GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in semver. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for semver — see the affected versions and patch details below.
semver vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
semver📦semver📦semverReal-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
Versions of the package semver before 7.5.2 on the 7.x branch, before 6.3.1 on the 6.x branch, and all other versions before 5.7.2 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) via the function new Range, when untrusted user data is provided as a range.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | semver | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.5.2 | 7.5.2npm install semver@7.5.2 |
| 📦npm | semver | ≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.3.1 | 6.3.1npm install semver@6.3.1 |
| 📦npm | semver | ≥ 2.0.0-alpha&&< 5.7.2 | 5.7.2npm install semver@5.7.2 |
Research 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 semver, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update semver to 7.5.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This vulnerability is rated Moderate for Red Hat Products versus NVD's High due to deployment context. The flaw in node-semver's new Range() function causes catastrophic regex backtracking on crafted input, leading to CPU exhaustion. However, exploitation requires untrusted input passed directly to the parser. So…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Migration Toolkit for Runtimes 1 on RHEL 8 | mtr/mtr-web-container-rhel8:1.2-10 | RHSA-2024:0719 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6 for RHEL 8 | multicluster-engine/assisted-image-service-rhel8:v2.6.2-5 | RHSA-2024:5955 |
| NETWORK-OBSERVABILITY-1.4.0-RHEL-9 | network-observability/network-observability-console-plugin-rhel9:v1.4.0-42 | RHSA-2023:5379 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 for RHEL 9 | rhacm2/acm-cluster-permission-rhel9:v2.11.2-5 | RHSA-2024:6044 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | nodejs:16-8080020230906092006.63b34585 | RHSA-2023:5360 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | nodejs:18-8080020230825111344.63b34585 | RHSA-2023:5362 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support | nodejs:16-8060020230906023909.ad008a3a | RHSA-2023:5361 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | nodejs:18-9020020230825081254.rhel9 | RHSA-2023:5363 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-c2qf-rxjj-qqgw across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.