CVE-2026-32256: Music metadata Music-metadata Has An Infinite Loop Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-v6c2-xwv6-8xf7
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-835
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-32256 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) music-metadata has an infinite loop vulnerability (CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')) affecting Music metadata libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves music-metadata has an infinite loop vulnerability in asf parser. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 11.12.3.

CVE-2026-32256 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-32256
GHSA Identifier GHSA-v6c2-xwv6-8xf7
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
Affected Product Music metadata
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:3.1/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-2026-32256

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

music-metadata fixed: 11.12.3 
npm install music-metadata@11.12.3
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 music-metadata

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2026-32256, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls music-metadata

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Music metadata in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 11.12.3), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls music-metadata 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-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop'), where the product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. In Music metadata, 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

# Summary music-metadata's ASF parser (`parseExtensionObject()` in `lib/asf/AsfParser.ts:112-158`) enters an infinite loop when a sub-object inside the ASF Header Extension Object has `objectSize = 0`. ## Root Cause When objectSize is 0: 1. `remaining = 0 - 24 = -24` 2. `tokenizer.ignore(-24)` moves the read position backward by 24 bytes 3. `extensionSize -= 0` (loop counter never decreases) 4. `while (extensionSize > 0)` never exits 5. The same 24-byte header is re-read infinitely This is the same pattern as CVE-2026-31808 (GHSA-5v7r-6r5c-r473) in file-type — strtok3's `AbstractTokenizer.ignore()` accepts negative values without validation. ## Affected Methods - `parseFile()` — HANGS (FileTokenizer inherits vulnerable ignore()) - `parseBuffer()` — HANGS (BufferTokenizer inherits vulnerable ignore()) - `parseStream()` — NOT affected (ReadStreamTokenizer has own ignore() that throws RangeError) ## Impact A 100-byte crafted .asf file permanently hangs any application using parseFile() or parseBuffer(). music-metadata has 2.2M weekly npm downloads. ## Suggested Fix Validate `objectSize >= minimumHeaderSize` before calculating the payload. Or fix strtok3's `AbstractTokenizer.ignore()` to reject negative values.

CVE-2026-32256 Affected Music metadata Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
11.12.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
music-metadata
npm/music-metadata
npm
< 11.12.3
11.12.3

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata/security/advisories/GHSA-v6c2-xwv6-8xf7
NVD — CVE-2026-32256 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32256
Music metadata Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata
Music metadata Release RELEASE
https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata/releases/tag/v11.12.3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-32256?
CVE-2026-32256 is a security vulnerability in Music metadata involving music-metadata has an infinite loop vulnerability in ASF parser under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop').
Which Music metadata versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 11.12.3 across affected packages: music-metadata.
What version fixes CVE-2026-32256?
Upgrading to 11.12.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is music-metadata affected?
Yes, music-metadata is affected in releases prior to 11.12.3. Upgrade your dependency to 11.12.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-32256?
CVE-2026-32256 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-32256?
CVE-2026-32256 is classified under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') (The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2026-32256?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls music-metadata'. 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-v6c2-xwv6-8xf7",
  "modified" : "2026-03-19T21:00:51Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-17T20:04:48Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-32256" ],
  "summary" : "music-metadata has an infinite loop vulnerability in ASF parser",
  "details" : "# Summary\n\nmusic-metadata's ASF parser (`parseExtensionObject()` in `lib/asf/AsfParser.ts:112-158`) enters an infinite loop when a sub-object inside the ASF Header Extension Object has `objectSize = 0`.\n\n## Root Cause\n\nWhen objectSize is 0:\n1. `remaining = 0 - 24 = -24`\n2. `tokenizer.ignore(-24)` moves the read position backward by 24 bytes\n3. `extensionSize -= 0` (loop counter never decreases)\n4. `while (extensionSize > 0)` never exits\n5. The same 24-byte header is re-read infinitely\n\nThis is the same pattern as CVE-2026-31808 (GHSA-5v7r-6r5c-r473) in file-type — strtok3's `AbstractTokenizer.ignore()` accepts negative values without validation.\n\n## Affected Methods\n- `parseFile()` — HANGS (FileTokenizer inherits vulnerable ignore())\n- `parseBuffer()` — HANGS (BufferTokenizer inherits vulnerable ignore())\n- `parseStream()` — NOT affected (ReadStreamTokenizer has own ignore() that throws RangeError)\n\n## Impact\nA 100-byte crafted .asf file permanently hangs any application using parseFile() or parseBuffer(). music-metadata has 2.2M weekly npm downloads.\n\n## Suggested Fix\nValidate `objectSize >= minimumHeaderSize` before calculating the payload. Or fix strtok3's `AbstractTokenizer.ignore()` to reject negative values.",
  "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" : "music-metadata"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "11.12.3"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 11.12.1"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata/security/advisories/GHSA-v6c2-xwv6-8xf7"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32256"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Borewit/music-metadata/releases/tag/v11.12.3"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-835" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-17T20:04:48Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-18T04:17:25Z"
  }
}