jose vulnerable to untrusted JWK header key acceptance during signature verification
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-347.
Summary
JOSE is a Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) library. Prior to version 0.3.5+1, a vulnerability in jose could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to forge valid JWS/JWT tokens by using a key embedded in the JOSE header (jwk). The vulnerability exists because key selection could treat header-provided jwk as a verification candidate even when that key was not present in the trusted key store. Since JOSE headers are untrusted input, an attacker could exploit this by creating a token payload, embedding an attacker-controlled public key in the header, and signing with the matching private key. Applications using affected versions for token verification are impacted. This issue has been patched in version 0.3.5+1. A workaround for this issue involves rejecting tokens where header jwk is present unless that jwk matches a key already present in the application's trusted key store.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| appsup-dart | jose | before 0.3.5+1 | 0.3.5+1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | jose (Pub) | before 0.3.5+1 | 0.3.5+1 | Patch available | GHSA-vm9r-h74p-hg97 |
- jose Vendorappsup-dart Affected before 0.3.5+1 Fixed in 0.3.5+1 Patch available CNA
- jose (Pub) Vendor— Affected before 0.3.5+1 Fixed in 0.3.5+1 Patch available GHSA-vm9r-h74p-hg97
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:appsup-dart:jose:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 0.3.5\+1 | Vulnerable | appsup-dart |
- cpe:2.3:a:appsup-dart:jose:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 0.3.5\+1 Vulnerable ·appsup-dart
Remediation
- Fix · CNA jose (appsup-dart) Fixed in 0.3.5+1
- Fix · GHSA-vm9r-h74p-hg97 jose (Pub) Fixed in 0.3.5+1 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-34240
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vm9r-h74p-hg97
References
Sources
- CVE-2026-34240 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-34240 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vm9r-h74p-hg97 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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