VulnerabilityPublished 26 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-27903: isaacs minimatch · Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

Affects isaacs minimatchSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High · fixed in 10.2.3 : patch isaacs minimatch soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 47% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6 +5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 26 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=10.0.0 <10.2.3	Fixed in 10.2.3
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=9.0.0 <9.0.7	Fixed in 9.0.7
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=8.0.0 <8.0.6	Fixed in 8.0.6
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=7.0.0 <7.4.8	Fixed in 7.4.8
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=6.0.0 <6.2.2	Fixed in 6.2.2
isaacsminimatch	Affected >=5.0.0 <5.1.8	Fixed in 5.1.8

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-27903, organizations should immediately upgrade all instances of the minimatch library to the fixed versions: 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, 5.1.8, 4.2.5, or 3.1.3 or later. Review and audit all build tools, task runners, CI/CD pipelines, and multi-tenant systems to identify where user-supplied glob patterns are accepted and processed. Implement input validation and sanitization to restrict or reject glob patterns containing multiple non-adjacent GLOBSTAR segments or overly complex patterns that could trigger exponential backtracking. Where feasible, isolate glob pattern processing in separate processes or containers to limit impact on critical services. Monitor application performance and logs for unusual delays or stalls indicative of exploitation attempts. Consider implementing rate limiting or throttling on interfaces accepting glob patterns to reduce attack surface. Engage with upstream tool maintainers to ensure dependencies are updated and patched. Finally, educate developers and administrators about the risks of accepting untrusted glob patterns and encourage secure configuration practices.

Description

minimatch is a minimal matching utility for converting glob expressions into JavaScript RegExp objects. Prior to version 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, 5.1.8, 4.2.5, and 3.1.3, `matchOne()` performs unbounded recursive backtracking when a glob pattern contains multiple non-adjacent `**` (GLOBSTAR) segments and the input path does not match. The time complexity is O(C(n, k)) -- binomial -- where `n` is the number of path segments and `k` is the number of globstars. With k=11 and n=30, a call to the default `minimatch()` API stalls for roughly 5 seconds. With k=13, it exceeds 15 seconds. No memoization or call budget exists to bound this behavior. Any application where an attacker can influence the glob pattern passed to `minimatch()` is vulnerable. The realistic attack surface includes build tools and task runners that accept user-supplied glob arguments (ESLint, Webpack, Rollup config), multi-tenant systems where one tenant configures glob-based rules that run in a shared process, admin or developer interfaces that accept ignore-rule or filter configuration as globs, and CI/CD pipelines that evaluate user-submitted config files containing glob patterns. An attacker who can place a crafted pattern into any of these paths can stall the Node.js event loop for tens of seconds per invocation. The pattern is 56 bytes for a 5-second stall and does not require authentication in contexts where pattern input is part of the feature. Versions 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, 5.1.8, 4.2.5, and 3.1.3 fix the issue.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-27903 is denial-of-service (DoS) through event loop stalling in Node.js applications using vulnerable minimatch versions. This can degrade or halt services relying on glob pattern matching, including build systems, task runners, multi-tenant platforms, developer/admin interfaces, and CI/CD pipelines. The stalling can cause significant delays (several seconds per invocation), potentially leading to cascading failures, resource exhaustion, and degraded user experience. In multi-tenant or shared environments, one malicious tenant can disrupt service for others. Since the vulnerability does not affect confidentiality or integrity, the main concern is availability. The ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction in many contexts increases the risk of automated or targeted DoS attacks. Organizations relying heavily on JavaScript tooling and Node.js infrastructure are particularly vulnerable, potentially impacting development workflows, deployment pipelines, and operational stability.

CWE-407Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Low
An algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.1.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/isaacs/minimatch/security/advisories/GHSA-7r86-cg39-jmmj (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 5 Mar 2026, 10:04 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-407

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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