CVE-2026-119188
Description
A flaw was found in node-forge. A remote attacker can trigger a Denial of Service (DoS) by sending an unexpected Transport Layer Security (TLS) record during a fragmented handshake sequence. Because the library fails to cleanly halt processing after closing the invalid connection, it throws an uncaught exception. This causes the host application process to terminate abruptly, dropping all active network connections.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Important because an unauthenticated remote attacker can crash the host application by sending an interleaved record during TLS negotiation, causing a complete denial of service across all concurrent sessions. While this enables remote denial of service without prior authentication or user intervention, the issue is constrained to service interruption and does not compromise system integrity or disclose confidential data, which prevents a Critical rating. Red Hat products and containerized services deploying affected Node.js environments that establish or accept TLS connections using this library are vulnerable to process termination upon receiving malformed handshake traffic.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.5 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Application Data
An uncaught exception could cause the system to be placed in a state that could lead to a crash, exposure of sensitive information, or other unintended behaviors.
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