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Improper HMAC Signature Verification in auth0/node-jws

High
femiajiboye-okta published GHSA-869p-cjfg-cm3x Dec 4, 2025

Package

npm https://github.com/auth0/node-jws (npm)

Affected versions

<=3.2.2 || 4.0.0

Patched versions

3.2.3 or 4.0.1

Description

Overview

An improper signature verification vulnerability exists when using auth0/node-jws with the HS256 algorithm under specific conditions.

Am I Affected?

You are affected by this vulnerability if you meet all of the following preconditions:

  1. Application uses the auth0/node-jws implementation of JSON Web Signatures, versions <=3.2.2 || 4.0.0
  2. Application uses the jws.createVerify() function for HMAC algorithms
  3. Application uses user-provided data from the JSON Web Signature Protected Header or Payload in the HMAC secret lookup routines

You are NOT affected by this vulnerability if you meet any of the following preconditions:

  1. Application uses the jws.verify() interface (note: auth0/node-jsonwebtoken users fall into this category and are therefore NOT affected by this vulnerability)
  2. Application uses only asymmetric algorithms (e.g. RS256)
  3. Application doesn’t use user-provided data from the JSON Web Signature Protected Header or Payload in the HMAC secret lookup routines

Fix

Upgrade auth0/node-jws version to version 3.2.3 or 4.0.1

Acknowledgement

Okta would like to thank Félix Charette for discovering this vulnerability.

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2025-65945

Weaknesses

No CWEs