CVE-2026-118772 (CVSS 7.5)

Description

joi is a schema description language and data validator for JavaScript. From 17.1.1 until 17.13.9 and 18.3.1, the Joi.string().email({ multiple: true }) rule uses a separator regular expression whose leading whitespace quantifier is retried at every position in a long whitespace run that contains no separator, causing quadratic work during String.prototype.split. The behavior applies to the default separator and every custom separator. Applications that validate attacker-controlled values with the multiple option and no effective prior length limit can have the Node.js event loop blocked for seconds by one request, preventing other work. A .max() rule is not sufficient when abortEarly: false allows the email rule to run after the maximum-length check fails. This vulnerability is fixed in versions 17.13.9 and 18.3.1.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

7.5

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0047

Probability of exploitation

0.41%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-1333 CWE-1333

References

Other References

https://github.com/hapijs/joi/commit/03dc1d909818503b06240dadc81e9227ed2649cf https://github.com/hapijs/joi/commit/807858d7480f5075b0610817e3e44230890fb18e https://github.com/hapijs/joi/pull/3162 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/pull/3163 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/releases/tag/v17.13.9 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/releases/tag/v18.3.1 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/security/advisories/GHSA-4528-x5fx-h6hg

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-118772? +

joi is a schema description language and data validator for JavaScript. From 17.1.1 until 17.13.9 and 18.3.1, the Joi.string().email({ multiple: true }) rule uses a separator regular expression whose leading whitespace quantifier is retried at every position in a long whitespace run that contains no separator, causing quadratic work during String.prototype.split. The behavior applies to the default separator and every custom separator. Applications that validate attacker-controlled values with the multiple option and no effective prior length limit can have the Node.js event loop blocked for seconds by one request, preventing other work. A .max() rule is not sufficient when abortEarly: false allows the email rule to run after the maximum-length check fails. This vulnerability is fixed in versions 17.13.9 and 18.3.1. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2026-118772? +

CVE-2026-118772 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching. The EPSS score is 0.0047, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-118772? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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