Javascript Expression EvaluatorApplication · Jorenbroekema

CVE-2025-12735

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The expr-eval library is a JavaScript expression parser and evaluator designed to safely evaluate mathematical expressions with user-defined variables. However, due to insufficient input validation, an attacker can pass a crafted context object or use MEMBER of the context object into the evaluate() function and trigger arbitrary code execution.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The expr-eval library fails to properly validate context objects passed to its evaluate() function, allowing attackers to inject or access members of context objects in a way that enables arbitrary code execution. This is a critical RCE vulnerability in a widely-used JavaScript expression parser.

MitigationUpgrade expr-eval to the latest patched version and audit all evaluate() calls to ensure untrusted user input is never passed directly as context objects without sanitization.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Javascript Expression EvaluatorApplication
Affected:= 3.0.0
Javascript Expression EvaluatorApplication
Affected:<= 2.0.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed expr-eval version
    Run 'npm ls expr-eval' or check your package.json dependencies for the expr-eval package version
    Affected if Version equals 3.0.0 (Jorenbroekema fork) or is 2.0.2 or lower (Silentmatt version)
  2. Determine which fork is in use
    Inspect the package.json 'name' field in node_modules/expr-eval/package.json or check the main entry point source
    Affected if Package name is 'javascript-expression-evaluator' at version 3.0.0, or 'expr-eval' at version 2.0.2 or below
  3. Find evaluate() calls with context parameters
    Search codebase for pattern: evaluate( and review calls passing a second argument (context object), e.g., expression.evaluate(context)
    Affected if Code passes a context object as the second argument to evaluate()
  4. Audit context object for user-controlled data
    Review all evaluate() calls identified in step 3 and trace whether any context object properties contain request parameters, body data, or other untrusted input
    Affected if Context object contains any data derived from user input, APIs, or external sources without sanitization

Your environment is affected if expr-eval version is 3.0.0 or <=2.0.2 AND your code passes untrusted/user-controlled data as the context object to evaluate() without sanitization.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.0.2
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade expr-eval to the latest patched version and audit all evaluate() calls to ensure untrusted user input is never passed directly as context objects without sanitization.

Recommended fix High confidence

expr-eval version 3.0.1 or later (or the equivalent patched version in the 2.x series if staying on major version 2)

  1. Run `npm list expr-eval` to verify the currently installed version of the expr-eval package
  2. Run `npm install expr-eval@latest` or `npm install [email protected]` to upgrade to the patched version
  3. Verify the upgrade was successful by running `npm list expr-eval`
  4. Review your codebase for any usages of the evaluate() function that accept user-controlled context objects and ensure proper input validation is applied even after upgrading
  5. Run your application's test suite to confirm the upgrade does not break existing functionality
Caveat Minor: Verify that any custom context variable handling in your evaluate() calls still works correctly with the patched version, as the security fix may have changed how context objects are processed

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Javascript Expression Evaluator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-12735 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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