Forge: X.509 pathLenConstraint not enforced by verifyCertificateChain() for CA certificates without keyUsage

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-119189
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-10-29 20:17:29 UTC
Updated2026-11-10 19:26:12 UTC
DescriptionForge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.1, node-forge enforced an X.509 CA certificate's basicConstraints.pathLenConstraint only when that certificate also carried a keyUsage extension. Exploitation requires a path-length-constrained CA without keyUsage that chains to a root trusted by the application, and an attacker who holds that CA's private key or obtains a subordinate CA certificate from it. The attacker could then construct a chain exceeding the declared path length that still passed pki.verifyCertificateChain(). Public web PKI CA certificates normally include keyUsage; private PKIs with CA certificates created without it are more likely to be affected. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.1.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5.9 MEDIUM from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.001650000 probability, percentile 0.058130000 (date 2026-11-10)

Problem Types: CWE-295 | CWE-295 CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5.9MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED5.9MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Digitalbazaar Forge All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Digitalbazaar Forge affected < 1.4.1 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/releases/tag/v1.4.1 [email protected] github.com Release Notes
github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 github.com Exploit, Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory
github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/commit/696db92348623e88cc63c35f0a89ede481... [email protected] github.com Patch
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

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