GHSA-5q95-hrpc-m3w3

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    GHSA-5q95-hrpc-m3w3

    Published: 23 Sept 2026Last Modified: 23 Sept 2026

    Summary: JLine: ReDoS via `HISTORY_IGNORE` Configuration Variable

    Details: ### Summary The JLine3 `HISTORY_IGNORE` variable is converted into a Java regular expression with only partial escaping. As a result, regex metacharacters other than `*` and `:` are passed through to the regex engine. A crafted value such as `(a+)+b` can cause catastrophic backtracking each time a command line is added to history, hanging the reader thread at high CPU. ### Details In `reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java`, `matchPatterns()` converts `HISTORY_IGNORE` into a regex: ```java for (int i = 0; i < patterns.length(); i++) { char ch = patterns.charAt(i); if (ch == '\\') { ch = patterns.charAt(++i); sb.append(ch); } else if (ch == ':') { sb.append('|'); } else if (ch == '*') { sb.append('.').append('*'); } else { sb.append(ch); } } return line.matches(sb.toString()); ``` This logic translates wildcard syntax but does not escape regex metacharacters such as `(`, `)`, `+`, `?`, `{`, `}`, `[`, and `]`. Those characters therefore reach the Java regex engine unchanged. Affected source location: - `reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java` - `matchPatterns(String patterns, String line)` ### PoC 1. Configure `HISTORY_IGNORE` to a malicious pattern, for example: ```sh set history-ignore "(a+)+b" ``` 2. At the JLine prompt, enter a long non-matching line: ```text aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaax ``` 3. Press Enter. Expected result: - The prompt does not return. - The reader thread consumes high CPU. Reproduction environment: - JLine3 on x86_64 Linux - OpenJDK 25.0.2 ### Impact This is a denial-of-service vulnerability caused by catastrophic regex backtracking. Applications embedding `org.jline:jline-reader` are impacted if they allow `HISTORY_IGNORE` to be configured through user configuration or application settings. The issue is lower severity than the interactive editor findings because the attacker must control configuration, but it can still reliably hang a reader session. ### Suggested Fix The safest fix for the current git head is to stop treating arbitrary `HISTORY_IGNORE` content as a regex. Instead, escape all characters by default and translate only the intended JLine wildcard syntax (`*`) and separator syntax (`:`). Suggested patch: ```diff diff --git a/reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java b/reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java --- a/reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java +++ b/reader/src/main/java/org/jline/reader/impl/history/DefaultHistory.java @@ StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(); for (int i = 0; i < patterns.length(); i++) { char ch = patterns.charAt(i); if (ch == '\\') { ch = patterns.charAt(++i); - sb.append(ch); + sb.append(Pattern.quote(Character.toString(ch))); } else if (ch == ':') { sb.append('|'); } else if (ch == '*') { sb.append('.').append('*'); } else { - sb.append(ch); + sb.append(Pattern.quote(Character.toString(ch))); } } return line.matches(sb.toString()); ``` ### Credits This issue was identified by Michał Majchrowicz and Marcin Wyczechowski, members of the AFINE Team.

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: org.jline:jline-reader

    Purl: pkg:maven/org.jline/jline-reader

    Affected ranges

    Type: ECOSYSTEM

    Events:

    Introduced- 4.0.0
    Fixed -4.3.1

    Affected versions

    4.0.0
    4.0.10
    4.0.11
    4.0.12
    4.0.13
    4.0.14
    4.0.15
    4.0.16
    4.0.2
    4.0.3
    4.0.4
    4.0.5
    4.0.6
    4.0.7
    4.0.8
    4.0.9

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    GHSA-5q95-hrpc-m3w3 | CVE-DB