CVE-2023-34104
Regex Injection via Doctype Entities
CVE-2023-34104 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Naturalintelligence Fast-xml-parser, published June 6, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.13%, the 66th percentile. Fixed in fast-xml-parser 4.2.4.
- Severity
- 7.5 HighCVSS 3.1, CVE List
- Exploit chance
- 1.13%EPSS, 66th percentile
- Exploitation
- None knownNot on CISA’s or ENISA’s lists
- Fixed in
4.2.4fast-xml-parser
Description
fast-xml-parser is an open source, pure javascript xml parser. fast-xml-parser allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for denial of service (DoS) attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time. This problem has been resolved in v4.2.4. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by setting the processEntities: false option.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
fast-xml-parsernpm | 4.1.3 up to 4.2.4 | 4.2.4 |
What each source reports
CVE List Score used 7.5
Regex Injection via Doctype Entities
fast-xml-parser is an open source, pure javascript xml parser. fast-xml-parser allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for denial of service (DoS) attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time. This problem has been resolved in v4.2.4. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by setting the processEntities: false option.
- Record
CVE-2023-34104- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400, CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-1717 7.5
fast-xml-parser is an open source, pure javascript xml parser. fast-xml-parser allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for denial of service (DoS) attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time. This problem has been resolved in v4.2.4. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by setting the processEntities: false option.
- Record
EUVD-2023-1717- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw 7.5
fast-xml-parser vulnerable to Regex Injection via Doctype Entities
Impact
"fast-xml-parser" allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for DoS attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time.
Patches
The problem has been resolved in v4.2.4
Workarounds
Avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by processEntities: false option.
- Record
GHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400, CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD 7.5
fast-xml-parser is an open source, pure javascript xml parser. fast-xml-parser allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for denial of service (DoS) attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time. This problem has been resolved in v4.2.4. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by setting the processEntities: false option.
- Record
CVE-2023-34104- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400, CWE-1333
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV 7.5
Regex Injection via Doctype Entities
fast-xml-parser is an open source, pure javascript xml parser. fast-xml-parser allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for denial of service (DoS) attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time. This problem has been resolved in v4.2.4. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by setting the processEntities: false option.
- Record
CVE-2023-34104- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333, CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-11
OSVGHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw 7.5
fast-xml-parser vulnerable to Regex Injection via Doctype Entities
Impact
"fast-xml-parser" allows special characters in entity names, which are not escaped or sanitized. Since the entity name is used for creating a regex for searching and replacing entities in the XML body, an attacker can abuse it for DoS attacks. By crafting an entity name that results in an intentionally bad performing regex and utilizing it in the entity replacement step of the parser, this can cause the parser to stall for an indefinite amount of time.
Patches
The problem has been resolved in v4.2.4
Workarounds
Avoid using DOCTYPE parsing by processEntities: false option.
- Record
GHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1333, CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | OSV | |
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
References
github.com/NaturalIntelligence/fast-xml-parser/security/advisories/GHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw
github.com/NaturalIntelligence/fast-xml-parser/commit/39b0e050bb909e8499478657f84a3076e39ce76c
github.com/NaturalIntelligence/fast-xml-parser/commit/a4bdced80369892ee413bf08e28b78795a2b0d5b
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-34104
github.com/advisories/GHSA-6w63-h3fj-q4vw
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/34xxx/CVE-2023-34104.json
github.com/NaturalIntelligence/fast-xml-parser