github / github/codeql

JS: Atomic group polyfill not detected as a ReDOS mitigation

Open
#9,062 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
false-positive
Dominant language
CodeQL
Stars
10.1k
Forks
2.1k
Avg merge
2d 15h
Merged PRs (30d)
141

Description

**Description of the false positive**

You can polyfill atomic groups in JS by using the `/(?=(...))\1//` pattern, but LGTM doesn't seem to understand it and reports a false positive [here](https://lgtm.com/projects/g/compose-regexp/compose-regexp.js/snapshot/e31d432f942019263401085e38558c5661dc7460/files/commonjs/compose-regexp.js?sort=name&dir=ASC&mode=heatmap#xdcee8d483c053100:1).

Here's the culprit:

```JS
var oneEscapeOrCharClassMatcher = /^(?:\\.|\[(?=((?:\\.|.)*?))\1\])$/;
```

There are other similar cases in the project, it is a RegExp composition lib that provides an `atomic(x)` helper that wraps `x` accordingly (and uses such RegExps internally).

Still, to my amusement (and slight consternation), LGTM caught an polynomial ReDOS in my lib... Thanks for the project.

**URL to the alert on the project page on LGTM.com**

https://lgtm.com/projects/g/compose-regexp/compose-regexp.js/snapshot/e31d432f942019263401085e38558c5661dc7460/files/commonjs/compose-regexp.js?sort=name&dir=ASC&mode=heatmap#xdcee8d483c053100:1

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Assessment

This issue has not been assessed yet.

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.