CVE-2026-48038 (CVSS 5.3)

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.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.3

MEDIUM

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

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0030

Probability of exploitation

0.22%

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-248 CWE-248

References

Other References

https://github.com/hapijs/joi/commit/97bd51de94d595a2d8949eb3bec0dbdd2f8a7a74 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/commit/fc146a628ab9cc250854407722d9f8738c9548e7 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/pull/3113 https://github.com/hapijs/joi/security/advisories/GHSA-q7cg-457f-vx79

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-48038? +

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. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-48038? +

CVE-2026-48038 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0030, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-48038? +

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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