GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-2g4f-4pwh-qvx6 ajv has ReDoS when using `$data` option
MEDIUM
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2025-69873
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- ajv
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
- Weaknesses
- CWE-1333, CWE-400
- Reviewed
- 2026-02-17
Affected packages
• npm ajv: >= 7.0.0-alpha.0, < 8.18.0 → fixed in 8.18.0
• npm ajv: < 6.14.0 → fixed in 6.14.0
Description
ajv (Another JSON Schema Validator) through version 8.17.1 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when the `$data` option is enabled. The pattern keyword accepts runtime data via JSON Pointer syntax (`$data` reference), which is passed directly to the JavaScript `RegExp()` constructor without validation. An attacker can inject a malicious regex pattern (e.g., `\"^(a|a)*$\"`) combined with crafted input to cause catastrophic backtracking. A 31-character payload causes approximately 44 seconds of CPU blocking, with each additional character doubling execution time. This enables complete denial of service with a single HTTP request against any API using ajv with `$data`: true for dynamic schema validation.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2025-69873 ajv (Another JSON Schema Validator) before 8.18.0 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when the $data option is… vulnerability
References
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-69873 advisory
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/pull/2586 web
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/pull/2588 web
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/pull/2590 web
- https://github.com/github/advisory-database/pull/6991 web
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/commit/720a23fa453ffae8340e92c9b0fe886c54cfe0d5 web
- https://github.com/EthanKim88/ethan-cve-disclosures/blob/main/CVE-2025-69873-ajv-ReDoS.md web
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2g4f-4pwh-qvx6 advisory
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv package
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/releases/tag/v6.14.0 web
- https://github.com/ajv-validator/ajv/releases/tag/v8.18.0 web