Underscore.js has unlimited recursion in _.flatten and _.isEqual, potential for DoS attack

Summary

Underscore.js is a utility-belt library for JavaScript. Prior to 1.13.8, the .flatten and .isEqual functions use recursion without a depth limit. Under very specific conditions, detailed below, an attacker could exploit this in a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by triggering a stack overflow. Untrusted input must be used to create a recursive datastructure, for example using JSON.parse, with no enforced depth limit. The datastructure thus created must be passed to .flatten or .isEqual. In the case of .flatten, the vulnerability can only be exploited if it is possible for a remote client to prepare a datastructure that consists of arrays at all levels AND if no finite depth limit is passed as the second argument to .flatten. In the case of .isEqual, the vulnerability can only be exploited if there exists a code path in which two distinct datastructures that were submitted by the same remote client are compared using .isEqual. For example, if a client submits data that are stored in a database, and the same client can later submit another datastructure that is then compared to the data that were saved in the database previously, OR if a client submits a single request, but its data are parsed twice, creating two non-identical but equivalent datastructures that are then compared. Exceptions originating from the call to .flatten or .isEqual, as a result of a stack overflow, are not being caught. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.13.8.

Timeline

1. Mar 3, 2026, 10:38 PM UTCCVE published
2. Mar 4, 2026, 4:44 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. Mar 4, 2026, 4:44 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• jashkenas underscore

  fixed in 1.13.8

• underscorenpm

  fixed in 1.13.8

References 3