Underscore.js has unlimited recursion in _.flatten and _.isEqual, potential for DoS attack

Summary

CVECVE-2026-27601
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-03-03 23:15:55 UTC
Updated2026-04-28 15:06:03 UTC
DescriptionUnderscore.js is a utility-belt library for JavaScript. Prior to 1.13.8, the _.flatten and _.isEqual functions use recursion without a depth limit. Under very specific conditions, detailed below, an attacker could exploit this in a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by triggering a stack overflow. Untrusted input must be used to create a recursive datastructure, for example using JSON.parse, with no enforced depth limit. The datastructure thus created must be passed to _.flatten or _.isEqual. In the case of _.flatten, the vulnerability can only be exploited if it is possible for a remote client to prepare a datastructure that consists of arrays at all levels AND if no finite depth limit is passed as the second argument to _.flatten. In the case of _.isEqual, the vulnerability can only be exploited if there exists a code path in which two distinct datastructures that were submitted by the same remote client are compared using _.isEqual. For example, if a client submits data that are stored in a database, and the same client can later submit another datastructure that is then compared to the data that were saved in the database previously, OR if a client submits a single request, but its data are parsed twice, creating two non-identical but equivalent datastructures that are then compared. Exceptions originating from the call to _.flatten or _.isEqual, as a result of a stack overflow, are not being caught. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.13.8.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 8.2 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-770 | CWE-770 CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary8.2HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNADECLARED8.2HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
3.1[email protected]Primary5.9MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Underscorejs Underscore All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Jashkenas Underscore affected < 1.13.8 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/jashkenas/underscore/commit/411e222eb0ca5d570cc4f6315c02c05b8... [email protected] github.com Patch
github.com/jashkenas/underscore/security/advisories/GHSA-qpx9-hpmf-5gmw [email protected] github.com Exploit, Patch, Vendor Advisory
github.com/jashkenas/underscore/commit/a6e23ae9647461ec33ad9f92a2ecfc220... [email protected] github.com Patch
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
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