# CVE-2023-38552: Security feature bypass in Node

> Attackers can bypass Node.js policy integrity checks by forging checksums, affecting users of the experimental policy feature.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-38552, AZL-31614, BELL-CVE-2023-38552, BIT-node-2023-38552, BIT-node-min-2023-38552, CLEANSTART-2026-MK88836, CLEANSTART-2026-XM95789, CLSA-2025-1761084810, CLSA-2026-1770216227, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-38552, GHSA-x39v-frq9-5hh8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-38552

## What is CVE-2023-38552?

CVE-2023-38552 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 18 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When the Node.js policy feature checks the integrity of a resource against a trusted manifest, the application can intercept the operation and return a forged checksum to the node's policy implementation, thus effectively disabling the integrity check.
Impacts:
This vulnerability affects all users using the experimental policy mechanism in all active release lines: 18.x and, 20.x.
Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the policy mechanism is an experimental feature of Node.js.

Weakness: CWE-345 (Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38552?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including node and node-min. It affects 2 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `node` | Bitnami | All versions | 18.18.2, 20.8.1 |
| `node-min` | Bitnami | All versions | 18.18.2, 20.8.1 |

Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Nodejs Node.js.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38552?

Upgrade node to a fixed version for your release line: 18.18.2 or 20.8.1.

## Is CVE-2023-38552 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38552 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38552 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38552 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 18 Oct 2023. 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-2023-38552 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- node (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 18.18.2, 20.8.1
- node-min (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 18.18.2, 20.8.1

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-2023-38552/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38552/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38552
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38552
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38552

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38552/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.