What is CVE-2023-23920?

CVE-2023-23920 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Node.js Node, classified under Untrusted Search Path. CVSS score: 4.2/10. Published 2023-02-23.

How severe is CVE-2023-23920?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.2 out of 10.

Vulnerability in Node.js Node

CVE-2023-23920

An untrusted search path vulnerability exists in Node.js. <19.6.1, <18.14.1, <16.19.1, and <14.21.3 that could allow an attacker to search and potentially load ICU data when running with elevated privileges.

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

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 4.2 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (38.3th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 38th percentile — 38.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Node.js Node — versions 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
Node.js
Debian Linux — versions 10.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-426 — Untrusted Search Path

References

nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/ (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/02/msg00038.html (mailing-list, Mailing List)
security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230316-0008/
www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5395 (vendor-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-23920?: CVE-2023-23920 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Node.js Node, classified under Untrusted Search Path. CVSS score: 4.2/10. Published 2023-02-23.
How severe is CVE-2023-23920?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 4.2 out of 10.