CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
4Tags
Description
Impact: A bad regular expression is generated any time you have three or more parameters within a single segment, separated by something that is not a period (.). For example, /:a-:b-:c or /:a-:b-:c-:d. The backtrack protection added in [email protected] only prevents ambiguity for two parameters. With three or more, the generated lookahead does not block single separator characters, so capture groups overlap and cause catastrophic backtracking. Patches: Upgrade to [email protected] Custom regex patterns in route definitions (e.g., /:a-:b([^-/]+)-:c([^-/]+)) are not affected because they override the default capture group. Workarounds: All versions can be patched by providing a custom regular expression for parameters after the first in a single segment. As long as the custom regular expression does not match the text before the parameter, you will be safe. For example, change /:a-:b-:c to /:a-:b([^-/]+)-:c([^-/]+). If paths cannot be rewritten and versions cannot be upgraded, another alternative is to limit the URL length.
Analysis
Catastrophic backtracking in path-to-regexp versions prior to 0.1.13 enables remote denial of service attacks through specially crafted URLs containing three or more parameters within a single route segment separated by non-period characters. The vulnerability stems from insufficient backtrack protection in regex generation for routes like /:a-:b-:c, allowing unauthenticated attackers to trigger exponential computation times. …
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Remediation
Within 24 hours: Inventory all applications and dependencies using path-to-regexp and confirm current versions. Within 7 days: Implement WAF rules to block requests with three or more parameters separated by non-period characters in a single route segment; enable request rate limiting and timeout protections. …
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Priority Score
Vendor Status
Debian
| Release | Status | Fixed Version | Urgency |
|---|---|---|---|
| bullseye | vulnerable | 6.2.0-1 | - |
| bookworm | vulnerable | 6.2.1-1 | - |
| trixie | vulnerable | 6.3.0-1 | - |
| forky, sid | vulnerable | 8.3.0-1 | - |
| (unstable) | fixed | (unfixed) | - |
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-16273
GHSA-37ch-88jc-xwx2