CVE-2026-68499 json
re2: Global `String.prototype.match` with an empty-matchable pattern never advances → infinite loop with unbounded native memory growth (DoS)
published 2026-07-30 3 mo ago modified 2026-10-23 16 d ago also GHSA-6hxr-mr5r-9836 , EUVD-2026-51298
- cvss
- 6.2
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 7%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
re2 provides Node.js bindings for Google's RE2 regular expression engine. Prior to 1.25.2, re2's String.prototype.match implementation with a global RE2 pattern that can match the empty string fails to advance its native matching cursor in lib/match.cc, causing an infinite loop and unbounded native memory growth that blocks the event loop and can exhaust host memory. This issue is fixed in 1.25.2.
Patch / fix
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-68499 updated cvss 6.2
node-re2: Denial of Service via improper handling of empty-matchable regular expressions
-
Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat productsnot affected: vulnerable code not present
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- Proof of concept is public
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 3 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 7% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Exploits and checks
- github.com https://github.com/uhop/node-re2/security/advisories/GHSA-6hxr-mr5r-9836 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 6.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| GitHub | 3.1 | 6.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | re2 | <1.25.2 |
1.25.2 |
Affected products
- uhop node-re2
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-835 Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition
References
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-68499
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-6hxr-mr5r-9836
- NVD CVE-2026-68499
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