Amazon Linux 2023 : nodejs24, nodejs24-devel, nodejs24-full-i18n (ALAS2023-2026-1578)

high Nessus Plugin ID 306235

Synopsis

The remote Amazon Linux 2023 host is missing a security update.

Description

It is, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the ALAS2023-2026-1578 advisory.

A flaw in Node.js HTTP request handling causes an uncaught TypeError when a request is received with a header named __proto__ and the application accesses req.headersDistinct.

When this occurs, dest[__proto__] resolves to Object.prototype rather than undefined, causing .push() to be called on a non-array. This exception is thrown synchronously inside a property getter and cannot be intercepted by error event listeners, meaning it cannot be handled without wrapping every req.headersDistinct access in a try/catch.

This vulnerability affects all Node.js HTTP servers on 20.x, 22.x, 24.x, and v25.x

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#denial-of-service-via-
__proto__-header-name-in-reqheadersdistinct-uncaught-typeerror-crashes-nodejs-process-cve-2026-21710--- high (CVE-2026-21710)

A flaw in Node.js URL processing causes an assertion failure in native code when url.format() is called with a malformed internationalized domain name (IDN) containing invalid characters, crashing the Node.js process.

This vulnerability affects 24.x and 25.x.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#assertion-error-in-node_urlcc- via-malformed-url-format-leads-to-nodejs-crash-cve-2026-21712---medium (CVE-2026-21712)

A flaw in Node.js HMAC verification uses a non-constant-time comparison when validating user-provided signatures, potentially leaking timing information proportional to the number of matching bytes. Under certain threat models where high-resolution timing measurements are possible, this behavior could be exploited as a timing oracle to infer HMAC values.

Node.js already provides timing-safe comparison primitives used elsewhere in the codebase, indicating this is an oversight rather than an intentional design decision.

This vulnerability affects 20.x, 22.x, 24.x, and 25.x.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#timing-side-channel-in-hmac- verification-via-memcmp-in-crypto_hmaccc-leads-to-potential-mac-forgery-cve-2026-21713---medium (CVE-2026-21713)

A memory leak occurs in Node.js HTTP/2 servers when a client sends WINDOW_UPDATE frames on stream 0 (connection-level) that cause the flow control window to exceed the maximum value of 231-1. The server correctly sends a GOAWAY frame, but the Http2Session object is never cleaned up.

This vulnerability affects HTTP2 users on Node.js 20, 22, 24 and 25.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#memory-leak-in-nodejs- http2-server-via-window_update-on-stream-0-leads-to-resource-exhaustion-cve-2026-21714---medium (CVE-2026-21714)

A flaw in Node.js Permission Model filesystem enforcement leaves fs.realpathSync.native() without the required read permission checks, while all comparable filesystem functions correctly enforce them. As a result, code running under --permission with restricted --allow-fs-read can still use fs.realpathSync.native() to check file existence, resolve symlink targets, and enumerate filesystem paths outside of permitted directories.This vulnerability affects 20.x, 22.x, 24.x, and 25.x processes using the Permission Model where --allow-fs-read is intentionally restricted.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#permission-model-bypass-in- realpathsyncnative-allows-file-existence-disclosure-cve-2026-21715---low (CVE-2026-21715)

An incomplete fix for CVE-2024-36137 leaves FileHandle.chmod() and FileHandle.chown() in the promises API without the required permission checks, while their callback-based equivalents (fs.fchmod(), fs.fchown()) were correctly patched.

As a result, code running under --permission with restricted --allow-fs-write can still use promise-based FileHandle methods to modify file permissions and ownership on already-open file descriptors, bypassing the intended write restrictions.

This vulnerability affects 20.x, 22.x, 24.x, and 25.x processes using the Permission Model where --allow- fs-write is intentionally restricted.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#cve-2024-36137-patch-bypass--- filehandlechmodchown-cve-2026-21716---low (CVE-2026-21716)

A flaw in V8's string hashing mechanism causes integer-like strings to be hashed to their numeric value, making hash collisions trivially predictable. By crafting a request that causes many such collisions in V8's internal string table, an attacker can significantly degrade performance of the Node.js process.

The most common trigger is any endpoint that calls JSON.parse() on attacker-controlled input, as JSON parsing automatically internalizes short strings into the affected hash table.

This vulnerability affects 20.x, 22.x, 24.x, and 25.x.

NOTE: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2026-security-releases#hashdos-in-v8-cve-2026-21717
---medium (CVE-2026-21717)

node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js. When using default options in versions 7.5.7 and below, an attacker-controlled archive can create a hardlink inside the extraction directory that points to a file outside the extraction root, enabling arbitrary file read and write as the extracting user. Severity is high because the primitive bypasses path protections and turns archive extraction into a direct filesystem access primitive. This issue has been fixed in version 7.5.8. (CVE-2026-26960)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the tested product security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Run 'dnf update nodejs24 --releasever 2023.11.20260413' or or 'dnf update --advisory ALAS2023-2026-1578 --releasever 2023.11.20260413' to update your system.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 306235

File Name: al2023_ALAS2023-2026-1578.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Amazon Linux Local Security Checks

Published: 4/13/2026

Updated: 4/13/2026

Supported Sensors: Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Nessus Agent, Agentless Assessment, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.6

Temporal Score: 5.2

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-26960

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.1

Temporal Score: 6.4

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:amazon:linux:2023, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-debugsource, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-devel, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-docs, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-full-i18n, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-libs, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-libs-debuginfo, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:nodejs24-npm, p-cpe:/a:amazon:linux:v8-13.6-devel

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/AmazonLinux/release, Host/AmazonLinux/rpm-list

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 4/13/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 2/18/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-21710, CVE-2026-21712, CVE-2026-21713, CVE-2026-21714, CVE-2026-21715, CVE-2026-21716, CVE-2026-21717, CVE-2026-26960

Detections

Analytics