Regular expression denial of service in npm-user-validateGHSA-pw54-mh39-w3hc
HIGHFix: npm/npm-user-validate@c8a87daGHSA-pw54-mh39-w3hc is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in npm-user-validate. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for npm-user-validate — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-pw54-mh39-w3hc by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
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.
npm-user-validatenpmDescription
This affects the package npm-user-validate before 1.0.1. The regex that validates user emails took exponentially longer to process long input strings beginning with @ characters.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | npm-user-validate | all versions | 1.0.1npm install npm-user-validate@1.0.1 |
Affected Products
npm-user-validatenpmjsResearch 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 npm-user-validate, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update npm-user-validate to 1.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pw54-mh39-w3hc 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.
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.
In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Software Collections, `npm-user-validate` is used exclusively for `npm`. As a result, this vulnerability is considered Low in such a context. In OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) 3.11 and 4.4 the kibana package has been marked Low (similar to RHEL8) as it is primarily used for npm…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | nodejs:10-8030020210118191659.229f0a1c | RHSA-2021:0548 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | nodejs:12-8030020210129141730.229f0a1c | RHSA-2021:0549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | nodejs:14-8030020210126165503.229f0a1c | RHSA-2021:0551 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rh-nodejs14-nodejs-0:14.15.4-2.el7 | RHSA-2021:0421 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rh-nodejs12-nodejs-0:12.20.1-1.el7 | RHSA-2021:0485 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | rh-nodejs10-nodejs-0:10.23.1-2.el7 | RHSA-2021:0521 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-pw54-mh39-w3hc in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.