport using cherry_picker on command line.

cherry_picker 8a466fa3d90a9e1f04d23c05ee2cf3f3c406ba30 3.14
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@gpshead gpshead removed the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label Apr 11, 2026
@raminfp
raminfp deleted the fix-gh-145244-json-uaf-key branch April 12, 2026 04:54
@raminfp

raminfp commented Apr 12, 2026

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Thanks @gpshead

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ljfp pushed a commit to ljfp/cpython that referenced this pull request Apr 25, 2026
@raminfp @ZeroIntensity @ljfp
pythongh-145244: Fix use-after-free on borrowed dict key in json enco…
dd3b025
…der (pythonGH-145245)

In encoder_encode_key_value(), key is a borrowed reference from
PyDict_Next(). If the default callback mutates or clears the dict,
key becomes a dangling pointer. The error path then calls
_PyErr_FormatNote("%R", key) on freed memory.

Fix by holding strong references to key and value unconditionally
during encoding, not just in the free-threading build.

Co-authored-by: Peter Bierma <[email protected]>
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@gpshead gpshead gpshead approved these changes
@ZeroIntensity ZeroIntensity Awaiting requested review from ZeroIntensity

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3 participants

@raminfp @gpshead @ZeroIntensity
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