What is CVE-2025-5889?

CVE-2025-5889 is a low-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in brace-expansion (npm), affecting versions >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1. It is fixed in 2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.

How severe is CVE-2025-5889?

CVE-2025-5889 has a CVSS score of 3.1 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.

Which versions of brace-expansion are affected by CVE-2025-5889?

brace-expansion (npm) versions >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1 is affected.

Is there a fix for CVE-2025-5889?

Yes. CVE-2025-5889 is fixed in 2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2025-5889 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk.

What actually determines whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable, and how bad it is?

Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.

CVE-2025-5889 in brace-expansion | Intelligent Application Security

Q: How severe is CVE-2025-5889?

CVE-2025-5889 has a CVSS score of 3.1 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.

Q: Which versions of brace-expansion are affected by CVE-2025-5889?

brace-expansion (npm) versions >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2025-5889?

Yes. CVE-2025-5889 is fixed in 2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2025-5889 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable, and how bad it is?

Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2025-5889?

Upgrade: brace-expansion to 2.0.2 or later, brace-expansion to 1.1.12 or later, brace-expansion to 3.0.1 or later, brace-expansion to 4.0.1 or later.

Summary

A vulnerability was found in juliangruber brace-expansion up to 1.1.11/2.0.1/3.0.0/4.0.0. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is the function expand of the file index.js. The manipulation leads to inefficient regular expression complexity. The attack may be launched remotely. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitation is known to be difficult. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 1.1.12, 2.0.2, 3.0.1 and 4.0.1 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is a5b98a4f30d7813266b221435e1eaaf25a1b0ac5. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Impact

Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.

CVE-2025-5889 has a CVSS score of 3.1 (Low). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

brace-expansion (>= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1) brace-expansion (>= 1.0.0, <= 1.1.11) brace-expansion (= 3.0.0) brace-expansion (= 4.0.0)

Security releases

brace-expansion → 2.0.2 (npm) brace-expansion → 1.1.12 (npm) brace-expansion → 3.0.1 (npm) brace-expansion → 4.0.1 (npm)

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

See it in your environment

Remediation advice

Upgrade the following packages to resolve this vulnerability:

brace-expansion to 2.0.2 or later; brace-expansion to 1.1.12 or later; brace-expansion to 3.0.1 or later; brace-expansion to 4.0.1 or later

Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-5889? CVE-2025-5889 is a low-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in brace-expansion (npm), affecting versions >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1. It is fixed in 2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
How severe is CVE-2025-5889? CVE-2025-5889 has a CVSS score of 3.1 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
Which versions of brace-expansion are affected by CVE-2025-5889? brace-expansion (npm) versions >= 2.0.0, <= 2.0.1 is affected.
Is there a fix for CVE-2025-5889? Yes. CVE-2025-5889 is fixed in 2.0.2, 1.1.12, 3.0.1, 4.0.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2025-5889 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
What actually determines whether CVE-2025-5889 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
How do I fix CVE-2025-5889?
- Upgrade brace-expansion to 2.0.2 or later
- Upgrade brace-expansion to 1.1.12 or later
- Upgrade brace-expansion to 3.0.1 or later
- Upgrade brace-expansion to 4.0.1 or later

Other vulnerabilities in brace-expansion

CVE-2026-33750 CVE-2025-5889 CVE-2017-18077