CVE-2018-20801: Highcharts Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xmc8-cjfr-phx3
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-1333
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-20801 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity) affecting Highcharts libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in highcharts. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 6.1.0.

CVE-2018-20801 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-20801
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xmc8-cjfr-phx3
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
Affected Product Highcharts
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2018-20801

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Highcharts dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

highcharts fixed: 6.1.0 
npm install highcharts@6.1.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls highcharts

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2018-20801, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls highcharts

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Highcharts in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 6.1.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls highcharts command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity, where the product uses a regular expression with a worst-case computational complexity that is inefficient and possibly exponential. In Highcharts, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Versions of `highcharts` prior to 6.1.0 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS). Untrusted input may cause catastrophic backtracking while matching regular expressions. This can cause the application to be unresponsive leading to Denial of Service. ## Recommendation Upgrade to version 6.1.0 or higher.

CVE-2018-20801 Affected Highcharts Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
6.1.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
highcharts
npm/highcharts
npm
< 6.1.0
6.1.0

References

NVD — CVE-2018-20801 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20801
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts/commit/7c547e1e0f5e4379f94396efd559a566668c0dfa
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xmc8-cjfr-phx3
Highcharts Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts
Highcharts Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190715-0001
snyk.io/vuln/npm:highcharts... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:highcharts:20180225
www.npmjs.com/advisories/793 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/793

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-20801?
CVE-2018-20801 is a security vulnerability in Highcharts involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in highcharts under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity.
Which Highcharts versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 6.1.0 across affected packages: highcharts.
What version fixes CVE-2018-20801?
Upgrading to 6.1.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is highcharts affected?
Yes, highcharts is affected in releases prior to 6.1.0. Upgrade your dependency to 6.1.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-20801?
CVE-2018-20801 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-20801?
CVE-2018-20801 is classified under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity (The product uses a regular expression with a worst-case computational complexity that is inefficient and possibly exponential.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2018-20801?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls highcharts'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-xmc8-cjfr-phx3",
  "modified" : "2021-09-21T22:36:57Z",
  "published" : "2019-03-18T15:59:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-20801" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in highcharts",
  "details" : "Versions of `highcharts` prior to 6.1.0 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS). Untrusted input may cause catastrophic backtracking while matching regular expressions. This can cause the application to be unresponsive leading to Denial of Service.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpgrade to version 6.1.0 or higher.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "highcharts"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "6.1.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20801"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts/commit/7c547e1e0f5e4379f94396efd559a566668c0dfa"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xmc8-cjfr-phx3"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190715-0001"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:highcharts:20180225"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/793"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T22:03:47Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}