CVE-2024-38986 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-1321 vulnerability in @75lb/deep-merge. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for @75lb/deep-merge — see the affected versions and patch details below.
@75lb/deep-merge Prototype Pollution vulnerability
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-38986.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
@75lb/deep-mergenpmDescription
Prototype Pollution in 75lb deep-merge 1.1.1 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a Denial of Service (DoS) and cause other impacts via merge methods of lodash to merge objects.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @75lb/deep-merge | all versions | 1.1.2npm install @75lb/deep-merge@1.1.2 |
Affected Products
deep-merge75lbResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @75lb/deep-merge, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @75lb/deep-merge to 1.1.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-38986 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-38986 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.