High severity · published Aug 12, 2026
CVE-2026-73413
Shescape: Quadratic-time denial of service in flag-protection
8.7
CVSS
0.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
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.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.6% · higher than 48% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
SH
shescape · ericcornelissen
>= 2.1.11, < 2.1.14; >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.1 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73413
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-73413
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/commit/43d70b59d09bbe5c3fd02ef08b3a123e977ed9de
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/commit/b4b34c394e7f9da2775bb75381066b9a228c425f
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/pull/2649
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/pull/2651
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/releases/tag/v2.1.14
github.com
https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/releases/tag/v3.0.1
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