Service interruption via quadratic Cache-Control parsing
Published Jan 31, 2023 · Updated Mar 27, 2025
Regular expression denial of service in http-cache-semantics before 4.1.1 allows remote attackers to interrupt services via request headers. The parseCacheControl function uses whitespace-trimming split expressions that repeatedly rescan a crafted Cache-Control value and consume excessive CPU. Exposure requires a server to pass attacker-controlled Cache-Control request-header values into CachePolicy parsing; the bounded consequence is delayed or interrupted service.
Summary
What happened
Regular expression denial of service in http-cache-semantics before 4.1.1 allows remote attackers to interrupt services via request headers. The parseCacheControl function uses whitespace-trimming split expressions that repeatedly rescan a crafted Cache-Control value and consume excessive CPU. Exposure requires a server to pass attacker-controlled Cache-Control request-header values into CachePolicy parsing; the bounded consequence is delayed or interrupted service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-25881
- Published
- Jan 31, 2023
- Updated
- Mar 27, 2025
- Vendor
- Kornel Lesiński
- Product
- http-cache-semantics
- Classifications
- CWE-1333, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 31, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 27, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <4.1.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Snyk Cache-Control ReDoS proof of conceptproof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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