Forge: TLS client crash on a handshake record received without a session

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Forge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.3, a forge.tls client can pass a handshake record to tls.handleHandshake() while the connection has no session, including after a close_notify alert, after the application calls close(), or before handshake() is called. The handler dereferences c.session.md5 before dispatching the message, causing a TypeError to propagate from connection.process(). A malicious server or on-path attacker can deliver the record, including after a reset when the connection uses no encryption, and terminate a Node.js process if the application does not catch the exception. forge.tls servers are not affected, and there is no confidentiality or integrity impact. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.3.

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10 Nov 2026 18:49:55 UTC

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14 Nov 2026 03:01:09 UTC

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14 Nov 2026 04:56:54 UTC

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CVSS 3.1 · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Forge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.3, a forge.tls client can pass a handshake record to tls.handleHandshake() while the connection has no session, including after a close_notify alert, after the application calls close(), or before handshake() is called. The handler dereferences c.session.md5 before dispatching the message, causing a TypeError to propagate from connection.process(). A malicious server or on-path attacker can deliver the record, including after a reset when the connection uses no encryption, and terminate a Node.js process if the application does not catch the exception. forge.tls servers are not affected, and there is no confidentiality or integrity impact. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.3.

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Nov 10, 2026, 6:49:55 PM (timezone not stated)

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Nov 14, 2026, 3:01:09 AM (timezone not stated)

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14 Nov 2026 23:23:56 UTC

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EUVD CVSS 3.1 · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Forge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.3, a forge.tls client can pass a handshake record to tls.handleHandshake() while the connection has no session, including after a close_notify alert, after the application calls close(), or before handshake() is called. The handler dereferences c.session.md5 before dispatching the message, causing a TypeError to propagate from connection.process(). A malicious server or on-path attacker can deliver the record, including after a reset when the connection uses no encryption, and terminate a Node.js process if the application does not catch the exception. forge.tls servers are not affected, and there is no confidentiality or integrity impact. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.3.

Source published

10 Nov 2026 19:21:11 UTC

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14 Nov 2026 03:17:25 UTC

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14 Nov 2026 23:23:18 UTC

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CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary · 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

### Summary A `forge.tls` client throws an uncaught `TypeError` from `connection.process()` when it receives a ServerHello while it has no session: after a `close_notify` alert or a call to `close()`, or before `handshake()` is called. A malicious server or an on-path attacker can use this to terminate a Node.js process. Fixed in node-forge 1.4.3. ### Details `tls.handleHandshake()` in `lib/tls.js` updates the handshake digests with `c.session.md5.update(bytes)` before it calls the message handler. A client creates its session in `handshake()`, and `c.reset()` sets it to `null` when the connection is closed. Closing doesn't set the fail flag, and the client goes back to expecting a ServerHello, so a Handshake record received afterwards still reaches `handleHandshake()`, which throws `TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'md5')`. This happens: - after the server sends a `close_notify` alert (at any alert level); - after the application calls `close()`; - before the application calls `handshake()`. The exception propagates out of `connection.process()`. Applications that pass socket data to `process()` from a `data` event handler without catching exceptions, as in the README example, terminate. After a reset the connection uses no encryption, so an on-path attacker can inject the records even when the real server is honest. Servers are not affected: a server creates its session when it receives a ClientHello. The fix handles these records like other unexpected records on a closed client: they are ignored. #### Patches Fixed in node-forge 1.4.3. #### Workarounds Catch exceptions thrown by `connection.process()` and close the socket, or stop passing socket data to `process()` once the `closed` callback has been called and until `handshake()` is called again. #### Resources - RFC 5246, section 7.2.1 (Closure Alerts): https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5246#section-7.2.1 - Related: GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h (another TLS client `TypeError`, fixed in 1.4.1): https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-525v-9gp9-w22h #### Severity CVSS 3.1: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (5.9, Moderate) CVSS 4.0 (informational): CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N (8.2) CVSS 4.0 has no counterpart to 3.1's AC:H beyond AT:P and scores this higher; the severity rating follows CVSS 3.1. #### Credits Reported by @manus-use. ### Proof of concept var c = forge.tls.createConnection({server: false, ...}); c.handshake(); // warning close_notify alert, then an empty ServerHello, in separate // process() calls c.process(forge.util.hexToBytes('15030100020100')); c.process(forge.util.hexToBytes('160301000402000000')); // <= 1.4.2: TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'md5') // 1.4.3: the record is ignored The reporter's PoC is in tests/pocs/ghsa-j8rw-jp99-435v.js, and regression tests are in tests/unit/tls.js. ### Impact Applications that use `forge.tls` as a client and pass data from a network socket to `connection.process()` are affected. The server they connect to, or an on-path attacker, can make `process()` throw; if the application doesn't catch it, the Node.js process terminates, dropping all its connections. Servers built on `forge.tls` are not affected. There is no confidentiality or integrity impact.

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10 Nov 2026 21:14:26 UTC

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10 Nov 2026 21:30:04 UTC

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10 Nov 2026 22:21:40 UTC

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GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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