CVE-2026-48038 joi: Uncaught RangeError on deeply nested input through recursive `link()` schemas
Attackers can crash applications using the joi library by sending deeply nested input to recursive link schemas, causing an unhandled RangeError.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-48038?
CVE-2026-48038 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in hapijs joi, published on 14 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
joi is a schema description language and data validator for JavaScript. Prior to 17.13.4 and 18.2.1, denial of service is possible via an untrapped exception in services validating user-supplied JSON or object input with recursive link() schemas. When validate() is called without try/catch in a request handler, deeply nested input can trigger an unhandled RangeError and potentially crash the process; lower-impact paths using validateAsync() or try/catch produce a RangeError instead of a structured ValidationError. This issue is fixed in versions 17.13.4 and 18.2.1.
Weakness: CWE-248
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-48038?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including joi.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
joi npm | All versions | 17.13.4 |
joi npm | All versions | 17.13.4 |
joi npm | From 18.0.0 | 18.2.1 |
joi npm | From 18.0.0 | 18.2.1 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-48038?
Upgrade joi to a fixed version for your release line: 17.13.4 or 18.2.1.
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-2026-48038 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-48038 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as ECHO-0d17-e81d-14c0, GHSA-q7cg-457f-vx79, MINI-5v8g-7jgc-6cwp, MINI-63r3-m83j-4c6p, MINI-6chw-qq4v-2hfc, MINI-7ggx-hfcg-9v2g and 14 more.