CVEsdigitalbazaarCVE-2026-119189Published Oct 29, 19:23 · Updated Oct 29, 19:23 UTC
5.9
MediumCVSS 3.1 · from GitHub_M
CVE-2026-119189

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

forge · Improper certificate validation · CWE-295
Affectedforge
FixNo fix listed yet.
PublishedOct 29, 19:23 · GitHub_M
ScoredOct 29 · 5.9 · GitHub_M
Exploit code publicNone known · checked 21:18 UTC
ExploitedNone known · CISA KEV checked 22:08 UTC

What we know

No known exploitation. CISA KEV, checked 22:08 UTC.
No public exploit code known. Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, checked 21:18 UTC.
An attacker only needs network access to the target. No login needed. CVSS: network, no privileges.
It only works under certain conditions, which makes it harder to pull off. CVSS: high attack complexity.
A successful attack can change data. CVSS impact.

Description

Forge (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.

From GitHub_M

Affected and fixed versions

ProductAffectedFixed inforge< 1.4.1–

Exploit code

Exploit-DBnone knownMetasploitnone knownNucleinone known

References

github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f · github.comrefsource_CONFIRMgithub.com/digitalbazaar/forge/commit/696db92348623e88cc63c35f0a89ede481d55ad0 · github.comrefsource_MISCgithub.com/digitalbazaar/forge/releases/tag/v1.4.1 · github.comrefsource_MISC

Other CVEs in forge

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7.5Forge: ASN.1 resource exhaustion via BIT STRING decoding in asn1.fromDer · CVE-2026-119191Oct 297.4Forge: X.509 basicConstraints bypass in verifyCertificateChain() via deprecated extension OIDs 2.5.29.10 and 2.5.29.13 · CVE-2026-119190Oct 297.5Forge: Denial of service in TLS record processing via a record interleaved with a fragmented handshake message · CVE-2026-119188Oct 29