shell-quote parse() is quadratic in token count, enabling denial of service
Priority HIGH 77CWE-407Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 25 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-407.
Summary
shell-quote prior to 1.8.5 finalizes parsed tokens in parse() using Array.prototype.concat as a reduce accumulator, which reallocates and copies the entire growing array on every iteration. As a result parse() runs in O(n^2) time relative to the number of input tokens. An attacker who can supply an attacker-controlled string to any code path that calls parse() (no shell metacharacters are required; plain space-separated words suffice) can block the single-threaded Node.js event loop for an extended period with a small input, resulting in a denial of service. There is no code execution or data disclosure; impact is to availability only. Fixed in 1.8.5.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.0036 30th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial shell-quote (npm): 1.9.0Red Hat: 2 advisoriesRed Hat: 1 fixed, 25 without a fix
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ljharb | shell-quote | up to 1.8.4 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | shell-quote (npm) | before 1.9.0 | 1.9.0 | Patch available | GHSA-395f-4hp3-45gv |
- shell-quote Vendorljharb Affected up to 1.8.4 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- shell-quote (npm) Vendor— Affected before 1.9.0 Fixed in 1.9.0 Patch available GHSA-395f-4hp3-45gv
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:shell-quote_project:shell-quote:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* | before 1.9.0 | Vulnerable | Shell-quote Project |
- cpe:2.3:a:shell-quote_project:shell-quote:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions before 1.9.0 Vulnerable ·Shell-quote Project
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-395f-4hp3-45gv shell-quote (npm) Fixed in 1.9.0 Advisory →
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:84734 Released 2026-10-19 · Red Hat rating CriticalRHOAI 3.4.5 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-ai-gateway-payload-processing-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-automl-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-autorag-rhel9 +47
- RHSA-2026:60520 Released 2026-08-27 · Red Hat rating CriticalRHOAI 3.4.4 - Red Hat OpenShift AI
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-automl-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-autorag-rhel9, registry.redhat.io/rhoai/odh-built-in-detector-rhel9 +47
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cryostat 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Gatekeeper 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Migration Toolkit for Containers | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Node HealthCheck Operator | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Pipelines | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Service Mesh 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| OpenShift Service Mesh 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat AMQ Broker 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Build of Podman Desktop | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Data Grid 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Developer Hub 1 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Discovery 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Fuse 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Quay 3 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Self-service automation portal 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 | Fixed | RHSA-2026:60520, RHSA-2026:84734 |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
- Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-13311
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-395f-4hp3-45gv
- 2026-10-20 Fix available: RHSA-2026:84734 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-27 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More ljharb vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-74516 qs stringify throws TypeError on uncoercible array elements in comma format CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-56824 qs.stringify throws TypeError on objects with a non-callable constructor.isBuffer property CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-07665 qs.stringify crashes on null/undefined entries in comma-format arrays under encodeValuesOnly CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-56916 Resource allocation without limits in ljharb qs CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-69286 Prototype pollution in traverse set() modifies built-in prototypes CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.9
- TI-2026-81027 Unencoded keys in qs.stringify allow query parameter injection CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-13311 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-13311 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-395f-4hp3-45gv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-13311 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences