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CVE-2022-31018

Denial of service binding form from JSON in Play Framework

7.5 HighFix available

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. A denial of service vulnerability has been discovered in verions 2.8.3 through 2.8.15 of Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process. Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser. This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary. As a workaround, applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

1.72%Up 0.8 points since Jun 3, 2022
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.5

Denial of service binding form from JSON in Play Framework

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. A denial of service vulnerability has been discovered in verions 2.8.3 through 2.8.15 of Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process. Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser. This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary. As a workaround, applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect.

Record
CVE-2022-31018
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-6163 7.5

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. A denial of service vulnerability has been discovered in verions 2.8.3 through 2.8.15 of Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process. Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser. This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary. As a workaround, applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect.

Record
EUVD-2022-6163
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v8x6-59g4-5g3w 7.5

Denial of service binding form from JSON in Play Framework

Impact

A denial-of-service vulnerability has been discovered in Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process.

Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser.

Patches

This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary.

Workarounds

Applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect; for example, the formUrlEncoded body parser can be used if the Play action only needs to accept application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

Record
GHSA-v8x6-59g4-5g3w
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 7.5

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. A denial of service vulnerability has been discovered in verions 2.8.3 through 2.8.15 of Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process. Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser. This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary. As a workaround, applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect.

Record
CVE-2022-31018
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
5.0 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.5

Denial of service binding form from JSON in Play Framework

Play Framework is a web framework for Java and Scala. A denial of service vulnerability has been discovered in verions 2.8.3 through 2.8.15 of Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process. Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser. This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary. As a workaround, applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect.

Record
CVE-2022-31018
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-v8x6-59g4-5g3w 7.5

Denial of service binding form from JSON in Play Framework

Impact

A denial-of-service vulnerability has been discovered in Play's forms library, in both the Scala and Java APIs. This can occur when using either the Form#bindFromRequest method on a JSON request body or the Form#bind method directly on a JSON value. If the JSON data being bound to the form contains a deeply-nested JSON object or array, the form binding implementation may consume all available heap space and cause an OutOfMemoryError. If executing on the default dispatcher and akka.jvm-exit-on-fatal-error is enabled—as it is by default—then this can crash the application process.

Form.bindFromRequest is vulnerable when using any body parser that produces a type of AnyContent or JsValue in Scala, or one that can produce a JsonNode in Java. This includes Play's default body parser.

Patches

This vulnerability been patched in version 2.8.16. There is now a global limit on the depth of a JSON object that can be parsed, which can be configured by the user if necessary.

Workarounds

Applications that do not need to parse a request body of type application/json can switch from the default body parser to another body parser that supports only the specific type of body they expect; for example, the formUrlEncoded body parser can be used if the Play action only needs to accept application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

Record
GHSA-v8x6-59g4-5g3w
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-400
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
com.typesafe.play:play_2.13
Maven
2.8.3 up to 2.8.16
2.8.16
com.typesafe.play:play_2.12
Maven
2.8.3 up to 2.8.16
2.8.16
com.typesafe.play:play_2.13
Maven
2.8.3 up to 2.8.16, plus listed versions
2.8.102.8.112.8.122.8.132.8.14
Show 9 moreShow less
2.8.152.8.42.8.52.8.62.8.72.8.82.8.8-RC12.8.92.8.9-RC1
2.8.16
com.typesafe.play:play_2.12
Maven
2.8.3 up to 2.8.16, plus listed versions
2.8.102.8.112.8.122.8.132.8.14
Show 9 moreShow less
2.8.152.8.42.8.52.8.62.8.72.8.82.8.8-RC12.8.92.8.9-RC1
2.8.16

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2022-31018 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Lightbend Play Framework, published June 2, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.72%, the 77th percentile. Fixed in com.typesafe.play:play_2.13 2.8.16.

References

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