Service hang via catastrophic link-header backtracking
Published Feb 14, 2025 · Updated Jan 16, 2026
ReDoS in fetchWrapper in Octokit @octokit/request 1.0.0 through 8.4.0 and 9.0.0-beta.1 through 9.2.0 allows remote attackers to hang services. When a response signals deprecation, fetchWrapper applies an unbounded capture regex to its Link header; repeated opening brackets force catastrophic backtracking. An attacker must cause an application to consume the crafted response header, producing excessive CPU use that can leave its process unresponsive or crash it.
Summary
What happened
ReDoS in fetchWrapper in Octokit @octokit/request 1.0.0 through 8.4.0 and 9.0.0-beta.1 through 9.2.0 allows remote attackers to hang services. When a response signals deprecation, fetchWrapper applies an unbounded capture regex to its Link header; repeated opening brackets force catastrophic backtracking. An attacker must cause an application to consume the crafted response header, producing excessive CPU use that can leave its process unresponsive or crash it.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-25290
- Published
- Feb 14, 2025
- Updated
- Jan 16, 2026
- Vendor
- Octokit
- Product
- @octokit/request
- Classifications
- CWE-1333, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 14, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 16, 2026Record 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=>= 1.0.0, < 9.2.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Embedded PoC.js Link-header ReDoS demonstrationproof of concept · demonstrated
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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