CVE-2026-26996
Minimatch Project Minimatch 3.0.0 – 3.1.3
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-26996 is a high-severity Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity (CWE-1333) vulnerability in Minimatch Project Minimatch. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 42th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-26996 is a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability affecting minimatch versions 10.2.0 and below. minimatch is a minimal matching utility for converting glob expressions into JavaScript RegExp objects. The flaw occurs when a glob pattern contains many consecutive * wildcards followed by a literal character that does not appear in the test string. Each * compiles to a separate [^/]*? regex group, and a failed match triggers exponential backtracking in V8's regex engine, with time complexity O(4^N) where N is the number of * characters.
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely with network access, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, and no impact on confidentiality or integrity (CVSS 7.5, AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H; CWE-1333). Any application passing user-controlled strings to minimatch as the pattern argument is vulnerable to denial of service. A single minimatch() call with N=15 asterisks takes approximately 2 seconds, while N=34 causes it to hang effectively forever, enabling resource exhaustion.
The issue has been fixed in minimatch version 10.2.1. Security practitioners should upgrade to this version. Additional details are available in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch/security/advisories/GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26 and the fixing commit at https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch/commit/2e111f3a79abc00fa73110195de2c0f2351904f5.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-8032
Vulnerability Data
minimatch is a minimal matching utility for converting glob expressions into JavaScript RegExp objects. Versions 10.2.0 and below are vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when a glob pattern contains many consecutive * wildcards followed by a literal…
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character that doesn't appear in the test string. Each * compiles to a separate [^/]*? regex group, and when the match fails, V8's regex engine backtracks exponentially across all possible splits. The time complexity is O(4^N) where N is the number of * characters. With N=15, a single minimatch() call takes ~2 seconds. With N=34, it hangs effectively forever. Any application that passes user-controlled strings to minimatch() as the pattern argument is vulnerable to DoS. This issue has been fixed in version 10.2.1.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover inefficient regex patterns via performance or static analysis.
Development standards and tools can require safe regex construction and forbid known exponential patterns.
Denial-of-service protections limit resource exhaustion caused by expensive regex evaluation.
Input validation can constrain data that would otherwise trigger worst-case regex complexity.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect and reject regex patterns with exponential worst-case complexity.
Secure development lifecycle mandates review of algorithmic efficiency, directly addressing ReDoS-prone regex.
Application security requirements can specify input-validation rules that limit regex complexity.
Secure architecture principles encourage avoidance of computationally expensive constructs such as catastrophic backtracking.
Secure coding standards explicitly prohibit or limit the use of inefficient regular expressions.