semver-regex <= 3.1.3 and 4.0.0-4.0.3 — Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS)
CVE-2021-43307Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤1.0.4Update to 1.0.5 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- High7.5
- CVSS
- 7.5CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:NConfidentiality- None
I:NIntegrity- None
A:HAvailability- High
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Insert Special Characters insert-special-characters
- Affected≤ 1.0.4
- Patched in1.0.5
Update to 1.0.5 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 1.0.4. Version 1.0.5 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Insert Special Characters.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 1.0.5, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Insert Special Characters to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence.
An exponential ReDoS (Regular Expression Denial of Service) can be triggered in the semver-regex npm package, when an attacker is able to supply arbitrary input to the test() method. Some WordPress plugins and themes use this dependency though that doesn’t necessarily mean the plugin itself is vulnerable to exploitation.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in Insert Special Characters
All 9| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical9.8 | Remote Code Execution ≤4.4.0Update to 4.4.1 | CVE-2022-25912 | |
| Medium5.4 | Prototype Pollution ≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0 | CVE-2022-37601 | |
| Low3.7 | Regular Expression Denial of Service ≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0 | CVE-2022-37603 | |
| Low3.7 | Regular Expression Denial of Service ≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0 | CVE-2022-37599 | |
| High7.5 | Improper Input Validation ≤1.0.4Update to 1.0.5 | CVE-2022-24775 |
- Critical9.8Remote Code Execution
≤4.4.0Update to 4.4.1
- Medium5.4Prototype Pollution
≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0
- Low3.7Regular Expression Denial of Service
≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0
- Low3.7Regular Expression Denial of Service
≤4.3.1Update to 4.4.0
- High7.5Improper Input Validation
≤1.0.4Update to 1.0.5
Timeline
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 7.5
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.