A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js 20 that allowed loading arbitrary OpenSSL engines when the experimental permission mo
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- Fix
- Fixed in 20.3.1
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: none
- Automatable: yes
- Technical impact: partial
Summary
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js 20 that allowed loading arbitrary OpenSSL engines when the experimental permission model is enabled, which can bypass and/or disable the permission model. The attack complexity is high. However, the crypto.setEngine() API can be used to bypass the permission model when called with a compatible OpenSSL engine. The OpenSSL engine can, for example, disable the permission model in the host process by manipulating the process's stack memory to locate the permission model Permission::enabled_ in the host process's heap memory. Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the permission model is an experimental feature of Node.js.
Timeline
- CVE published
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- NodeJS Node
From 4.0; From 5.0; From 6.0; From 7.0; From 8.0; From 9.0; From 10.0; From 11.0; From 12.0; From 13.0; From 14.0; From 15.0; From 17.0; From 19.0; From 20.0 · fixed in 20.3.1