CVE-2023-32002: Node.js

Critical severity, CVSS 9.8. EPSS: 1.6% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

The use of `Module._load()` can bypass the policy mechanism and require modules outside of the policy.json definition for a given module. This vulnerability affects all users using the experimental policy mechanism in all active release lines: 16.x, 18.x and, 20.x. Please note that at the time this CVE was issued, the policy is an experimental feature of Node.js.

Affected products

• Node.js Node.js: from 16.0.0, up to and including 16.20.1; from 18.0.0, up to and including 18.17.0; from 20.0.0, up to and including 20.5.0

Published 2023-08-21. Last modified 2026-06-17.