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GHSA-869p-cjfg-cm3x CVE-2025-65945

auth0/node-jws Improperly Verifies HMAC Signature

High npm
Severity
7.5 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.21%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 11.98% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-347 Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Fix
3.2.3
Upgrade jws to this version or later

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.

Affected versions

npm

PackageVulnerableFixed in
jws
< 3.2.3
3.2.3
jws 1 listed versions No fix yet
jws
< 3.2.3
3.2.3
jws
>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.1
4.0.1

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

jws npm → 3.2.3

npm
npm install jws@3.2.3
yarn
yarn add jws@3.2.3
pnpm
pnpm add jws@3.2.3

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 7.5

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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

Weakness

CWE-347: Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data.

References

Advisories

Fixes and patches

Packages

Other links

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-gjcw-v447-2w7q
Forgeable Public/Private Tokens in jws
High Also affects jws
EEF-CVE-2026-65632
ECDSA signature length is not validated in jose, allowing signature malleability
Not rated yet Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-pxh4-856f-4h89
PyJWT: HS256/384/512 verify accepts empty HMAC key via oct JWK (PyJWK/PyJWKClient) enabling token forgery
High Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-j7h2-66j4-ghjf
A russh SSH server accepts a publickey authentication whose signature uses a different algorithm than the one named in the request
Low Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-w2cx-738m-mc7w
PyJWT accepts public JWK containers as HMAC secrets
High Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-r6x4-923q-g947
PyJWT BOM Bypass
High Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-p4g4-x82p-q773
PyJWT: Public keys in DER form are accepted as HMAC secrets, bypassing the CVE-2022-29217 guard
High Same weakness, CWE-347
GHSA-ffc3-869f-jxw9
PyJWT: Asymmetric-PEM detection bypass: whitespace/line-ending-mutated public keys skip the HS/asymmetric confusion guard
Critical Same weakness, CWE-347

Credits: Sideni

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