# CVE-2025-12816: CVE-2025-12816

> Attackers can bypass cryptographic verifications and security decisions by crafting ASN.1 structures that desynchronize schema validations in node-forge.

- **Severity:** High 8.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:** 25 Nov 2025
- **Updated:** 25 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** AZL-71125, CLEANSTART-2026-FR00893, CLEANSTART-2026-UI22412, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-12816, GHSA-5gfm-wpxj-wjgq, MINI-4xpq-g55j-2p2f, MINI-64m3-7j2w-h5qj, MINI-6754-54wj-86rq, MINI-9g36-f3fw-5hhv, MINI-c53p-4vrc-322r, MINI-c6mh-3pv2-j99q, MINI-cm8p-5g4c-4pj6, MINI-fq97-pvjh-92p8, MINI-gg4x-rqjc-rq6j, MINI-h7v8-pj76-49cr, MINI-hqwm-2jmr-p652, MINI-mvfr-fxr4-4p2p, MINI-vr9g-2rpc-q3cw, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2025-12816, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-12816

## What is CVE-2025-12816?

CVE-2025-12816 is a high-severity vulnerability in Digital Bazaar forge, published on 25 Nov 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An interpretation-conflict (CWE-436) vulnerability in node-forge versions 1.3.1 and earlier enables unauthenticated attackers to craft ASN.1 structures to desynchronize schema validations, yielding a semantic divergence that may bypass downstream cryptographic verifications and security decisions.

Weakness: CWE-436 (Interpretation Conflict)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-12816?

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 | 1.3.2 |
| `node-forge` | npm | All versions | 1.3.2 |

Products: Digitalbazaar Forge.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-12816?

Upgrade node-forge to 1.3.2 or later.

## Is CVE-2025-12816 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-12816 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Digital Bazaar 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-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)
- [CVE-2026-33895](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33895/): Forge has signature forgery in Ed25519 due to missing S > L check (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-12816 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-12816 is a high-severity vulnerability in Digital Bazaar forge, published on 25 Nov 2025. 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-2025-12816 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- node-forge (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.3.2
- node-forge (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.3.2

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-2025-12816/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12816/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-12816
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-12816
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-12816

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-12816/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.