Vulnerabilities in pkg:npm/@octokit/request-error
PACKAGECVE-2025-25289 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity) affecting @octokit/request error libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves @octokit/request-error has a regular expression in index that leads to redos vulnerability due to catastrophic backtracking. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.1.1, 6.1.7.
pkg:npm/@octokit/request-error
Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:npm/@octokit/request-error. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.
| Advisory ID | CVE / NVD | Severity | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| GHSA-xx4v-prfh-6cgc | CVE-2025-25289 | MODERATE | @octokit/request-error has a Regular Expression in index that Leads to ReDoS Vulnerability Due to Catastrophic Backtracking |
CVE-2025-25289 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 5.3
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:L).
How to Fix CVE-2025-25289
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected @octokit/request error 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 @octokit/request-error@5.1.1
npm install @octokit/request-error@6.1.7
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
npm ls @octokit/request-error
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2025-25289, inspect your project dependencies using npm:
npm ls @octokit/request-error
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of @octokit/request error in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.1.1), your application is affected.
Note: The npm ls @octokit/request-error 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 @octokit/request error, 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-2025-25289 Affected @octokit/request error Versions
2 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
@octokit/request-error
|
npm |
≥ 1.0.0
< 5.1.1
|
5.1.1
|
|
@octokit/request-error
|
npm |
≥ 6.0.0
< 6.1.7
|
6.1.7
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2025-25289?
Which @octokit/request error versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2025-25289?
Is @octokit/request-error affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-25289?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-25289?
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2025-25289?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-xx4v-prfh-6cgc",
"modified" : "2025-02-14T23:07:29Z",
"published" : "2025-02-14T17:58:54Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-25289" ],
"summary" : "@octokit/request-error has a Regular Expression in index that Leads to ReDoS Vulnerability Due to Catastrophic Backtracking",
"details" : "### Summary\nA Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability exists in the processing of HTTP request headers. By sending an authorization header containing an excessively long sequence of spaces followed by a newline and \"@\", an attacker can exploit inefficient regular expression processing, leading to excessive resource consumption. This can significantly degrade server performance or cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, impacting availability.\n### Details\nThe issue occurs at [line 52](https://github.com/octokit/request-error.js/blob/main/src/index.ts) of iterator.ts in the @octokit/request-error repository.\nThe vulnerability is caused by the use of an inefficient regular expression in the handling of the `authorization` header within the request processing logic:\n```js\nauthorization: options.request.headers.authorization.replace(\n / .*$/, \n \" [REDACTED]\"\n)\n```\nThe regular expression `/ .*$/` matches a space followed by any number of characters until the end of the line. This pattern is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when processing specially crafted input. Specifically, an attacker can send an `authorization` header containing a long sequence of spaces followed by a newline and \"@\", such as:\n```js\nheaders: {\n authorization: \"\" + \" \".repeat(100000) + \"\\n@\",\n}\n```\nDue to the way JavaScript's regular expression engine backtracks while attempting to match the space followed by arbitrary characters, this input can cause excessive CPU usage, significantly slowing down or even freezing the server. This leads to a denial-of-service condition, impacting availability.\n### PoC\n[The gist of PoC.js](https://gist.github.com/ShiyuBanzhou/e1203ad22701fd043b8501eb37676a0d)\n1. run npm i @octokit/request-error\n2. run 'node poc.js'\nresult:\n3. then the program will stuck forever with high CPU usage\n```js\nimport { RequestError } from \"@octokit/request-error\";\n\nconst error = new RequestError(\"Oops\", 500, {\n request: {\n method: \"POST\",\n url: \"https://api.github.com/foo\",\n body: {\n bar: \"baz\",\n },\n headers: {\n authorization: \"\"+\" \".repeat(100000)+\"\\n@\",\n },\n },\n response: {\n status: 500,\n url: \"https://api.github.com/foo\",\n headers: {\n \"x-github-request-id\": \"1:2:3:4\",\n },\n data: {\n foo: \"bar\",\n },\n },\n});\n```\n\n### Impact\n#### Vulnerability Type & Impact:\nThis is a `Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability`, which occurs due to an inefficient regular expression (`/ .*$/`) used to sanitize the `authorization` header. An attacker can craft a malicious input that triggers excessive backtracking in the regex engine, leading to high CPU consumption and potential denial-of-service (DoS).\n#### Who is Impacted?\n* Projects or services using this code to process HTTP headers are vulnerable.\n* Applications that rely on user-supplied `authorization` headers are at risk, especially those processing a large volume of authentication requests.\n* Multi-tenant or API-driven platforms could experience degraded performance or service outages if exploited at scale.",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "npm",
"name" : "@octokit/request-error"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "1.0.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "5.1.1"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "npm",
"name" : "@octokit/request-error"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "6.0.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "6.1.7"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/octokit/request-error.js/security/advisories/GHSA-xx4v-prfh-6cgc"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-25289"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/octokit/request-error.js/commit/d558320874a4bc8d356babf1079e6f0056a59b9e"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/octokit/request-error.js"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/octokit/request-error.js/blob/main/src/index.ts"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333" ],
"severity" : "MODERATE",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2025-02-14T17:58:54Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2025-02-14T20:15:35Z"
}
}