Critical Authentication

CVE-2026-44351 — fast-jwt: Empty HMAC secret accepted via async key resolver - JWT auth bypass

fast-jwt provides fast JSON Web Token (JWT) implementation. Prior to 6.2.4, a critical authentication-bypass vulnerability in fast-jwt's async key-resolver flow allows any unauthenticated attacker to forge arbitrary JWTs that are accepted as authentic. When the application's key resolver returns an empty string (''), for example via the common keys[decoded.header.kid] || '' JWKS-style fallback, fast-jwt converts it to a zero-length Buffer, hands it to crypto.createSecretKey, derives allowedAlgorithms = ['HS256','HS384','HS512'] from it, and then verifies the token's signature against an empty-key HMAC. The attacker simply computes HMAC-SHA256(key='', input='${header}.${payload}'), which Node accepts without complaint — and the verifier returns the attacker-chosen payload (sub, admin, scopes, etc.) as authentic. This vulnerability is fixed in 6.2.4.

Published May 13, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Low

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.

How the score was calculated

EPSS 0.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+4
Technical severity (critical)+10
Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Not confirmed

Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.

EPSS FIRST

0.33%

ahead of 25% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026

Affects

Nearform

Fast-jwt

CVSS base

9.1

Critical · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

Yes

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Nearform Fast-jwt).
The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (authentication), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Nearform	Fast-jwt	version < 6.2.4	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Network

Attack complexity

Low

Privileges required

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
9.1	CVSS 3.1	Critical	3.9	5.2	security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.1	CVSS 3.1	Critical	—	—	GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-287 · Improper Authentication

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 0.33%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
Review authentication logs: logins without MFA, anomalous sessions and recently created accounts.

web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logs

Analysis and videos

CVE-2026-44351: fast-jwt: Empty HMAC Secret Accepted in Async Key Resolver (JWT Auth Bypass)
Versions of fast-jwt before 6.2.4 can accept JWTs verified against an empty HMAC key when the application's async key resolver returns an empty string. The sources describe this as a critical authentication bypass with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1, and the description states it is fixed in 6.2.4. No confirmed exploitation appears in the sources consulted, and the CVE is not listed in CISA KEV.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · nearform/fast-jwt
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 13, 2026
CVSS changed · 9.1
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Deferred
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
May 13, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

1 on the record

github.com/nearform/fast-jwt/security/advisories/GHSA-gmvf-9v4p-v8jc
x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Nearform
every CVE for this vendor

Authentication
same class

CWE-287
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

Critical CVE-2026-107722 fast-jwt: Incomplete patch of CVE-2026-34950: Non-whitespace key-prefix re-enables RSA→HS256 algorithm confusion 7d
High CVE-2026-107723 fast-jwt : Silent claim-validator bypass when JWT payload is a JSON array 7d
Medium CVE-2026-107721 fast-jwt clockTolerance: Infinity silently bypasses both exp and nbf validation (and persists in the verifier cache) 7d
High CVE-2026-107724 fast-jwt treats raw public JWK JSON as an HMAC secret, enabling HS256 token forgery 7d
High CVE-2026-107720 fast-jwt: createVerifier accepts unsigned JWTs when key is '' or null and algorithms is explicitly set 7d
Medium CVE-2026-107719 fast-jwt: Verifier cache accepts expired JWTs without iat. 7d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-44351 is "fast-jwt: Empty HMAC secret accepted via async key resolver - JWT auth bypass", rated Critical. It affects Fast-jwt (Nearform); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.1 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.33% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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