High severity · published Jul 17, 2026
CVE-2026-49485
HAPI FHIR: ReDoS via FHIRPath matches()/replaceMatches() in FHIR Validator HTTP Endpoint
7.5
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
HAPI FHIR is a complete implementation of the HL7 FHIR standard for healthcare interoperability in Java. Prior to 6.9.9 and 6.9.4.2, all implementations of FHIRPathEngine accept arbitrary FHIRPath expressions and evaluate them without input validation, and the FHIRPath functions matches(), matchesFull(), and replaceMatches() pass user-controlled regular expressions to Java's Pattern.compile() and String.replaceAll() through an incomplete timeout utility. An attacker can send a resource containing an evil regex pattern that causes catastrophic backtracking, exhausting CPU resources and causing denial of service in the FHIR Validator HTTP endpoint and affected org.hl7.fhir.* modules. This issue is fixed in versions 6.9.9 and 6.9.4.2.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 52% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OR
org.hl7.fhir.core · hapifhir
< 6.9.4.2; >= 6.9.5, < 6.9.9 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-49485
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-49485
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/commit/109c88837c032ef399b2eb87ddde86692065cf41
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/commit/e08982d2b6f6dcd6c670a762d9cf999179fbe4ed
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/pull/2463
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/releases/tag/6.9.4.2
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/releases/tag/6.9.9
github.com
https://github.com/hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core/security/advisories/GHSA-7cmj-v6x8-frvv
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