CVE-2026-56017

What it is

JavaScript::Minifier::XS versions before 0.16 for Perl crash with a NULL pointer dereference when the first meaningful token of the input is a slash. The regexp versus division disambiguator in JsTokenizeString (XS.xs) inspects the previous token's last byte to choose between a regexp literal and a division operator. When a slash is the first meaningful token, with the start of input or only whitespace and comments before it, there is no valid preceding token: the walk back over whitespace and comment nodes runs off the head of the node list to NULL, and the byte lookup reads through a NULL contents pointer at an underflowed length index. The following identifier check dereferences the same NULL pointer. The crash is reachable through the public minify() API, so input as small as a single slash byte crashes the calling process. A service that minifies untrusted or third-party JavaScript can be crashed by a remote request, causing denial of service.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2026-06-29 20:17 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-10-25 21:10 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Details

Published

2026-06-29 20:17 UTC

Last modified

2026-10-25 21:10 UTC

Exploit probability

0.5% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds read

Record status

Deferred

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.5

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High