CVE-2022-23541: Jsonwebtoken Jsonwebtoken's Insecure Implementation Of Key Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959
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CVSS 5.0
CWE-1259 CWE-287
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-23541 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.0) jsonwebtoken's insecure implementation of key vulnerability (CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment) affecting Jsonwebtoken libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves jsonwebtoken's insecure implementation of key retrieval function could lead to forgeable public/private tokens from rsa to hmac. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 9.0.0.

CVE-2022-23541 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-23541
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.0
CWE Classification CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment
Affected Product Jsonwebtoken
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.0

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2022-23541

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Jsonwebtoken dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

jsonwebtoken fixed: 9.0.0 
npm install jsonwebtoken@9.0.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls jsonwebtoken

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2022-23541, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls jsonwebtoken

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Jsonwebtoken in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 9.0.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls jsonwebtoken command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment, where the system-on-a-chip (soc) implements a security token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. however, the security tokens are improperly protected. In Jsonwebtoken, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

# Overview Versions `<=8.5.1` of `jsonwebtoken` library can be misconfigured so that passing a poorly implemented key retrieval function (referring to the `secretOrPublicKey` argument from the [readme link](https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken#jwtverifytoken-secretorpublickey-options-callback)) will result in incorrect verification of tokens. There is a possibility of using a different algorithm and key combination in verification than the one that was used to sign the tokens. Specifically, tokens signed with an asymmetric public key could be verified with a symmetric HS256 algorithm. This can lead to successful validation of forged tokens. # Am I affected? You will be affected if your application is supporting usage of both symmetric key and asymmetric key in jwt.verify() implementation with the same key retrieval function. # How do I fix it? Update to version 9.0.0. # Will the fix impact my users? There is no impact for end users

CVE-2022-23541 Affected Jsonwebtoken Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
9.0.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
jsonwebtoken
npm/jsonwebtoken
npm
< 9.0.0
9.0.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/security/advisories/GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959
NVD — CVE-2022-23541 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23541
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/commit/e1fa9dcc12054a8681db4e6373da1b30cf7016e3
Jsonwebtoken Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken
Jsonwebtoken Release RELEASE
https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/releases/tag/v9.0.0
Jsonwebtoken Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0007

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-23541?
CVE-2022-23541 is a security vulnerability in Jsonwebtoken involving jsonwebtoken's insecure implementation of key retrieval function could lead to Forgeable Public/Private Tokens from RSA to HMAC under CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment.
Which Jsonwebtoken versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 9.0.0 across affected packages: jsonwebtoken.
What version fixes CVE-2022-23541?
Upgrading to 9.0.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is jsonwebtoken affected?
Yes, jsonwebtoken is affected in releases prior to 9.0.0. Upgrade your dependency to 9.0.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-23541?
CVE-2022-23541 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.0 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-23541?
CVE-2022-23541 is classified under CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment (The System-On-A-Chip (SoC) implements a Security Token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. However, the Security Tokens are improperly protected.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2022-23541?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls jsonwebtoken'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959",
  "modified" : "2024-06-24T21:24:06Z",
  "published" : "2022-12-22T03:33:19Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-23541" ],
  "summary" : "jsonwebtoken's insecure implementation of key retrieval function could lead to Forgeable Public/Private Tokens from RSA to HMAC",
  "details" : "# Overview\n\nVersions `<=8.5.1` of `jsonwebtoken` library can be misconfigured so that passing a poorly implemented key retrieval function (referring to the `secretOrPublicKey` argument from the [readme link](https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken#jwtverifytoken-secretorpublickey-options-callback)) will result in incorrect verification of tokens. There is a possibility of using a different algorithm and key combination in verification  than the one that was used to sign the tokens. Specifically, tokens signed with an asymmetric public key could be verified with a symmetric HS256 algorithm. This can lead to successful validation of forged tokens. \n\n# Am I affected?\n\nYou will be affected if your application is supporting usage of both symmetric key and asymmetric key in jwt.verify() implementation with the same key retrieval function. \n\n# How do I fix it?\n \nUpdate to version 9.0.0.\n\n# Will the fix impact my users?\n\nThere is no impact for end users",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "jsonwebtoken"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "9.0.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 8.5.1"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/security/advisories/GHSA-hjrf-2m68-5959"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23541"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/commit/e1fa9dcc12054a8681db4e6373da1b30cf7016e3"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/auth0/node-jsonwebtoken/releases/tag/v9.0.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0007"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1259", "CWE-287" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-12-22T03:33:19Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-12-22T18:15:00Z"
  }
}