CVE-2026-26996Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Service hang via repeated wildcard backtracking

Published Feb 20, 2026 · Updated Feb 20, 2026

Regular expression denial of service in minimatch before 10.2.1 allows remote attackers to hang applications with crafted glob patterns. The glob compiler emits a separate lazy character-matching group for every consecutive wildcard; when a later literal is absent, V8 exponentially backtracks across possible splits. Reachability requires an application to accept an attacker-controlled pattern, and one call can monopolize its JavaScript thread indefinitely.

CVSS severity8.7
High
EPSS probability0.52%
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 minimatch before 10.2.1 allows remote attackers to hang applications with crafted glob patterns. The glob compiler emits a separate lazy character-matching group for every consecutive wildcard; when a later literal is absent, V8 exponentially backtracks across possible splits. Reachability requires an application to accept an attacker-controlled pattern, and one call can monopolize its JavaScript thread indefinitely.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-26996
Published
Feb 20, 2026
Updated
Feb 20, 2026
Vendor
Isaac Z. Schlueter
Product
minimatch
Classifications
CWE-1333, T1499
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 20, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 10.2.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Isaac Z. Schlueter · minimatchversion=< 10.2.1

Published CVSS scores

7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
8.7GitHubCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

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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