CVE-2025-25289Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service hang via authorization-header regex backtracking

Published Feb 14, 2025 · Updated Feb 14, 2025

ReDoS in authorization-header redaction in Octokit @octokit/request-error allows remote attackers to hang affected services. The RequestError constructor applies the / .*$/ expression to an attacker-controlled authorization value; long spaces ending with a newline and @ force excessive backtracking. Exploitation requires a consuming application to pass user-supplied authorization headers into RequestError, where CPU exhaustion can stall the process without affecting confidentiality or integrity.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.63%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

ReDoS in authorization-header redaction in Octokit @octokit/request-error allows remote attackers to hang affected services. The RequestError constructor applies the / .*$/ expression to an attacker-controlled authorization value; long spaces ending with a newline and @ force excessive backtracking. Exploitation requires a consuming application to pass user-supplied authorization headers into RequestError, where CPU exhaustion can stall the process without affecting confidentiality or integrity.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-25289
Published
Feb 14, 2025
Updated
Feb 14, 2025
Vendor
Octokit
Product
@octokit/request-error
Classifications
CWE-1333, T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 14, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 14, 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=>= 1.0.0, < 6.1.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Octokit · @octokit/request-errorversion=>= 1.0.0, < 6.1.7

Published CVSS scores

5.3GitHubCVSS: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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 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
T1499.004Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation

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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