CVE-2026-48618
Nodejs Node.Js 22.22.3 … 26.3.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2026-48618 is a medium-severity Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding (CWE-176) vulnerability in Nodejs Node.Js. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Invisible Unicode (T1027.018); ranked in the top 13% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) and IA-4 (Identifier Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-39610
Vulnerability Data
A flaw in Node.js TLS hostname handling can cause Node.js unicode dot separator handling can lead to tls wildcard-depth authentication bypass due to resolver and verifier hostname normalization mismat. This can lead to confidentiality impact or bypass of the intended…
more
security boundary under affected configurations. This vulnerability affects all supported release lines: **Node.js 22**, **Node.js 24**, and **Node.js 26**.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 8 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V8.3.3V10.3.2V6.4.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requiring unique identification and authentication of users forces the system to resolve all name variants to a single identity before access is granted.
Identifier management directly requires authorization and uniqueness checks that eliminate alternate-name aliases for the same actor or resource.
Input validation directly requires checking and normalizing encodings so that Unicode is handled consistently before further processing.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Strong authentication mechanisms directly prevent name-based bypass when they enforce canonical name checks.
Secure SDLC practices directly require proper Unicode/input validation to prevent this weakness.
Proper identity management reduces alternate-name collisions but does not guarantee canonicalization inside the auth decision.
Authorization policy enforcement assumes correct identity; the weakness occurs before policy is applied.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect Unicode-handling flaws before deployment.
Access-control policy can mandate canonical-name checks but does not prescribe the technical implementation.
Identity-management processes can require unique, canonical identifiers, reducing alternate-name bypass risk.
Proper management of authentication credentials can include rules against duplicate or alias identities.
Access-rights provisioning can enforce canonical-name validation when granting rights.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and encoding handling that can prevent Unicode mishandling.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
- V-248538 OL 8 operating systems booted with United Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) must have a unique name for the grub superusers account when booting into single-user mode and maintenance. prevents CWE-289
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-244558 Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems version 7.2 or newer booted with United Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) must have a unique name for the grub superusers account when booting into single-user mode and maintenance. prevents CWE-289