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fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security]#137

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fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security]#137
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renovate/npm-flatted-vulnerability

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@renovate renovate bot commented Mar 15, 2026

This PR contains the following updates:

Package Change Age Confidence
flatted ^3.3.3^3.4.2 age confidence

GitHub Vulnerability Alerts

CVE-2026-32141

Summary

flatted's parse() function uses a recursive revive() phase to resolve circular references in deserialized JSON. When given a crafted payload with deeply nested or self-referential $ indices, the recursion depth is unbounded, causing a stack overflow that crashes the Node.js process.

Impact

Denial of Service (DoS). Any application that passes untrusted input to flatted.parse() can be crashed by an unauthenticated attacker with a single request.

flatted has ~87M weekly npm downloads and is used as the circular-JSON serialization layer in many caching and logging libraries.

Proof of Concept

const flatted = require('flatted');

// Build deeply nested circular reference chain
const depth = 20000;
const arr = new Array(depth + 1);
arr[0] = '{"a":"1"}';
for (let i = 1; i <= depth; i++) {
  arr[i] = `{"a":"${i + 1}"}`;
}
arr[depth] = '{"a":"leaf"}';

const payload = JSON.stringify(arr);
flatted.parse(payload); // RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded

Fix

The maintainer has already merged an iterative (non-recursive) implementation in PR #​88, converting the recursive revive() to a stack-based loop.

Affected Versions

All versions prior to the PR #​88 fix.

CVE-2026-33228


Summary

The parse() function in flatted can use attacker-controlled string values from the parsed JSON as direct array index
keys, without validating that they are numeric. Since the internal input buffer is a JavaScript Array, accessing it
with the key "__proto__" returns Array.prototype via the inherited getter. This object is then treated as a legitimate
parsed value and assigned as a property of the output object, effectively leaking a live reference to Array.prototype
to the consumer. Any code that subsequently writes to that property will pollute the global prototype.


Root Cause

File: esm/index.js:29 (identical in cjs/index.js)

  const resolver = (input, lazy, parsed, $) => output => {
    for (let ke = keys(output), {length} = ke, y = 0; y < length; y++) {
      const k = ke[y];
      const value = output[k];    
      if (value instanceof Primitive) {
        const tmp = input[value];      // Bug is here

No validation that value is a safe numeric index input is built as a plain Array. JavaScript's property lookup on arrays traverses the prototype chain for non-numeric keys. The key "__proto__" resolves to Array.prototype, which:

  • has type "object" → passes the typeof tmp === object guard at line 30
  • is not in the parsed Set yet → passes the !parsed.has(tmp) guard.
  • The reference to Array.prototype is then enqueued in lazy and later unconditionally assigned to the output object.

Replication Steps

  const Flatted = require('flatted'); 
  const parsed = Flatted.parse('[{"x":"__proto__"}]');
  parsed.x.polluted = 'pwned';
  console.log([].polluted);  // Returns true

Impact
An attacker can supply a crafted flatted string to parse() that causes the returned object to hold a live reference to Array.prototype, enabling any downstream code that writes to that property to pollute the global prototype chain, potentially causing denial of service or code execution.

Recommended solution
Validate that the index string represents an integer within the bounds of input before accessing it:

// Before (vulnerable)
const tmp = input[value];

// After (safe)
const idx = +value; // coerce boxed String → number
const tmp = (Number.isInteger(idx) && idx >= 0 && idx < input.length)
? input[idx]
: undefined;


flatted vulnerable to unbounded recursion DoS in parse() revive phase

CVE-2026-32141 / GHSA-25h7-pfq9-p65f

More information

Details

Summary

flatted's parse() function uses a recursive revive() phase to resolve circular references in deserialized JSON. When given a crafted payload with deeply nested or self-referential $ indices, the recursion depth is unbounded, causing a stack overflow that crashes the Node.js process.

Impact

Denial of Service (DoS). Any application that passes untrusted input to flatted.parse() can be crashed by an unauthenticated attacker with a single request.

flatted has ~87M weekly npm downloads and is used as the circular-JSON serialization layer in many caching and logging libraries.

Proof of Concept
const flatted = require('flatted');

// Build deeply nested circular reference chain
const depth = 20000;
const arr = new Array(depth + 1);
arr[0] = '{"a":"1"}';
for (let i = 1; i <= depth; i++) {
  arr[i] = `{"a":"${i + 1}"}`;
}
arr[depth] = '{"a":"leaf"}';

const payload = JSON.stringify(arr);
flatted.parse(payload); // RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded
Fix

The maintainer has already merged an iterative (non-recursive) implementation in PR #​88, converting the recursive revive() to a stack-based loop.

Affected Versions

All versions prior to the PR #​88 fix.

Severity

  • CVSS Score: 7.5 / 10 (High)
  • Vector String: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

This data is provided by OSV and the GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY 4.0).


Prototype Pollution via parse() in NodeJS flatted

CVE-2026-33228 / GHSA-rf6f-7fwh-wjgh

More information

Details


Summary

The parse() function in flatted can use attacker-controlled string values from the parsed JSON as direct array index
keys, without validating that they are numeric. Since the internal input buffer is a JavaScript Array, accessing it
with the key "__proto__" returns Array.prototype via the inherited getter. This object is then treated as a legitimate
parsed value and assigned as a property of the output object, effectively leaking a live reference to Array.prototype
to the consumer. Any code that subsequently writes to that property will pollute the global prototype.


Root Cause

File: esm/index.js:29 (identical in cjs/index.js)

  const resolver = (input, lazy, parsed, $) => output => {
    for (let ke = keys(output), {length} = ke, y = 0; y < length; y++) {
      const k = ke[y];
      const value = output[k];    
      if (value instanceof Primitive) {
        const tmp = input[value];      // Bug is here

No validation that value is a safe numeric index input is built as a plain Array. JavaScript's property lookup on arrays traverses the prototype chain for non-numeric keys. The key "__proto__" resolves to Array.prototype, which:

  • has type "object" → passes the typeof tmp === object guard at line 30
  • is not in the parsed Set yet → passes the !parsed.has(tmp) guard.
  • The reference to Array.prototype is then enqueued in lazy and later unconditionally assigned to the output object.

Replication Steps

  const Flatted = require('flatted'); 
  const parsed = Flatted.parse('[{"x":"__proto__"}]');
  parsed.x.polluted = 'pwned';
  console.log([].polluted);  // Returns true

Impact
An attacker can supply a crafted flatted string to parse() that causes the returned object to hold a live reference to Array.prototype, enabling any downstream code that writes to that property to pollute the global prototype chain, potentially causing denial of service or code execution.

Recommended solution
Validate that the index string represents an integer within the bounds of input before accessing it:

// Before (vulnerable)
const tmp = input[value];

// After (safe)
const idx = +value; // coerce boxed String → number
const tmp = (Number.isInteger(idx) && idx >= 0 && idx < input.length)
? input[idx]
: undefined;

Severity

  • CVSS Score: 8.9 / 10 (High)
  • Vector String: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

References

This data is provided by OSV and the GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY 4.0).


Release Notes

WebReflection/flatted (flatted)

v3.4.2

Compare Source

v3.4.1

Compare Source

v3.4.0

Compare Source

v3.3.4

Compare Source


Configuration

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🚦 Automerge: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied.

Rebasing: Whenever PR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox.

🔕 Ignore: Close this PR and you won't be reminded about this update again.


  • If you want to rebase/retry this PR, check this box

This PR was generated by Mend Renovate. View the repository job log.

@renovate renovate bot force-pushed the renovate/npm-flatted-vulnerability branch from f31956f to c361c3c Compare March 19, 2026 21:18
@renovate renovate bot changed the title fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.0 [security] fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security] Mar 19, 2026
@renovate renovate bot changed the title fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security] fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security] - autoclosed Mar 27, 2026
@renovate renovate bot closed this Mar 27, 2026
@renovate renovate bot deleted the renovate/npm-flatted-vulnerability branch March 27, 2026 15:12
@renovate renovate bot changed the title fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security] - autoclosed fix(deps): update dependency flatted to ^3.4.2 [security] Mar 27, 2026
@renovate renovate bot reopened this Mar 27, 2026
@renovate renovate bot force-pushed the renovate/npm-flatted-vulnerability branch 2 times, most recently from c361c3c to 531beef Compare March 27, 2026 17:43
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