The brace-expansion library generates arbitrary strings containing a common prefix and suffix. Prior to 1.1.19, 2.1.5, 3.0.7, and 5.0.10, crafted brace patterns can exhaust the native stack in parseCommaParts because parseCommaParts recursively processes the remainder once per brace group and uses push.apply to pass every element of a very large comma-part array as a function argument. Patterns containing many comma-separated brace groups trigger the recursive path, while the large array triggers the argument-array path without deep recursion. These paths cause recursive and argument-array native stack exhaustion before max or maxLength can limit output, potentially terminating the Node.js process in a process-terminating denial of service. This issue is fixed in versions 1.1.19, 2.1.5, 3.0.7, and 5.0.10.
Weakness
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | RedHat | nodejs22-main-10.9.9-1.22.23.3.2.3.2.2.hum1 | * |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | RedHat | nodejs24-main-11.19.0-1.24.21.0.1.2.hum1 | * |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | RedHat | nodejs26-main-11.19.1-1.26.10.0.0.3.hum1 | * |
Potential Mitigations
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/147.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/227.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/492.html
References
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/0bcbfc0a5928c3073d48f42999d1ce4fc1c42fbc
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/316359e6019c39b3254c8ba8e25dc586a480652c
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/5171e681c0922b7ae8bfaf9a331e309107be6edc
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/6735c94873ca570bcdd6a0690033bdd3126379d3
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/security/advisories/GHSA-6j4f-fj2g-mc7p