Node.js process crash via unbounded brace expansion
Published Feb 4, 2026 · Updated Feb 4, 2026
@isaacs/brace-expansion before 5.0.1 allows remote attackers to crash Node.js processes through crafted numeric brace ranges. Its expand function eagerly and synchronously materializes every combination without an expansion or complexity limit, causing exponential CPU and memory consumption. A downstream application must pass attacker-controlled patterns to the library; one small payload can block its event loop and exhaust its heap.
Summary
What happened
@isaacs/brace-expansion before 5.0.1 allows remote attackers to crash Node.js processes through crafted numeric brace ranges. Its expand function eagerly and synchronously materializes every combination without an expansion or complexity limit, causing exponential CPU and memory consumption. A downstream application must pass attacker-controlled patterns to the library; one small payload can block its event loop and exhaust its heap.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-25547
- Published
- Feb 4, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 4, 2026
- Vendor
- Julian Gruber
- Product
- brace-expansion
- Classifications
- CWE-1333, T1499
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 4, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 4, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=< 5.0.1
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
- GHSA-7h2j-956f-4vf2 denial-of-service proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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