file-type detects the file type of a file, stream, or data. Prior to 21.3.1, a denial of service vulnerability exists in the ASF (WMV/WMA) file type detection parser. When parsing a crafted input where an ASF sub-header has a size field of zero, the parser enters an infinite loop. The payload value becomes negative (-24), causing tokenizer.ignore(payload) to move the read position backwards, so the same sub-header is read repeatedly forever. Any application that uses file-type to detect the type of untrusted/attacker-controlled input is affected. An attacker can stall the Node.js event loop with a 55-byte payload. Fixed in version 21.3.1.
file-type detects the file type of a file, stream, or data. Prior to 21.3.1, a denial of service vulnerability exists in the ASF (WMV/WMA) file type detection parser. When parsing a crafted input where an ASF sub-header has a size field of zero, the parser enters an infinite loop. The payload value becomes negative (-24), causing tokenizer.ignore(payload) to move the read position backwards, so the same sub-header is read repeatedly forever. Any application that uses file-type to detect the type of untrusted/attacker-controlled input is affected. An attacker can stall the Node.js event loop with a 55-byte payload. Fixed in version 21.3.1.
file-type detects the file type of a file, stream, or data. Prior to 21.3.1, a denial of service vulnerability exists in the ASF (WMV/WMA) file type detection parser. When parsing a crafted input where an ASF sub-header has a size field of zero, the parser enters an infinite loop. The payload value becomes negative (-24), causing tokenizer.ignore(payload) to move the read position backwards, so the same sub-header is read repeatedly forever. Any application that uses file-type to detect the type of untrusted/attacker-controlled input is affected. An attacker can stall the Node.js event loop with a 55-byte payload. Fixed in version 21.3.1.
### Impact
A denial of service vulnerability exists in the ASF (WMV/WMA) file type detection parser. When parsing a crafted input where an ASF sub-header has a `size` field of zero, the parser enters an infinite loop. The `payload` value becomes negative (-24), causing `tokenizer.ignore(payload)` to move the read position backwards, so the same sub-header is read repeatedly forever.
Any application that uses `file-type` to detect the type of untrusted/attacker-controlled input is affected. An attacker can stall the Node.js event loop with a 55-byte payload.
### Patches
Fixed in version 21.3.1. Users should upgrade to >= 21.3.1.
### Workarounds
Validate or limit the size of input buffers before passing them to `file-type`, or run file type detection in a worker thread with a timeout.
### References
- Fix commit: 319abf871b50ba2fa221b4a7050059f1ae096f4f
### Reporter
[email protected]
EUVD source date text has no stated timezone and is retained without inventing a UTC instant. Related bulletin membership is not an alias, common cause or applicability claim. A missing vector with a zero score is treated as unrated. Complete vendor/product and underlying source evidence remains in the original JSON.
Original publisher date fields
datePublished: Mar 10, 2026, 9:01:55 PM
dateUpdated: Mar 11, 2026, 4:00:14 PM
2 related source bulletins · separate from aliases
WID-SEC-W-2026-1940: IBM App Connect Enterprise: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Denial of Service
CVE-2026-31808
WID-SEC-W-2026-3046: IBM Concert: Mehrere Schwachstellen
No normalized affected-package data is projected for this source revision. The original publisher record may contain additional product and version evidence; this does not establish that a package is unaffected.
NVD analysis and CPE criteria are source context, not proof that a package or your environment is affected. Complete affected data, logical configurations and SSVC are retained in the original JSON.
The original JSON retains the logical configuration operators, exclusions and version bounds.
No normalized affected-package data is projected for this source revision. The original publisher record may contain additional product and version evidence; this does not establish that a package is unaffected.