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tarteaucitron.js has Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 13, 2026 in AmauriC/tarteaucitron.js • Updated Jan 14, 2026

Package

npm tarteaucitronjs (npm)

Affected versions

< 1.29.0

Patched versions

1.29.0

Description

Summary

A potential Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability was identified in tarteaucitron.js in the handling of the issuu_id parameter.

Details

The issue was caused by the use of insufficiently constrained regular expressions applied to attacker-controlled input:

if (issuu_id.match(/\d+\/\d+/)) {
    issuu_embed = '#' + issuu_id;
} else if (issuu_id.match(/d=(.*)&u=(.*)/)) {
    issuu_embed = '?' + issuu_id;
}

These expressions are not anchored and rely on greedy patterns (.*). When evaluated against specially crafted input, they may cause excessive backtracking, leading to high CPU consumption and potential denial of service.

Impact

An attacker able to control the issuu_id parameter could exploit this vulnerability to degrade performance or cause temporary service unavailability through CPU exhaustion.

No confidentiality or integrity impact was identified.

Fix AmauriC/tarteaucitron.js@f0bbdac

The logic was simplified and hardened by removing ambiguous regular expressions and enforcing strict input validation:

if (issuu_id.match(/^\d+\/\d+$/)) {
    issuu_embed = '#' + issuu_id;
} else {
    issuu_embed = '?' + issuu_id;
}

This change eliminates the risk of catastrophic backtracking and prevents ReDoS conditions.

Additionally, code related to the legacy "Alexa Rank" service was removed. This service, historically provided by Alexa.com via browser toolbars and popularity rankings, has been deprecated for several years and is no longer operational. The Alexa domain is now exclusively associated with the Amazon voice assistant, and the original ranking service has been permanently discontinued.

References

@AmauriC AmauriC published to AmauriC/tarteaucitron.js Jan 13, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jan 13, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 13, 2026
Reviewed Jan 13, 2026
Last updated Jan 14, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(4th percentile)

Weaknesses

Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity

The product uses a regular expression with an inefficient, possibly exponential worst-case computational complexity that consumes excessive CPU cycles. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-22809

GHSA ID

GHSA-q5f6-qxm2-mcqm

Credits

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