CVE-2026-102414

pbkdf2 rehashes long passwords on every iteration, enabling denial of service

LOW
3.7
CVSS Score
Published: September 29, 2026 at 03:42 AM UTC
Updated: September 30, 2026 at 05:32 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorPBKDF2

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Severity
LOW3.7
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
PoC

Description

pbkdf2 through 3.1.6 re-hashes passwords longer than the digest's block size on every iteration in its JavaScript fallback (lib/sync.js). A password longer than the block size (64 bytes, or 128 bytes for sha384 and sha512) is passed to HMAC as the key on every iteration, and HMAC hashes such keys in full each time. Cost is therefore O(iterations × password length), and a long password can block the event loop. The fallback is used by pbkdf2Sync and pbkdf2 on Node.js before 0.12, on Bun (1.0.0 through 1.1.34, and 1.2.6 and later), and on Deno 2.9.0 and later, because their native pbkdf2Sync fails the library's feature check. It is also used when lib/sync.js is imported directly. Node.js 0.12 and later, and browser builds (which use lib/sync-browser.js), are not affected. Applications that enforce a reasonable maximum password length are not meaningfully affected.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v ≤ 3.1.6

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

3.7LOWharborist
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
LOW
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-400

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