CVE-2023-26115Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Process stall via trailing-whitespace regex backtracking

Published Jun 22, 2023 · Updated Feb 13, 2025

Regular expression denial of service in Jon Schlinkert's word-wrap before 1.2.4 allows attackers to stall consuming applications via crafted text. The trim-option branch applies /[ \t]*$/gm to the generated result, causing excessive backtracking on attacker-controlled text. Exploitation requires a consuming application to pass attacker-controlled input with trim enabled; the package exposes no standalone network service, and the CNA notes that the vulnerable function is not reachable as shipped.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability1.71%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Regular expression denial of service in Jon Schlinkert's word-wrap before 1.2.4 allows attackers to stall consuming applications via crafted text. The trim-option branch applies /[ \t]*$/gm to the generated result, causing excessive backtracking on attacker-controlled text. Exploitation requires a consuming application to pass attacker-controlled input with trim enabled; the package exposes no standalone network service, and the CNA notes that the vulnerable function is not reachable as shipped.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-26115
Published
Jun 22, 2023
Updated
Feb 13, 2025
Vendor
Jon Schlinkert
Product
word-wrap
Classifications
CWE-1333, T1499.003
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 22, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 13, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <*

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Jon Schlinkert · word-wrapversion=0 <*

Published CVSS scores

5.3GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-1333Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
T1499.003Application Exhaustion Flood

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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