# CVE-2018-7158: Denial of service in Node.js

> Attackers can cause denial of service in Node.js 4.x by crafting inputs that trigger excessive CPU usage in path parsing functions.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 May 2018
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2018-7158, CLEANSTART-2026-DV63680, CLEANSTART-2026-KN13673, DEBIAN-CVE-2018-7158, GHSA-43w8-q5fx-vj5w, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-7158

## What is CVE-2018-7158?

CVE-2018-7158 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 17 May 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The `'path'` module in the Node.js 4.x release line contains a potential regular expression denial of service (ReDoS) vector. The code in question was replaced in Node.js 6.x and later so this vulnerability only impacts all versions of Node.js 4.x. The regular expression, `splitPathRe`, used within the `'path'` module for the various path parsing functions, including `path.dirname()`, `path.extname()` and `path.parse()` was structured in such a way as to allow an attacker to craft a string, that when passed through one of these functions, could take a significant amount of time to evaluate, potentially leading to a full denial of service.

Weakness: CWE-185 (Incorrect Regular Expression)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-7158?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nodejs Node.js.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-7158?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-7158 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7158 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Nodejs Node.js

- [CVE-2023-32002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32002/): Security feature bypass in Node (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6303](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6303/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-15896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15896/): Security feature bypass in Node.js (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2018-7160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7160/): Server-side request forgery in Node.js (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-12120](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12120/): Misconfiguration in Node.js (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-7158 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-7158 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 17 May 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7158 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Nodejs Node.js. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7158/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7158/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7158
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7158
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-7158

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7158/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.