What is CVE-2023-23918?

CVE-2023-23918 is a high-severity vulnerability in Node.js Node, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2023-02-23.

How severe is CVE-2023-23918?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Auth bypass in Node.js Node

CVE-2023-23918

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.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

Published 2023-02-23 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.020 (80.2th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 80th percentile — 80.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.020 · newest: 0.020 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Node.js Node — versions 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
Node.js

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-863 — Incorrect Authorization

References

nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/ (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230316-0008/

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-23918?: CVE-2023-23918 is a high-severity vulnerability in Node.js Node, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2023-02-23.
How severe is CVE-2023-23918?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.