CVE-2026-68499 re2: Global `String.prototype.match` with an empty-matchable pattern never advances → infinite loop with unbounded native memory growth (DoS)
An attacker can cause a denial of service by triggering an infinite loop and memory exhaustion in the re2 library using specific regex patterns.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-68499?
CVE-2026-68499 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in uhop node-re2, published on 30 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
re2 provides Node.js bindings for Google's RE2 regular expression engine. Prior to 1.25.2, re2's String.prototype.match implementation with a global RE2 pattern that can match the empty string fails to advance its native matching cursor in lib/match.cc, causing an infinite loop and unbounded native memory growth that blocks the event loop and can exhaust host memory. This issue is fixed in 1.25.2.
Weakness: CWE-835
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-68499?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including re2.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
re2 npm | All versions | 1.25.2 |
re2 npm | All versions | 1.25.2 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-68499?
Upgrade re2 to 1.25.2 or later.
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-2026-68499 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-68499 exists.
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-TO50877, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-68499, GHSA-6hxr-mr5r-9836, MINI-2qrf-3q8h-9c6x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-68499.