# CVE-2022-24773: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature in `node-forge`

> Attackers can bypass RSA signature verification in node-forge due to improper ASN.1 structure checks, allowing forged signatures to be accepted as valid.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Mar 2022
- **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2022-24773, GHSA-2r2c-g63r-vccr, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2022-24773, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-24773

## What is CVE-2022-24773?

CVE-2022-24773 is a medium-severity vulnerability in digitalbazaar forge, published on 18 Mar 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Forge (also called `node-forge`) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to version 1.3.0, RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 signature verification code does not properly check `DigestInfo` for a proper ASN.1 structure. This can lead to successful verification with signatures that contain invalid structures but a valid digest. The issue has been addressed in `node-forge` version 1.3.0. There are currently no known workarounds.

Weakness: CWE-347 (Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-24773?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including node-forge. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `node-forge` | npm | All versions | 1.3.0 |
| `node-forge` | npm | All versions | 1.3.0 |

Products: Digitalbazaar Forge.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-24773?

Upgrade node-forge to 1.3.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2022-24773 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-24773 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in digitalbazaar forge

- [CVE-2020-7720](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7720/): Prototype Pollution (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-66031](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-66031/): node-forge ASN.1 Unbounded Recursion (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2025-12816](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12816/): CVE-2025-12816 (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-33891](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33891/): Forge has Denial of Service via Infinite Loop in BigInteger.modInverse() with Zero Input (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2026-33894](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33894/): Forge has signature forgery in RSA-PKCS due to ASN.1 extra field (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-24773 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-24773 is a medium-severity vulnerability in digitalbazaar forge, published on 18 Mar 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-24773 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- node-forge (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.3.0
- node-forge (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.3.0

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24773/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24773/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-24773
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-24773
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-24773

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24773/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.