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CVE-2026-121748

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.27.0 through 0.40.8, when a project's `.npmrc` sets `prefix`, `nvm use` tells the user to run `nvm use --delete-prefix`, which runs `npm config delete prefix` and `npm config delete globalconfig` in the current directory without naming a config file. npm loads the project `.npmrc` before deciding which file to edit, so that file chooses the target: `userconfig=~/.bashrc` makes npm rewrite `~/.bashrc` as ini (corrupting it), and `location=global` with `globalconfig=` leaves the chosen file at mode 0666, which on a shared machine lets another local user write to it. The attacker (the author of a cloned repository or archive, or a local user who can write a shared parent directory) chooses the file but not the bytes written, and no project code runs. Version 0.41.0 no longer lets a project `.npmrc` select which config file `--delete-prefix` edits.

Severity
LOW
CVSS score
1.8 (v4.0)
Vulnerability status
Received
Source identifier
7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158
Published
2026-11-04 22:17:54.523000
Last modified
2026-11-04 22:17:54.523000
View original CVE JSON
{
  "id": "CVE-2026-121748",
  "sourceIdentifier": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158",
  "published": "2026-11-04T22:17:54.523",
  "lastModified": "2026-11-04T22:17:54.523",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.27.0 through 0.40.8, when a project's `.npmrc` sets `prefix`, `nvm use` tells the user to run `nvm use --delete-prefix`, which runs `npm config delete prefix` and `npm config delete globalconfig` in the current directory without naming a config file. npm loads the project `.npmrc` before deciding which file to edit, so that file chooses the target: `userconfig=~/.bashrc` makes npm rewrite `~/.bashrc` as ini (corrupting it), and `location=global` with `globalconfig=` leaves the chosen file at mode 0666, which on a shared machine lets another local user write to it. The attacker (the author of a cloned repository or archive, or a local user who can write a shared parent directory) chooses the file but not the bytes written, and no project code runs. Version 0.41.0 no longer lets a project `.npmrc` select which config file `--delete-prefix` edits."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "nvm-sh",
          "product": "nvm",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "repo": "https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm",
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "0.27.0",
              "lessThan": "0.41.0",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV40": [
      {
        "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "4.0",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
          "baseScore": 1.8,
          "baseSeverity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "ACTIVE",
          "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "vulnIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
          "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "LOW",
          "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
          "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "confidentialityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "integrityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "availabilityRequirement": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackVector": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackComplexity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedAttackRequirements": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedPrivilegesRequired": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedUserInteraction": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedVulnAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubConfidentialityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubIntegrityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "modifiedSubAvailabilityImpact": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED",
          "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED"
        }
      }
    ],
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L",
          "baseScore": 3.6,
          "baseSeverity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "LOCAL",
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "LOW"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.0,
        "impactScore": 2.5
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-73"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/commit/4049296ca8eef2067517d8cfd5ef5c0e615daa10",
      "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/security/advisories/GHSA-ccgf-7gv4-xg5h",
      "source": "7ffcee3d-2c14-4c3e-b844-86c6a321a158"
    }
  ]
}