CVE-2021-23341: Prismjs Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-h4hr-7fg3-h35w
Share
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-23341 is a HIGH denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Prismjs libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves denial of service in prismjs. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.23.0.

CVE-2021-23341 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-23341
GHSA Identifier GHSA-h4hr-7fg3-h35w
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Prismjs
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2021-23341

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

prismjs fixed: 1.23.0 
npm install prismjs@1.23.0
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 prismjs

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2021-23341, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls prismjs

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Prismjs in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.23.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls prismjs 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-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Prismjs, 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

The package prismjs before 1.23.0 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) via the `prism-asciidoc`, `prism-rest`, `prism-tap` and `prism-eiffel` components.

CVE-2021-23341 Affected Prismjs Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.23.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
prismjs
npm/prismjs
npm
< 1.23.0
1.23.0

References

NVD — CVE-2021-23341 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23341
Prismjs Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/issues/2583
Prismjs Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/pull/2584
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/commit/c2f6a64426f44497a675cb32dccb079b3eff1609
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-java-orgw... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARS-1076583
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-java-orgw... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARSNPM-1076582
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-js-prismj... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-PRISMJS-1076581
www.npmjs.com/package/prismjs WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/package/prismjs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-23341?
CVE-2021-23341 is a security vulnerability in Prismjs involving Denial of service in prismjs under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Prismjs versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.23.0 across affected packages: prismjs.
What version fixes CVE-2021-23341?
Upgrading to 1.23.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is prismjs affected?
Yes, prismjs is affected in releases prior to 1.23.0. Upgrade your dependency to 1.23.0 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-23341?
CVE-2021-23341 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2021-23341?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls prismjs'. 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-h4hr-7fg3-h35w",
  "modified" : "2023-09-05T22:59:24Z",
  "published" : "2021-03-01T19:52:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-23341" ],
  "summary" : "Denial of service in prismjs",
  "details" : "The package prismjs before 1.23.0 are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) via the `prism-asciidoc`, `prism-rest`, `prism-tap` and `prism-eiffel` components.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "prismjs"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.23.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23341"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/issues/2583"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/pull/2584"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/PrismJS/prism/commit/c2f6a64426f44497a675cb32dccb079b3eff1609"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARS-1076583"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARSNPM-1076582"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-PRISMJS-1076581"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/package/prismjs"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-02-24T07:34:23Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-02-18T16:15:00Z"
  }
}