path-to-regexp vulnerability

Impact: A bad regular expression is generated any time you have multiple sequential optional groups (curly brace syntax), such as `{a}{b}{c}:z`. The generated regex grows exponentially with the number of groups, causing denial of service. Patches: Fixed in version 8.4.0. Workarounds: Limit the number of sequential optional groups in route patterns. Avoid passing user-controlled input as route patterns.

Published 26 Mar 2026Updated 7 Sep 202621 sources
CVSS 7.5

What happened

Impact: A bad regular expression is generated any time you have multiple sequential optional groups (curly brace syntax), such as `{a}{b}{c}:z`. The generated regex grows exponentially with the number of groups, causing denial of service. Patches: Fixed in version 8.4.0. Workarounds: Limit the number of sequential optional groups in route patterns. Avoid passing user-controlled input as route patterns.

Affected versions

path-to-regexp: 8.0.0 through before 8.4.0 (semver) Fixed: See vendor advisory.

Why it matters

Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.

Detection & mitigation

  • Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
  • Review affected product exposure and access logs.

Public PoC references

No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.