CVE-2026-121750
Received Received - Intake

Insecure Archive Installation in Node Version Manager

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-121750, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-11-04

Last updated on: 2026-11-04

Assigner: harborist

Description

Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.5 through 0.40.8, `nvm_download_artifact` downloads a release archive directly to its final path in `$NVM_DIR/.cache` and verifies its checksum afterwards; on a checksum mismatch it reports an error but leaves the rejected archive in place. A later `nvm install --offline` of the same version installs that cached file without a checksum, so an archive that was just rejected gets installed and its `node` and `npm` run. This gives code execution to a party who can alter the downloaded tarball (for example a poisoned CDN or cache object) but cannot also forge the `SHASUMS256.txt` beside it, if the victim runs `nvm install --offline` for that version after the visible "Checksums do not match" failure and before any online retry. Version 0.41.0 only puts an archive in the cache once its checksum has passed.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published
2026-11-04
Last Modified
2026-11-04
Generated
2026-11-05
AI Q&A
2026-11-05
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
nvm-sh nvm 0.40.5

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
KEV Icon
CWE ID Description
CWE-459 The product does not properly "clean up" and remove temporary or supporting resources after they have been used.
CWE-494 The product downloads source code or an executable from a remote location and executes the code without sufficiently verifying the origin and integrity of the code.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability affects Node Version Manager (nvm) versions 0.40.5 through 0.40.8. When downloading a release archive, nvm verifies the checksum after saving it to the cache. If the checksum fails, the corrupted file remains in the cache. Later, if a user runs 'nvm install --offline' for the same version, the cached corrupted file is installed without rechecking the checksum, allowing malicious code execution.

Detection Guidance

Check if your nvm version is between 0.40.5 and 0.40.8 by running 'nvm --version'. Inspect cached archives in $NVM_DIR/.cache for unexpected files or modified timestamps. Look for failed checksums during installation attempts.

Impact Analysis

An attacker who can alter downloaded tarballs but not forge checksum files could exploit this to execute arbitrary code on your system. This could happen if you use a poisoned CDN or cache object and then run 'nvm install --offline' for the affected version before retrying online.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade nvm to version 0.41.0 or later immediately. Remove any cached archives in $NVM_DIR/.cache that may have been installed without checksum verification. Avoid using --offline flag until confirmed safe.

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