CVE-2023-46233 | crypto-js PBKDF2 1,000 times weaker than specified in 1993 and 1.3M times weaker than current standard

crypto-js is a JavaScript library of crypto standards. Prior to version 4.2.0, crypto-js PBKDF2 is 1,000 times weaker than originally specified in 1993, and at least 1,300,000 times weaker than current industry standard. This is because it both defaults to SHA1, a cryptographic hash algorithm considered insecure since at least 2005, and defaults to one single iteration, a 'strength' or 'difficulty' value specified at 1,000 when specified in 1993. PBKDF2 relies on iteration count as a countermeasure to preimage and collision attacks. If used to protect passwords, the impact is high. If used to generate signatures, the impact is high. Version 4.2.0 contains a patch for this issue. As a workaround, configure crypto-js to use SHA256 with at least 250,000 iterations.

Published: 2023-10-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-46233 is rated Moderate Risk (62.9/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.92%). 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-2023-46233

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 2026-06-05 1.11% 0.92% -0.20%
2 2026-06-02 1.17% 1.11% -0.06%
3 2026-05-18 — 1.17% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-46233

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N 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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 5.2 [email protected]
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N 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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-46233

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-46233

GHSA-xwcq-pm8m-c4vf · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: npm — crypto-js PBKDF2 1,000 times weaker than specified in 1993 and 1.3M times weaker than current standard

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-46233

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-46233 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (cryptojs), 2 status rows across 2 suites (bookworm, bullseye): open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-46233
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-46233
ubuntu medium CVE-2023-46233 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (cryptojs), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, DNE 3, ignored 3, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-46233

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-46233

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
crypto-js_project crypto-js < 4.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:crypto-js_project:crypto-js:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-46233

cvelogic Threat Intelligence