CVE-2025-41656
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 · uneditedAn unauthenticated remote attacker can run arbitrary commands on the affected devices with high privileges because the authentication for the Node_RED server is not configured by default.
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 confidenceNode_RED server deployed on affected devices has authentication disabled by default, allowing any remote attacker to connect without credentials and execute arbitrary commands with high system privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate Node_RED installation and versionRun 'node --version' to check Node.js version, then run 'node -p "require('./package.json').version"' from the Node_RED installation directory, or check the settings.js file typically located at ~/.node-red/settings.js or /etc/node-red/settings.jsAffected if Node_RED is installed and the version cannot be verified against the fixed version (if known) or if authentication settings cannot be located
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Verify admin authentication is enabledOpen the Node_RED settings.js file and search for the 'adminAuth' configuration section. Check if it is defined with a valid user credential object containing username and password/passwordHash propertiesAffected if The 'adminAuth' section is commented out, missing, or set to null/undefined, meaning authentication is disabled by default
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Verify HTTP node authentication is enabledIn the same settings.js file, locate the 'httpNodeAuth' configuration. Confirm it contains valid user:password or user:passwordHash valuesAffected if The 'httpNodeAuth' property is absent, commented out, or not configured with credentials
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Check Node_RED network binding configurationReview the settings.js file for 'uiHost' or 'uiPort' settings, and check how Node_RED was started (command line arguments). Run 'netstat -tlnp | grep 1880' or 'ss -tlnp | grep 1880' to see which network interface Node_RED is listening onAffected if Node_RED is bound to 0.0.0.0 or an external IP address rather than 127.0.0.1 (localhost), making it network-accessible without authentication
A user is affected if Node_RED is running with default settings where adminAuth and httpNodeAuth are not configured, especially if bound to a network-accessible interface.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataEnable and configure authentication for Node_RED servers, implement proper username/password credentials, and restrict network access to trusted sources.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-41656 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-41656 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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