jackson-databind: InetSocketAddress deserialization triggers eager DNS resolution (SSRF)

Summary

JDKFromStringDeserializer constructed InetSocketAddress with new InetSocketAddress(host, port), which performs eager DNS name resolution for hostname inputs at deserialization time. An application that binds untrusted JSON into a type containing an InetSocketAddress field issues an attacker-chosen DNS query during readValue, before any application-level validation or connect logic. The fix uses InetSocketAddress.createUnresolved(host, port), deferring DNS to an explicit connect.

Impact

An attacker controlling JSON deserialized into an InetSocketAddress-bearing type can force outbound DNS lookups for attacker-chosen hostnames at deserialization time (SSRF / DNS-based out-of-band interaction / internal-resolver probing), purely from binding.

Affected / Patched (verified via git tag --contains on 1f5a103)

• 2.18 line: >= 2.18.0, < 2.18.8 -> fixed in 2.18.8
• 2.19-2.21 line: >= 2.19.0, < 2.21.4 -> fixed in 2.21.4
• 3.x line: >= 3.0.0, < 3.1.4 -> fixed in 3.1.4

Severity / CWE

Maintainer: minor. Reporter: LOW. CWE-918 (SSRF).

Upstream fix

FasterXML/jackson-databind#5951 ("Improve InetSocketAddress deserialization"). Released 2026-06-04 in 2.18.8 / 2.21.4 / 3.1.4.

Credits

Omkhar Arasaratnam (@omkhar) - finder.