CVE-2026-33896
This allows any leaf certificate (without these extensions) to act as a CA and sign other certificates, which node-forge will accept as valid.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.35%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
Forge (also called `node-forge`) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to version 1.4.0, `pki.verifyCertificateChain()` does not enforce RFC 5280 basicConstraints requirements when an intermediate certificate lacks both the `basicConstraints` and `keyUsage` extensions. This allows any leaf certificate (without these extensions) to act as a CA and sign other certificates, which node-forge will accept as valid. Version 1.4.0 patches the issue.
- CVSS 3.1
- 9.1 CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- EPSS
- 0.35% probability · 28th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-295
- Affected
- digitalbazaar/forge
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/commit/2e492832fb25227e6b647cbe1ac981c123171e90Patch
- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-2328-f5f3-gj25Exploit, Vendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:13826
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24761
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34342
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:9742
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-33896
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2452458
- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-2328-f5f3-gj25Exploit, Vendor Advisory
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-33896.json
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.