# CVE-2026-102278: brace-expansion: DoS via uncontrolled recursion on nested brace groups causing stack exhaustion > Attackers can cause Node.js process termination via stack exhaustion by supplying deeply nested brace patterns to the brace-expansion library. - **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:** 28 Sep 2026 - **Updated:** 1 Oct 2026 - **Also known as:** AZL-105078, AZL-105092, AZL-105242, CLEANSTART-2026-DA12179, CLEANSTART-2026-DZ00497, CLEANSTART-2026-JT17760, CLEANSTART-2026-KI93866, CLEANSTART-2026-LA57544, CLEANSTART-2026-UQ05512, CLSA-2026-1790869539, CLSA-2026-1790876611, CLSA-2026-1790888294, CLSA-2026-1790937659, CLSA-2026-1790968271, CLSA-2026-1791226763, CLSA-2026-1791278791, CLSA-2026-1791282853, CLSA-2026-1791282927, CLSA-2026-1791627005, CLSA-2026-1791627107, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-102278, ECHO-5375-53ef-d472, GHSA-qhr7-859c-m2p7, MINI-25rx-f46q-r5gv, MINI-3gpf-6c7h-64p2, MINI-4c77-cx4c-gxqv, MINI-53x7-j25v-wwv9, MINI-6778-6c4w-xrpm, MINI-6m9q-mmfj-wx4p, MINI-6pqg-fvr3-h9rf, MINI-6w8r-mvr5-r46j, MINI-6xcg-w345-2mvp, MINI-7mcv-43w7-f528, MINI-7q58-f3vj-6p62, MINI-857v-7777-5mph, MINI-8fg5-phc6-6m48, MINI-9cf7-hfjm-7p4r, MINI-9gxj-4967-wh4w, MINI-9h3c-jvrg-9p5g, MINI-9h6x-pccv-8jmf, MINI-c876-72xr-q263, MINI-c9pr-pv2x-cx7w, MINI-g69h-gw3w-35m2, MINI-g6vm-xh8f-2267, MINI-gj65-8rw2-x2h3, MINI-gjg3-hm2m-crxw, MINI-gx5w-wr8r-9w94, MINI-h9j8-f2v3-6jh3, MINI-j727-8947-j6vm, MINI-jfh5-q752-hcwv, MINI-qcw9-q48x-422j, MINI-rrgq-5jww-wmp6, MINI-v93q-7m3x-pgg4, MINI-vpq4-gj8h-v7qm, MINI-w97f-555r-w74m, MINI-wg74-5qq3-5jjv, MINI-wp9h-22qw-h3v5, MINI-wr4h-xrm8-49vw, MINI-xw58-g24j-qrcx, RHSA-2026:73856, RHSA-2026:73914, RHSA-2026:73916, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2026-102278, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-102278 ## What is CVE-2026-102278? CVE-2026-102278 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in juliangruber brace-expansion, published on 28 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim. ### Official description The brace-expansion library generates arbitrary strings containing a common prefix and suffix. Prior to 1.1.20, 2.1.6, 3.0.8, and 5.0.11, deeply nested brace groups cause expand_() to recurse once per nesting level at comma-member and single-set expansion sites, exhausting the native stack before output limits can apply and potentially terminating the Node.js process. expand_ performs uncontrolled recursion for nested brace alternatives and single-part sets. deeply nested brace groups supplied as an untrusted pattern. expand_ is affected. expand is affected. Comma members is affected. Single set is affected. native stack exhaustion during nested sub-expansion. process-terminating denial of service. This issue is fixed in versions 1.1.20, 2.1.6, 3.0.8, and 5.0.11. Weakness: CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion), CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-102278? 8 open source packages ship an affected version, including brace-expansion. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `brace-expansion` | npm | All versions | 1.1.20 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | All versions | 1.1.20 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 2.0.0 | 2.1.6 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 2.0.0 | 2.1.6 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.8 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.8 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 4.0.0 | 5.0.11 | | `brace-expansion` | npm | From 4.0.0 | 5.0.11 | | `nodejs22` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-docs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-full-i18n` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-libs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-npm` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:10.9.9-1.22.23.3.2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs22-npm-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:22.23.3-2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-docs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-full-i18n` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-libs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:24.21.0-1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-npm` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:11.19.0-1.24.21.0.1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs24-npm-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:11.19.0-1.24.21.0.1.1.hum1 | | `nodejs26` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-docs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-full-i18n` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-libs` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-npm` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:11.19.1-1.26.10.0.0.2.hum1 | | `nodejs26-npm-bin` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:26.10.0-0.2.hum1 | | `v8-12.4-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:12.4.254.21-1.22.23.3.2.3.2.1.hum1 | | `v8-13.6-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:13.6.233.17-1.24.21.0.1.1.hum1 | | `v8-14.6-devel` | Red Hat:hummingbird:1 | All versions | 0:14.6.202.34-1.26.10.0.0.2.hum1 | ## How do I fix CVE-2026-102278? Upgrade brace-expansion to a fixed version for your release line: 1.1.20, 2.1.6, 3.0.8 or 5.0.11. ## Is CVE-2026-102278 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-102278 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-102278 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-102278 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in juliangruber brace-expansion, published on 28 Sep 2026. 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-2026-102278 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected packages and fixed versions: - brace-expansion (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.1.20 - brace-expansion (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.1.20 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.1.6 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 2.0.0; fixed in 2.1.6 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.8 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.8 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 4.0.0; fixed in 5.0.11 - brace-expansion (npm): affected from 4.0.0; fixed in 5.0.11 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-2026-102278/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102278/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-102278 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-102278 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-102278 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102278/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.