GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7
Infinite loop causing Denial of Service in colors
Blast Radius
colors📦colorsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
colors is a library for including colored text in node.js consoles. Between 07 and 09 January 2022, colors versions 1.4.1, 1.4.2, and 1.4.44-liberty-2 were published including malicious code that caused a Denial of Service due to an infinite loop. Software dependent on these versions experienced the printing of randomized characters to console and an infinite loop resulting in unbound system resource consumption.
Users of colors relying on these specific versions should downgrade to version 1.4.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | colors | ≥ 1.4.1 | No fix |
| 📦npm | colors | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for colors. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Remediation status
No patched version of colors has shipped for GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-5rqg-jm4f-cqx7 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.