GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 — express-xss-sanitizer
Fix: AhmedAdelFahim/express-xss-sanitizer#23GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 is a CWE-674 vulnerability in express-xss-sanitizer. A fix is available for express-xss-sanitizer — see the affected versions and patch details below.
express-xss-sanitizer has an unbounded recursion depth
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3.
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.
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.
express-xss-sanitizernpmDescription
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 | 2.0.1npm install express-xss-sanitizer@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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
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 Security finds GHSA-hvq2-wf92-j4f3 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.