# CVE-2026-119189: Forge: X.509 pathLenConstraint not enforced by verifyCertificateChain() for CA certificates without keyUsage

Status: published. Published: 2026-10-29. Updated: 2026-11-03.

Forge (also called node-forge) is a native implementation of Transport Layer Security in JavaScript. Prior to 1.4.1, node-forge enforced an X.509 CA certificate's basicConstraints.pathLenConstraint only when that certificate also carried a keyUsage extension. Exploitation requires a path-length-constrained CA without keyUsage that chains to a root trusted by the application, and an attacker who holds that CA's private key or obtains a subordinate CA certificate from it. The attacker could then construct a chain exceeding the declared path length that still passed pki.verifyCertificateChain(). Public web PKI CA certificates normally include keyUsage; private PKIs with CA certificates created without it are more likely to be affected. This issue is fixed in version 1.4.1.

## Remediation

No remediation reported in collected sources

## Affected products and versions

- digitalbazaar / forge: < 1.4.1 (affected). Source: CNA: GitHub_M

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 5.9 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N; source: CNA: GitHub_M

- CVSS 3.1: 5.9 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N; source: NVD: security-advisories@github.com

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.17% as of 2026-11-03; percentile 5.80%

- SSVC: exploitation poc; automatable no; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-295

## Exploit evidence

- exploit: https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f (ADP: CISA-ADP)

## References

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_CONFIRM)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/commit/696db92348623e88cc63c35f0a89ede481d55ad0 (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/releases/tag/v1.4.1 (CNA: GitHub_M; x_refsource_MISC)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f (ADP: CISA-ADP; exploit)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/commit/696db92348623e88cc63c35f0a89ede481d55ad0 (security-advisories@github.com)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/releases/tag/v1.4.1 (security-advisories@github.com)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f (security-advisories@github.com)

- https://github.com/digitalbazaar/forge/security/advisories/GHSA-h46v-rmh6-fq4f (134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

## Provenance

- CNA: GitHub_M: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-119189; retrieved 2026-11-03; source updated 2026-11-03

- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119189; retrieved 2026-11-03; source updated 2026-11-03

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-119189; retrieved 2026-11-03; source updated Not reported

Revision: c233f3b0400bc13d4af7331749873482e11f3349f9225c0f504dbdd9e5554799

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-119189

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