CVE-2026-73413

Shescape: Quadratic-time denial of service in flag-protection

Published Aug 12, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 8.7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Shescape is a simple shell escape library for JavaScript. From 2.1.11 until 2.1.14 and 3.0.1, the flag-protection loop in compose in src/internal/compose.js repeatedly joins and slices flag fragments when flagProtection is enabled, which is the default, making processing quadratic in input size across the escape, escapeAll, quote, and quoteAll APIs. An attacker who can supply a large untrusted input containing many flag fragments can consume CPU and cause denial of service. This issue is fixed in versions 2.1.14 and 3.0.1.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-gm3r-q2wp-hw87 Shescape: Quadratic-time denial of service in the flag-protection
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Ericcornelissen
Ericcornelissen shescape
Vendors & Products Ericcornelissen
Ericcornelissen shescape
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Shescape is a simple shell escape library for JavaScript. From 2.1.11 until 2.1.14 and 3.0.1, the flag-protection loop in compose in src/internal/compose.js repeatedly joins and slices flag fragments when flagProtection is enabled, which is the default, making processing quadratic in input size across the escape, escapeAll, quote, and quoteAll APIs. An attacker who can supply a large untrusted input containing many flag fragments can consume CPU and cause denial of service. This issue is fixed in versions 2.1.14 and 3.0.1.
Title Shescape: Quadratic-time denial of service in flag-protection
Weaknesses CWE-400
CWE-407
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, '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'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Aug 13, 2026, 2:18 PM
Reserved
Aug 12, 2026, 2:32 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Aug 12, 2026, 8:17 PM
Modified
Oct 24, 2026, 3:10 PM