GHSA-rv95-896h-c2vc - MODERATE Vulnerability | GeekWala
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GHSA-rv95-896h-c2vc

MODERATE

Express.js Open Redirect in malformed URLs

Published March 25, 2024Updated February 4, 2026Source: osv

Details

### Impact Versions of Express.js prior to 4.19.2 and pre-release alpha and beta versions before 5.0.0-beta.3 are affected by an open redirect vulnerability using malformed URLs. When a user of Express performs a redirect using a user-provided URL Express performs an encode [using `encodeurl`](https://github.com/pillarjs/encodeurl) on the contents before passing it to the `location` header. This can cause malformed URLs to be evaluated in unexpected ways by common redirect allow list implementations in Express applications, leading to an Open Redirect via bypass of a properly implemented allow list. The main method impacted is `res.location()` but this is also called from within `res.redirect()`. ### Patches https://github.com/expressjs/express/commit/0867302ddbde0e9463d0564fea5861feb708c2dd https://github.com/expressjs/express/commit/0b746953c4bd8e377123527db11f9cd866e39f94 An initial fix went out with `express@4.19.0`, we then patched a feature regression in `4.19.1` and added improved handling for the bypass in `4.19.2`. ### Workarounds The fix for this involves pre-parsing the url string with either `require('node:url').parse` or `new URL`. These are steps you can take on your own before passing the user input string to `res.location` or `res.redirect`. ### Resources https://github.com/expressjs/express/pull/5539 https://github.com/koajs/koa/issues/1800 https://expressjs.com/en/4x/api.html#res.location

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

npm
Update express to 4.19.2 or later
npm install express@4.19.2
npm
Update express to 5.0.0-beta.3 or later
npm install express@5.0.0-beta.3

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
express
npm
All versions4.19.2
express
npm
All versions5.0.0-beta.3

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 3.1 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Risk Assessment

CVSS Score
3.1

Exploitation is difficult or impact is minor. Address in your next planned update.

EPSS Score (30-day exploit probability)
0.11%
Higher than 30% of vulnerabilities

Also Known As

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