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High, CVSS 8.7amended

minimatch has a ReDoS via repeated wildcards with non-matching literal in pattern

CVE-2026-26996GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (minimatch 10.2.1, 9.0.6, 8.0.5, 7.4.7, 6.2.1, 5.1.7, 4.2.4, 3.1.3), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • npm minimatch

    Affected
    >= 10.0.0, < 10.2.1>= 9.0.0, < 9.0.6>= 8.0.0, < 8.0.5>= 7.0.0, < 7.4.7>= 6.0.0, < 6.2.1>= 5.0.0, < 5.1.7>= 4.0.0, < 4.2.4< 3.1.3
    Fixed in
    6.2.1, 3.1.3, 4.2.4, 10.2.1, 8.0.5, 9.0.6, 7.4.7, 5.1.7

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS 4.0
8.7 · 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 · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2026-26996: 0.58% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 47.61 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary minimatch is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when a glob pattern contains many consecutive wildcards followed by a literal 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. Details Give all details on the vulnerability. Pointing to the incriminated source code is very helpful for the maintainer. PoC When minimatch compiles a glob pattern, each becomes [^/]? in the generated regex. For a pattern like X: When the test string doesn't contain X, the regex engine must try every possible way to distribute the characters across all the [^/]? groups before concluding no match exists. With N groups and M characters, this is O(C(N+M, N)) — exponential.…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 3 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26

  2. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

  3. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-26996

Advisory: minimatch has a ReDoS via repeated wildcards with non-matching literal in pattern
IDs: CVE-2026-26996, GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-26996 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:42 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: minimatch 10.2.1, 9.0.6, 8.0.5, 7.4.7, 6.2.1, 5.1.7, 4.2.4, 3.1.3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm minimatch: affected >= 10.0.0, < 10.2.1; >= 9.0.0, < 9.0.6; >= 8.0.0, < 8.0.5; >= 7.0.0, < 7.4.7; >= 6.0.0, < 6.2.1; >= 5.0.0, < 5.1.7; >= 4.0.0, < 4.2.4; < 3.1.3; fixed in 6.2.1, 3.1.3, 4.2.4, 10.2.1, 8.0.5, 9.0.6, 7.4.7, 5.1.7

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls minimatch --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on minimatch.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26 (OSV record GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26 lists affected ranges: npm minimatch >=10.0.0 =9.0.0 =8.0.0 =7.0.0 =6.0.0 =5.0.0 =4.0.0 =0 <3.1.3 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-3ppc-4f35-3m26 lists affected ranges: npm minimatch >=10.0.0 =9.0.0 =8.0.0 =7.0.0 =6.0.0 =5.0.0 =4.0.0 =0 <3.1.3)

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