CVE-2023-23919
📋 TL;DR
A cryptographic vulnerability in Node.js versions before specified patches fails to clear OpenSSL error stacks after operations, potentially causing false positive errors in subsequent cryptographic operations on the same thread. This could lead to denial of service conditions. Affects Node.js applications using cryptographic functions in vulnerable versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- Node.js
📦 What is this software?
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
Node.js by Nodejs
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Denial of service causing application crashes or unavailability of cryptographic services
Likely Case
Intermittent cryptographic operation failures leading to degraded application performance
If Mitigated
Minor performance impact with proper error handling and monitoring
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires ability to trigger cryptographic operations repeatedly to cause error stack buildup
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Node.js 19.2.0, 18.14.1, 16.19.1, 14.21.3 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Identify Node.js version using 'node --version'. 2. Upgrade to patched version using package manager (npm, nvm, or system package manager). 3. Restart all Node.js applications and services.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Limit cryptographic operations
allReduce frequency of cryptographic operations to minimize error stack buildup
Implement circuit breaker
allAdd circuit breaker pattern to detect and handle cryptographic operation failures
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement rate limiting on endpoints that trigger cryptographic operations
- Monitor application logs for cryptographic error patterns and implement alerting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Run 'node --version' and compare against affected versionsCheck Version:
node --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Node.js version is 19.2.0+, 18.14.1+, 16.19.1+, or 14.21.3+📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- OpenSSL error stack warnings
- Cryptographic operation failures
- Application crashes during crypto operations
Network Indicators:
- Increased failed requests to crypto-related endpoints
- Unusual patterns of requests triggering crypto operations
SIEM Query:
source="nodejs" AND ("OpenSSL error" OR "crypto error" OR "ERR_CRYPTO")🔗 References
- https://hackerone.com/reports/1808596
- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230316-0008/
- https://hackerone.com/reports/1808596
- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230316-0008/
