CVE-2018-25077

Service interruption via greedy regular-expression backtracking

Published Jan 18, 2023 · Updated Aug 5, 2024

ReDoS in mel-spintax before 1.0.3 allows attackers to interrupt service by supplying crafted text to a consuming application. The isSpintax function in lib/spintax.js applies a nested, greedy pattern to the entire input, causing excessive backtracking on nonmatching text. A consuming application must pass attacker-controlled text to the library; the resulting CPU exhaustion delays or hangs that process.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.88%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

ReDoS in mel-spintax before 1.0.3 allows attackers to interrupt service by supplying crafted text to a consuming application. The isSpintax function in lib/spintax.js applies a nested, greedy pattern to the entire input, causing excessive backtracking on nonmatching text. A consuming application must pass attacker-controlled text to the library; the resulting CPU exhaustion delays or hangs that process.

The record

CVE
CVE-2018-25077
Published
Jan 18, 2023
Updated
Aug 5, 2024
Vendor
melnaron
Product
mel-spintax
Classifications
CWE-1333, CAPEC-492, T1499.004
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 18, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 5, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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  1. Affected versionversion=n/a

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

melnaron · mel-spintaxversion=n/a

Published CVSS scores

7.5NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.3GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
3.5VulDBCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1333Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
CAPEC-492Regular Expression Exponential Blowup
T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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