Application stall via quadratic attribute deduplication
Published Sep 1, 2026 · Updated Sep 1, 2026
Inefficient attribute handling in xmldom allows remote attackers to stall applications by submitting well-formed XML with many attributes. DOMHandler.startElement inserts each attribute through setAttributeNode, and NamedNodeMap.setNamedItem repeats a linear duplicate lookup for every insertion, producing quadratic comparisons. Exposure requires an application to parse attacker-influenced XML or HTML; one request can occupy a Node.js event-loop thread for seconds and concurrent requests can interrupt service.
Summary
What happened
Inefficient attribute handling in xmldom allows remote attackers to stall applications by submitting well-formed XML with many attributes. DOMHandler.startElement inserts each attribute through setAttributeNode, and NamedNodeMap.setNamedItem repeats a linear duplicate lookup for every insertion, producing quadratic comparisons. Exposure requires an application to parse attacker-influenced XML or HTML; one request can occupy a Node.js event-loop thread for seconds and concurrent requests can interrupt service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-83613
- Published
- Sep 1, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 1, 2026
- Vendor
- xmldom
- Product
- xmldom
- Classifications
- CWE-407, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 1, 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=<= 0.6.0
- Affected versionversion=>= 0.7.0, < 0.8.15
- Affected versionversion=>= 0.9.0, < 0.9.12
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
- Upstream quadratic-attribute proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
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