CVE-2026-44459: Hono Hono Has Improper Validation Of Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hm8q-7f3q-5f36
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CVSS 3.8
CWE-1284
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-44459 is a LOW (CVSS 3.8) hono has improper validation of vulnerability (CWE-1284: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input) affecting Hono libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves hono has improper validation of numericdate claims (exp, nbf, iat) in jwt verify(). Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.12.18.

CVE-2026-44459 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-44459
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hm8q-7f3q-5f36
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 3.8
CWE Classification CWE-1284: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input
Affected Product Hono
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 3.8

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2026-44459

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

hono fixed: 4.12.18 
npm install hono@4.12.18
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 hono

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2026-44459, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls hono

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Hono in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.12.18), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls hono 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-1284: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input, where the product receives input that is expected to specify a quantity (such as size or length), but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the quantity has the required properties. In Hono, 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

### Summary Improper validation of the JWT NumericDate claims `exp`, `nbf`, and `iat` in `hono/utils/jwt` allows tokens with non-spec-compliant claim values to silently bypass time-based checks. This issue is not exploitable by an anonymous attacker; it only manifests when a malformed claim value reaches `verify()` — typically when the application itself issues such tokens, or when the signing key is otherwise under attacker control. ### Details The validation routine combined option, presence, and threshold checks in a single short-circuiting expression, so several classes of malformed values were silently skipped instead of rejected: - A falsy numeric value short-circuited the presence check. - A non-finite numeric value compared as never-after-now and never-expired. - A non-numeric type produced NaN comparisons that evaluated false. This deviates from RFC 7519 §4.1.4, which defines NumericDate as a finite JSON numeric value. ### Impact An actor able to issue tokens accepted by the application may craft tokens whose `exp`, `nbf`, or `iat` claims silently bypass time-based enforcement. This may lead to: - Tokens treated as never expiring even with `exp` configured on the verifier. - Tokens with a future `nbf` accepted as currently valid. - Tokens with a future `iat` accepted as legitimately issued. Deployments using a well-formed token issuer and protecting the signing key are not affected.

CVE-2026-44459 Affected Hono Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.12.18
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
hono
npm/hono
npm
< 4.12.18
4.12.18

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/honojs/hono/security/advisories/GHSA-hm8q-7f3q-5f36
NVD — CVE-2026-44459 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44459
Hono Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/honojs/hono

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-44459?
CVE-2026-44459 is a security vulnerability in Hono involving Hono has improper validation of NumericDate claims (exp, nbf, iat) in JWT verify() under CWE-1284: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input.
Which Hono versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.12.18 across affected packages: hono.
What version fixes CVE-2026-44459?
Upgrading to 4.12.18 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is hono affected?
Yes, hono is affected in releases prior to 4.12.18. Upgrade your dependency to 4.12.18 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-44459?
CVE-2026-44459 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.8 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-44459?
CVE-2026-44459 is classified under CWE-1284: Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input (The product receives input that is expected to specify a quantity (such as size or length), but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the quantity has the required properties.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2026-44459?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls hono'. 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-hm8q-7f3q-5f36",
  "modified" : "2026-05-14T20:35:44Z",
  "published" : "2026-05-09T00:45:19Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-44459" ],
  "summary" : "Hono has improper validation of NumericDate claims (exp, nbf, iat) in JWT verify()",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\nImproper validation of the JWT NumericDate claims `exp`, `nbf`, and `iat` in `hono/utils/jwt` allows tokens with non-spec-compliant claim values to silently bypass time-based checks. This issue is not exploitable by an anonymous attacker; it only manifests when a malformed claim value reaches `verify()` — typically when the application itself issues such tokens, or when the signing key is otherwise under attacker control.\n\n### Details\n\nThe validation routine combined option, presence, and threshold checks in a single short-circuiting expression, so several classes of malformed values were silently skipped instead of rejected:\n\n- A falsy numeric value short-circuited the presence check.\n- A non-finite numeric value compared as never-after-now and never-expired.\n- A non-numeric type produced NaN comparisons that evaluated false.\n\nThis deviates from RFC 7519 §4.1.4, which defines NumericDate as a finite JSON numeric value.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn actor able to issue tokens accepted by the application may craft tokens whose `exp`, `nbf`, or `iat` claims silently bypass time-based enforcement. This may lead to:\n\n- Tokens treated as never expiring even with `exp` configured on the verifier.\n- Tokens with a future `nbf` accepted as currently valid.\n- Tokens with a future `iat` accepted as legitimately issued.\n\nDeployments using a well-formed token issuer and protecting the signing key are not affected.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "hono"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.12.18"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/honojs/hono/security/advisories/GHSA-hm8q-7f3q-5f36"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44459"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/honojs/hono"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1284" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-09T00:45:19Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-13T16:16:57Z"
  }
}