CVE-2023-32002

The use of `Module._load()` can bypass the policy mechanism and require modules outside of the policy.json definition for a given module. This vulnerability affects all users using the experimental policy mechanism in all active release lines: 16.x, 18.x and, 20.x. Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the policy is an experimental feature of Node.js.

Published: 2023-08-21 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-32002 is rated Moderate Risk (64.9/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.43%). EPSS rose +1.38% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-32002

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.06% 1.43% +1.38%
2 2026-04-22 0.04% 0.06% +0.01%
3 2025-12-04 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-32002

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-32002

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-32002

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-32002: 1 source package rows (nodejs); 41 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 7, open 34. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-32002
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-32002 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (nodejs), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-32002
gentoo low CVE-2023-32002: 1 GLSA(s) (202405-29), 1 atom(s) (net-libs/nodejs); latest impact low. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-32002
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-32002
suse medium CVE-2023-32002 severity moderate: SUSE including 77 source package names (16-18.3:nodejs16-16.20.2-150400.3.24.1, 16-18.3:npm16-16.20.2-150400.3.24.1, …), 298 product×package rows across 30 product lines (Container bci/node, Container bci/nodejs, … (30 product lines)): Fixed 220, Known Not Affected 78. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-32002/
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-32002 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nodejs), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 5, released 2, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-32002

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-32002

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nodejs node.js >= 16.0.0, <= 16.20.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 18.0.0, <= 18.17.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 20.0.0, <= 20.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-32002

cvelogic Threat Intelligence