High · published October 22, 2026
MessagePack is the serializer implementation for Python msgpack.org. Prior to 1.2.3, the msgpack-python C extension (msgpack._cmsgpack) leaks a decoded map value when deserialization rejects a key with strict_map_key=True (the default). Repeated malformed inputs can cause unbounded process memory growth and denial of service in applications that deserialize attacker-controlled MessagePack data. Both unpackb() and the streaming Unpacker API are affected. The pure-Python fallback does not exhibit this leak in the reported tests. This issue is fixed in version 1.2.3.