CVE-2026-84375
js-yaml: maxTotalMergeKeys does not limit CPU use for empty merge sources
Impact
js-yaml is a JavaScript YAML parser and dumper. From 3.0.0 until 3.15.2, 4.3.2, and 5.4.1, maxTotalMergeKeys in lib/js-yaml/loader.js and lib/loader.js does not count empty mapping sources while processing the merge key <<. An attacker can alias a large sequence of empty mappings into many merge targets, causing O(N * K) processing while totalMergeKeys remains unchanged and the configured resource limit is never reached. A relatively small YAML document can therefore cause prolonged CPU consumption in applications that parse untrusted YAML, and merge processing is enabled by default on these release lines. In v3 & v4, merge is enabled by default so the severity score is higher. This issue is fixed in versions 3.15.2, 4.3.2, and 5.4.1.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | js-yaml | >= 4.0.0, < 4.3.2 | 4.3.2 |
Weakness classification
References
- NVD record
- CVE.org record
- GitHub advisory
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2883-xcg3-v3hh
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/security/advisories/GHSA-2883-xcg3-v3hh
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-84375
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/pull/797
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/commit/3485bc06ff8a0251505f44a00414d90df2466639
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/commit/6a8e05f9a485188ed730ac81e81ae221352ef480
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/commit/d90b6612a5a84385bdcb556c44578eac76dc0f6b
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/releases/tag/3.15.2
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/releases/tag/4.3.2
- https://github.com/nodeca/js-yaml/releases/tag/5.4.1