{"id":"CVE-2026-119189","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-119189"],"related":[],"title":"node-forge: certificate path length limit skipped, allowing longer untrusted chains","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.","summary":"node-forge, a JavaScript TLS and crypto library, skips the pathLenConstraint check on CA certificates that lack a keyUsage extension. An attacker holding such a CA's private key or a subordinate CA certificate from it can build a chain longer than allowed that still passes pki.verifyCertificateChain().","severity":"medium","cvss":5.9,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["javascript","node-forge","package","private-pki","tls"],"not_affected_if":["keyusage-present","no-chain-verification","public-web-pki-only"],"how_to_check":"- Check the installed version with `npm ls node-forge`.\n- Look for `node-forge` in `package-lock.json`, `yarn.lock` or `pnpm-lock.yaml`.\n- Check whether the app uses `pki.verifyCertificateChain()` against private CAs that have pathLenConstraint and no keyUsage.","fix":"- node-forge: `1.4.1`","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-29T20:17:29+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-29T20:26:50+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-29T20:28:09+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-29T20:28:09+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-29T20:28:09Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- node-forge: `1.4.1`","reach":"network","title":"node-forge: certificate path length limit skipped, allowing longer untrusted chains","impact":"medium","summary":"node-forge, a JavaScript TLS and crypto library, skips the pathLenConstraint check on CA certificates that lack a keyUsage extension. An attacker holding such a CA's private key or a subordinate CA certificate from it can build a chain longer than allowed that still passes pki.verifyCertificateChain().","audience":"developers","category":"package","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["node-forge","javascript","tls","private-pki"],"confidence":0.8,"fix_status":"available","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"certificate chain exceeding path length is accepted as trusted","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"- Check the installed version with `npm ls node-forge`.\n- Look for `node-forge` in `package-lock.json`, `yarn.lock` or `pnpm-lock.yaml`.\n- Check whether the app uses `pki.verifyCertificateChain()` against private CAs that have pathLenConstraint and no keyUsage.","plain_action":"","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["public-web-pki-only","keyusage-present","no-chain-verification"],"who_is_affected":"Applications that use node-forge to verify X.509 certificate chains, especially private PKIs whose CA certificates omit keyUsage. Public web PKI CA certificates normally include keyUsage, so they are less likely to be affected. Exploitation needs control of a constrained CA's private key or a subordinate CA certificate from it.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"unknown"},"cost_usd":0.00073,"input_tokens":4279,"output_tokens":604,"severity_before":"medium"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-119189':15A,18A '-2026':14A,17A '1.4.1':94C,195C 'affect':188C 'allow':9A,71B 'also':77C,109C 'applic':132C 'attack':50B,135C,152C 'basicconstraints.pathlenconstraint':104C 'build':66B 'ca':42B,54B,61B,101C,121C,139C,147C,170C,178C 'call':78C 'carri':110C 'certif':4A,43B,62B,102C,108C,148C,171C,179C 'chain':12A,68B,125C,157C 'check':40B 'constrain':120C 'construct':155C 'could':153C 'creat':180C 'crypto':35B 'cve':13A,16A 'declar':160C 'enforc':98C 'exceed':158C 'exploit':114C 'extens':48B,113C 'fix':192C 'forg':3A,22B,30B,76C,81C,97C 'hold':51B,137C 'implement':85C 'includ':173C 'issu':190C 'javascript':19B,32B,91C 'key':57B,142C 'keyusag':47B,112C,123C,174C 'lack':45B 'layer':88C 'length':6A,119C,162C 'librari':36B 'like':185C 'limit':7A 'longer':10A,69B 'nativ':84C 'node':2A,21B,29B,80C,96C 'node-forg':1A,20B,28B,79C,95C 'normal':172C 'obtain':144C 'packag':23B 'pass':74B,165C 'path':5A,118C,161C 'path-length-constrain':117C 'pathlenconstraint':39B 'pki':26B,169C 'pki.verifycertificatechain':75B,166C 'pkis':176C 'prior':92C 'privat':25B,56B,141C,175C 'private-pki':24B 'public':167C 'requir':115C 'root':128C 'secur':89C 'skip':8A,37B 'still':73B,164C 'subordin':60B,146C 'tls':27B,33B 'transport':87C 'trust':129C 'untrust':11A 'version':194C 'web':168C 'without':122C,181C 'x.509':100C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Applications that use node-forge to verify X.509 certificate chains, especially private PKIs whose CA certificates omit keyUsage. Public web PKI CA certificates normally include keyUsage, so they are less likely to be affected. Exploitation needs control of a constrained CA's private key or a subordinate CA certificate from it.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"available","audience":"developers","plain_action":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-29T20:17:29+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N","cvss_by":"security-advisories@github.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-119189","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119189","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-29T20:17:29+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-29T20:17:29+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-29T20:26:50+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-29T20:26:50+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}