ubuntu-cve-2023-23918
Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu
Published
2023-02-23 20:15
Modified
2025-07-16 05:09
Summary
Details

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js <19.6.1, <18.14.1, <16.19.1 and <14.21.3 that made it possible to bypass the experimental Permissions (https://nodejs.org/api/permissions.html) feature in Node.js and access non authorized modules by using process.mainModule.require(). This only affects users who had enabled the experimental permissions option with --experimental-policy.

Severity
7.5 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
7.5 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
N/A (UNKNOWN)
medium
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "No subscription required",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "libnode-dev",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "libnode108",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "libnode108-dbgsym",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "nodejs",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "nodejs-dbgsym",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          },
          {
            "binary_name": "nodejs-doc",
            "binary_version": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:24.04:LTS",
        "name": "nodejs",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/nodejs@18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4?arch=source\u0026distro=noble"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "18.19.1+dfsg-2ubuntu4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "18.13.0+dfsg1-1ubuntu2"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Node.js \u003c19.6.1, \u003c18.14.1, \u003c16.19.1 and \u003c14.21.3 that made it possible to bypass the experimental Permissions (https://nodejs.org/api/permissions.html) feature in Node.js and access non authorized modules by using process.mainModule.require(). This only affects users who had enabled the experimental permissions option with --experimental-policy.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2023-23918",
  "modified": "2025-07-16T05:09:15Z",
  "published": "2023-02-23T20:15:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-23918"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/#node-js-permissions-policies-can-be-bypassed-via-process-mainmodule-high-cve-2023-23918"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/nodejs/node/commit/af9140088621abd09016848f4526d66b7a81b9ba"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/nodejs/node/commit/9b7db62276e4a9c97aedf91daf38bf7b7d23fee4"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/february-2023-security-releases/"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-23918"
    }
  ],
  "related": [],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2023-23918"
  ],
  "withdrawn": "2025-07-18T16:54:21Z"
}



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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.