ajv (Another JSON Schema Validator) through version 8.17.1 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when the $data option is enabled. The pattern keyword accepts runtime data via JSON Pointer syntax ($data reference), which is passed directly to the JavaScript RegExp() constructor without validation. An attacker can inject a malicious regex pattern (e.g., "^(a|a)*$") combined with crafted input to cause catastrophic backtracking. A 31-character payload causes approximately 44 seconds of CPU blocking, with each additional character doubling execution time. This enables complete denial of service with a single HTTP request against any API using ajv with $data: true for dynamic schema validation.
History

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description ajv (Another JSON Schema Validator) through version 8.17.1 is vulnerable to Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) when the $data option is enabled. The pattern keyword accepts runtime data via JSON Pointer syntax ($data reference), which is passed directly to the JavaScript RegExp() constructor without validation. An attacker can inject a malicious regex pattern (e.g., "^(a|a)*$") combined with crafted input to cause catastrophic backtracking. A 31-character payload causes approximately 44 seconds of CPU blocking, with each additional character doubling execution time. This enables complete denial of service with a single HTTP request against any API using ajv with $data: true for dynamic schema validation.
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: mitre

Published:

Updated: 2026-02-11T18:18:33.849Z

Reserved: 2026-01-09T00:00:00.000Z

Link: CVE-2025-69873

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-02-11T19:15:50.467

Modified: 2026-02-11T19:15:50.467

Link: CVE-2025-69873

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.