CVE-2023-23918
Publication date 23 February 2023
Last updated 26 August 2025
Ubuntu priority
Cvss 3 Severity Score
Description
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js <19.6.1, <18.14.1, <16.19.1 and <14.21.3 that made it possible to bypass the experimental Permissions (https://nodejs.org/api/permissions.html) feature in Node.js and access non authorized modules by using process.mainModule.require(). This only affects users who had enabled the experimental permissions option with --experimental-policy.
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| nodejs | 24.04 LTS noble |
Not affected
|
| 22.04 LTS jammy |
Not affected
|
|
| 20.04 LTS focal |
Not affected
|
|
| 18.04 LTS bionic |
Not affected
|
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial |
Not affected
|
|
| 14.04 LTS trusty |
Not affected
|
Severity score breakdown
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Base score |
|
| Attack vector | Network |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | None |
| User interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High |
| Integrity impact | None |
| Availability impact | None |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |
References
Other references
- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/#node-js-permissions-policies-can-be-bypassed-via-process-mainmodule-high-cve-2023-23918
- https://github.com/nodejs/node/commit/af9140088621abd09016848f4526d66b7a81b9ba
- https://github.com/nodejs/node/commit/9b7db62276e4a9c97aedf91daf38bf7b7d23fee4
- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23918