NodeBB vulnerable to account takeover via prototype vulnerability

CVE-2022-46164 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Impact

Due to a plain object with a prototype being used in socket.io message handling a specially crafted payload can be used to impersonate other users and takeover accounts.

Patches

Patched in 2.6.1

Workarounds

Site maintainers can cherry-pick https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/48d143921753914da45926cca6370a92ed0c46b8 into their codebase to patch the exploit.

For more information

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Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
critical
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2022-12-05 23:06:14 UTC
Updated
2023-01-31 05:02:51 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2022-12-05 23:06:14 UTC
NVD published
2022-12-05

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
56.84% 98.06%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
9.4 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L 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:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-rf3g-v8p5-p675 ↗
CVE CVE-2022-46164 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-665 Improper Initialization

Credits

  • stephenbradshaw (analyst)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
npm nodebb < 2.6.1 2.6.1 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence