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Node.jsApplication

CVE-2023-38552

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 20.8.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
When the Node.js policy feature checks the integrity of a resource against a trusted manifest, the application can intercept the operation and return a forged checksum to the node's policy implementation, thus effectively disabling the integrity check. Impacts: This vulnerability affects all users using the experimental policy mechanism in all active release lines: 18.x and, 20.x. Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the policy mechanism is an experimental feature of Node.js.

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 · high confidence

The Node.js experimental policy mechanism, designed to verify resource integrity against a trusted manifest, can be bypassed by intercepting the integrity check operation and returning a forged checksum. This allows attackers to effectively disable the integrity verification entirely, undermining the security guarantees of the policy feature.

MitigationDisable the experimental policy feature in Node.js 18.x and 20.x until the vulnerability is patched. Do not rely on the policy mechanism for security-critical integrity verification in affected versions.

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
Node.jsApplication
Affected:>= 18.0.0, <= 18.18.1>= 20.1.0, <= 20.8.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 37= 38= 39

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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 Node.js version
    Run 'node --version' to get the installed Node.js version number
    Affected if The version falls within 18.0.0 to 18.18.1 or 20.1.0 to 20.8.0
  2. Verify if policy feature is in use
    Check if Node.js is launched with --experimental-policy flag or if a policy manifest file is referenced in the environment or application configuration
    Affected if The experimental policy mechanism is enabled and a policy manifest is configured
  3. Examine policy manifest configuration
    Inspect the policy manifest JSON file for integrity fields (such as 'integrity' or 'checksum' entries) that validate loaded resources
    Affected if A policy manifest with integrity verification is actively configured
  4. Check for custom module loading behavior
    Review application logs or environment for any signs of custom require hooks, module interception, or instrumentation that could intercept integrity checks
    Affected if Custom module loading or interception mechanisms are present that could forge integrity check results

You are affected if you run Node.js version 18.0.0-18.18.1 or 20.1.0-20.8.0 AND rely on the experimental policy mechanism with integrity verification enabled.

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 20.8.0
Interim mitigation

Disable the experimental policy feature in Node.js 18.x and 20.x until the vulnerability is patched. Do not rely on the policy mechanism for security-critical integrity verification in affected versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Node.js 18.x users: upgrade to 18.19.0 or later | Node.js 20.x users: upgrade to 20.9.0 or later

  1. Identify the currently installed Node.js version using: node --version
  2. If running Node.js 18.x (18.0.0 to 18.18.1), upgrade to Node.js 18.19.0 or later LTS release
  3. If running Node.js 20.x (20.1.0 to 20.8.0), upgrade to Node.js 20.9.0 or later LTS release
  4. Use a version manager like nvm to switch versions: nvm install 18.19.0 (or 20.9.0) && nvm use 18.19.0
  5. Alternatively, download and install the fixed version from nodejs.org official releases
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful by running: node --version
  7. If using the policy mechanism, re-test your application with the experimental policy feature to confirm it functions correctly after the upgrade
Caveat The policy mechanism is experimental; verify your policies still work correctly after upgrading. No breaking API changes expected from this security fix.

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

Fix this in Node.js Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,880
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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-2023-38552 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data