CVE-2026-121745: nvm exposes NVM_AUTH_HEADER to other local users on the curl/wget command line

Published Nov 4, 2026
·
Updated

Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, when NVMAUTHHEADER is set, nvmdownload passes the credential to curl or wget as a --header "Authorization: ..." command-line argument. Process arguments are visible to every local user (on Linux via ps or /proc//cmdline unless /proc is mounted with hidepid=; on macOS via ps), so another unprivileged account on the same machine can read the token while nvm is downloading during nvm ls-remote, nvm install, and similar commands, and gain whatever access it grants on the private mirror. Only users who set NVMAUTHHEADER on a host shared with other local accounts are affected. Version 0.41.0 passes the header to curl on stdin and to GNU Wget in a private temporary config file. BusyBox wget reads no config file, so when it is the only downloader available the header is still passed as an argument.

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade nvm to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 0.41.0
  2. Compensating control

    On machines shared with other local users, install curl or GNU Wget; BusyBox wget still receives the authorization header as a command-line argument.

Event History

Nov 4, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:28 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:28 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·10:17 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

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