Vulnerability in node-opcua-transport (CVE-2026-68904)
Summary
Vulnerability in node-opcua-transport (CVE-2026-68904). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Mitigation: upgrade to 2.170.0 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
SUMMARY
A combination of bugs in node-opcua causes unlimited TCP socket accumulation (FIN-WAIT-2 state) during automatic reconnection, leading to memory exhaustion and eventual container/process crash (OOM kill). The issue is triggered by the default configuration (keepSessionAlive: true) when the OPC UA server has clock skew relative to the client.
Affected version: Tested on 2.169.0 (latest as of April 2026).
ENVIRONMENT
- Node.js: v24.11.0
- node-opcua: 2.169.0
- OS: Linux (containerized via Podman, slirp4netns networking)
- OPC UA Server: Industrial PLC (opc.tcp endpoint), clock skew of ~50 minutes ahead of client
- Client config: keepSessionAlive: true (default), keepAliveInterval: 3000, securityMode: None, securityPolicy: None
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS
Bug #1 - ClientTCP_transport._on_ACK_response() uses socket.end() instead of socket.destroy()
File: node-opcua-transport/src/client_tcp_transport.ts, _on_ACK_response() method
When the HEL/ACK handshake fails during a reconnection attempt, the error handler calls socket.end():
if (err || !data) {
externalCallback(err || new Error("no data"));
if (this._socket) {
this._socket.end(); // <- sends TCP FIN, leaves socket in FIN-WAIT-2
}
}
socket.end() sends a TCP FIN and waits for the peer to close its side. If the peer doesn't respond (common with PLCs), the socket remains in FIN-WAIT-2 state indefinitely, leaking file descriptors and memo…
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-68904 has been found in node-opcua-transport.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. CVSS score: 7.0/10.
What to do: upgrade node-opcua-transport to 2.170.0 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "node-opcua-transport CVE-2026-68904" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-68904 (node-opcua-transport) — CWE-400 / CVSS v3 7.0
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Patched: 2.170.0 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-400) exists in node-opcua-transport.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of node-opcua-transport.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.0/10). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to 2.170.0.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'node-opcua-transport' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'node-opcua-transport' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
node-opcua-transportを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade node-opcua-transport to 2.170.0ステージング環境で 2.170.0 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
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