GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3
express-xss-sanitizer has an unbounded recursion depth
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.
Blast Radius
express-xss-sanitizerReal-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
Security Advisory: express-xss-sanitizer
Overview
A vulnerability was discovered in express-xss-sanitizer that allowed unbounded recursion depth during sanitization of nested objects.
Affected Versions
- All versions prior to 2.0.1
Patched Versions
- 2.0.1 and later
Description
The sanitize function in lib/sanitize.js performed recursive sanitization without depth limiting, making it vulnerable to stack overflow attacks via specially crafted deeply nested JSON objects.
Impact
An attacker could cause denial-of-service by sending a request with deeply nested structures, potentially crashing the Node.js process.
Solution
Upgrade to version 2.0.1 or later:
npm install express-xss-sanitizer@latest
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | express-xss-sanitizer | all versions | 2.0.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for express-xss-sanitizer. 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.
Fix
Update express-xss-sanitizer to 2.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 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-hvq2-wf92-j4f3. 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-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.