Forge TLS client crashes when server sends no certificate
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
Forge (node-forge) versions before 1.4.1 have a TLS client flaw where the client checks the wrong property when deciding whether a server certificate is missing. A malicious TLS server or on-path peer can omit the Certificate message, causing the client to dereference an absent certificate (CWE-476). This leads to an uncaught exception that terminates the connection or process.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
Description from the CNA
Forge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.1, the affected implementation used forge.tls.createConnection(), c.session.serverCertificate, RSA key exchange to process the relevant input or security decision. node-forge's TLS client checked the wrong property when deciding whether a server certificate was missing. A malicious TLS server or on-path peer could omit the Certificate message and reach code that dereferenced the absent certificate, causing an uncaught exception and terminating the connection or process. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.1.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| digitalbazaar | forge | before 1.4.1 | 1.4.1 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | node-forge (npm) | before 1.4.1 | 1.4.1 | Patch available | GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h |
- forge Vendordigitalbazaar Affected before 1.4.1 Fixed in 1.4.1 Patch available CNA
- node-forge (npm) Vendor— Affected before 1.4.1 Fixed in 1.4.1 Patch available GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:digitalbazaar:forge:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | digitalbazaar |
- cpe:2.3:a:digitalbazaar:forge:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·digitalbazaar
Remediation
Upgrade digitalbazaar forge and the npm package node-forge to version 1.4.1, which fixes the issue.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-03
- Fix · CNA forge (digitalbazaar) Fixed in 1.4.1
- Fix · GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h node-forge (npm) Fixed in 1.4.1 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Hardened Images
Timeline
- 2026-10-29 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-118778
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Alias added: GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: npm/[email protected] · GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
- 2026-10-30 CVSS score added · GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
- 2026-10-30 Weakness changed · GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
- 2026-10-30 5 new references · GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h
- 2026-10-31 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-02 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-03 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-03 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
References
More digitalbazaar vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-58601 node-forge through 1.4.0 RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 Signature Forgery via Nested DigestAlgorithm Padding CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-26254 Forge has a basicConstraints bypass in its certificate chain verification (RFC 5280 violation) CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-82739 ASN.1 resource exhaustion in Forge asn1.fromDer via BIT STRINGs CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-82735 Denial of service in Forge TLS record processing via stack exhaustion CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-82733 Forge accepts zero iteration count, enabling PKCS#12 integrity bypass CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-82730 Regular expression denial of service in Forge PEM decoding CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-118778 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-118778 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-118778 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences