CVE-2022-21681: Marked Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity Vulnerability
HIGHCVE-2022-21681 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) inefficient regular expression complexity vulnerability (CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity) affecting Marked libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves inefficient regular expression complexity in marked. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.0.10.
CVE-2022-21681 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 7.5
The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
How to Fix CVE-2022-21681
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Marked dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
npm install marked@4.0.10Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
npm ls markedHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2022-21681, inspect your project dependencies using npm:
npm ls markedAnalyze the terminal output to locate any version of Marked in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.0.10), your application is affected.
Note: The npm ls marked 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 Marked, 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
CVE-2022-21681 Affected Marked Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
marked
|
npm |
< 4.0.10
|
4.0.10
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2022-21681?
Which Marked versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2022-21681?
Is marked affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21681?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-21681?
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2022-21681?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-5v2h-r2cx-5xgj",
"modified" : "2022-01-14T19:57:17Z",
"published" : "2022-01-14T21:04:46Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-21681" ],
"summary" : "Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in marked",
"details" : "### Impact\n\n_What kind of vulnerability is it?_\n\nDenial of service.\n\nThe regular expression `inline.reflinkSearch` may cause catastrophic backtracking against some strings.\nPoC is the following.\n\n```javascript\nimport * as marked from 'marked';\n\nconsole.log(marked.parse(`[x]: x\n\n\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](\\\\[\\\\](`));\n```\n\n_Who is impacted?_\n\nAnyone who runs untrusted markdown through marked and does not use a worker with a time limit.\n\n### Patches\n\n_Has the problem been patched?_\n\nYes\n\n_What versions should users upgrade to?_\n\n4.0.10\n\n### Workarounds\n\n_Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?_\n\nDo not run untrusted markdown through marked or run marked on a [worker](https://marked.js.org/using_advanced#workers) thread and set a reasonable time limit to prevent draining resources.\n\n### References\n\n_Are there any links users can visit to find out more?_\n\n- https://marked.js.org/using_advanced#workers\n- https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/Regular_expression_Denial_of_Service_-_ReDoS\n\n### For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n\n* Open an issue in [marked](https://github.com/markedjs/marked)\n",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "npm",
"name" : "marked"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "4.0.10"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/markedjs/marked/security/advisories/GHSA-5v2h-r2cx-5xgj"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21681"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/markedjs/marked/commit/8f806573a3f6c6b7a39b8cdb66ab5ebb8d55a5f5"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/markedjs/marked/commit/c4a3ccd344b6929afa8a1d50ac54a721e57012c0"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/markedjs/marked"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AIXDMC3CSHYW3YWVSQOXAWLUYQHAO5UX"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333" ],
"severity" : "HIGH",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2022-01-14T19:57:17Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2022-01-14T17:15:00Z"
}
}