Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw can let a remote attacker make software using vulnerable pacote consume excessive CPU and stall or crash. It is a denial-of-service issue, not described as data theft or code execution in the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority availability risk for systems that process untrusted package specifications. Prioritize inventory first, then update or isolate affected services when vendor guidance is available.
Technical view
CVE-2026-9496 affects pacote and org.webjars.npm:pacote at or from version 11.2.7. The addGitSha function can be driven by a crafted spec.rawSpec value into expensive regex replacement and string manipulation, causing high CPU consumption. The CVSS v4 score is 8.7 with high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in Node.js or Java applications that include pacote directly, via npm tooling, or through the WebJars npm package. Risk is higher where external users can influence package spec values processed by pacote.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. The CVSS vector includes proof-of-concept exploit maturity, but the provided sources do not describe active attacks.
Researcher notes
The evidence points to algorithmic complexity or uncontrolled resource consumption in addGitSha. The bundle does not provide a fixed version, patch commit, exploit details, or proof of active exploitation, so validation should stay dependency- and data-flow-focused.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory direct and transitive use of pacote and org.webjars.npm:pacote.
- Check npm, Snyk, and vendor guidance for fixed versions or official mitigations.
- Update vulnerable dependencies once a safe version is identified by authoritative sources.
- Avoid passing untrusted package spec values into affected processing paths where feasible.
- Apply process resource limits and monitoring around services that process package specs.
Validation and detection
- Review SBOMs, lockfiles, and dependency manifests for affected pacote packages.
- Identify whether external input can influence spec.rawSpec values.
- Confirm dependency updates remove the vulnerable version from runtime and build paths.
- Monitor affected services for CPU spikes, stalls, or crashes during package-spec processing.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-1333: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-400: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-9496 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.7 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P — — snyk CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P 3.9 3.6 snyk Vulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
8.7 HighVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5 HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:P
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reserved CVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE published CVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updated CVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 source CVE List V5
- https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-PACOTE-8225084 CVE reference, snyk
- https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGWEBJARSNPM-16874025 CVE reference, snyk
- https://github.com/npm/pacote/blob/9d7459440826ab4cf962ef98d8f3fd0c4d464b5c/lib/util/add-git-sha.js%23L2C1-L13C2 CVE reference, snyk
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.