Skip to content

jsonwebtoken vulnerable to signature validation bypass due to insecure default algorithm in jwt.verify()

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Dec 21, 2022 in auth0/node-jsonwebtoken • Updated Jun 21, 2024

Package

npm jsonwebtoken (npm)

Affected versions

< 9.0.0

Patched versions

9.0.0

Description

Overview

In versions <=8.5.1 of jsonwebtoken library, lack of algorithm definition and a falsy secret or key in the jwt.verify() function can lead to signature validation bypass due to defaulting to the none algorithm for signature verification.

Am I affected?

You will be affected if all the following are true in the jwt.verify() function:

  • a token with no signature is received
  • no algorithms are specified
  • a falsy (e.g. null, false, undefined) secret or key is passed

How do I fix it?

Update to version 9.0.0 which removes the default support for the none algorithm in the jwt.verify() method.

Will the fix impact my users?

There will be no impact, if you update to version 9.0.0 and you don’t need to allow for the none algorithm. If you need 'none' algorithm, you have to explicitly specify that in jwt.verify() options.

References

@julienwoll julienwoll published to auth0/node-jsonwebtoken Dec 21, 2022
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Dec 22, 2022
Reviewed Dec 22, 2022
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Dec 22, 2022
Last updated Jun 21, 2024

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L

EPSS score

0.088%
(39th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2022-23540

GHSA ID

GHSA-qwph-4952-7xr6

Source code

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.