Summary
figlet is vulnerable to denial of service via unbounded loop when whitespaceBreak is used with a small width
Severity
Low or Medium. Triggering requires a non-default configuration (whitespaceBreak: true) and
an attacker-controlled width value reaching text()/textSync(). This library is typically
used with fixed options, where this is not
reachable. Applications that pass an untrusted width together withwhitespaceBreak on a request path are affected.
Workarounds
Do not expose width to untrusted input, or leave whitespaceBreak disabled
(the default), or upgrade to 1.11.3.
Impact
A denial-of-service (infinite loop) can occur in text() / textSync() when
both:
whitespaceBreak: trueis set, andwidthis set smaller than the rendered width of a single FIGlet character.
Under these conditionsbreakWord()could never find a valid break point, so the
word-wrapping loop ingenerateFigTextLines()never terminated. This pins a CPU
core and grows memory without bound, blocking the Node.js event loop.
Affected versions
Security releases
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.
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See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
Fixed in figlet 1.11.3. breakWord() now always makes forward progress
(emitting an over-wide character on its own line), and FIGlet header parsing now
rejects invalid values (e.g. zero/negative height).
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-96780? CVE-2026-96780 is a high-severity security vulnerability in figlet (npm), affecting versions < 1.11.3. It is fixed in 1.11.3.
- Which versions of figlet are affected by CVE-2026-96780? figlet (npm) versions < 1.11.3 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-96780? Yes. CVE-2026-96780 is fixed in 1.11.3. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-96780 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-96780 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-2026-96780 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-2026-96780? Upgrade
figletto 1.11.3 or later.