CVE-2025-25289 @octokit/request-error has a Regular Expression in index that Leads to ReDoS Vulnerability Due to Catastrophic Backtracking
Attackers can cause denial of service in applications using this library by sending crafted HTTP headers that trigger catastrophic regex backtracking.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2025-25289?
CVE-2025-25289 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in octokit request-error.js, published on 14 Feb 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
@octokit/request-error is an error class for Octokit request errors. Starting in version 1.0.0 and prior to version 6.1.7, a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability exists in the processing of HTTP request headers. By sending an authorization header containing an excessively long sequence of spaces followed by a newline and "@", an attacker can exploit inefficient regular expression processing, leading to excessive resource consumption. This can significantly degrade server performance or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, impacting availability. Version 6.1.7 contains a fix for the issue.
Weakness: CWE-1333
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-25289?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including @octokit/request-error.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
@octokit/request-error npm | From 1.0.0 | 5.1.1 |
@octokit/request-error npm | From 1.0.0 | 5.1.1 |
@octokit/request-error npm | From 6.0.0 | 6.1.7 |
@octokit/request-error npm | From 6.0.0 | 6.1.7 |
How do I fix CVE-2025-25289?
Upgrade @octokit/request-error to a fixed version for your release line: 5.1.1 or 6.1.7.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2025-25289 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-25289 exists.
Sources
Also known as CLSA-2026-1793208276, GHSA-xx4v-prfh-6cgc, MINI-95fg-8v9w-37cc, MINI-fxv9-hhjp-r5h6, MINI-qg8q-g66p-vqwc, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2025-25289.