js-yaml: Exponential parsing time in the flow collections leads to denial of service

Summary

CVECVE-2026-73643
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-13 18:18:19 UTC
Updated2026-08-13 18:18:19 UTC
Descriptionjs-yaml is a JavaScript YAML parser and dumper. From 5.0.0 until 5.2.2, parsing a small YAML document can take exponential time when an application calls load() or loadAll() on untrusted input. In src/parser/parser.ts, readFlowCollection uses restoreState and calls parseNode a second time when a flow-sequence entry is recognized as a key: value pair. If the key is a nested flow sequence of the same shape, every level is parsed twice, causing O(2^n) work and allowing an input under 200 bytes to keep one CPU busy for minutes, block the Node.js event loop, and stall the process. No anchors, aliases, merges, tags, or nondefault options are required. This issue is fixed in version 5.2.2.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-407 | CWE-407 CWE-407: Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Nodeca Js-yaml affected >= 5.0.0, < 5.2.2 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/commit/3e5240f9cbe645ce5afb58524954a13c8539c853 [email protected] github.com
github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/security/advisories/GHSA-pm4m-ph32-ghv5 [email protected] github.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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