CVE-2026-50021: pnpm — Exploit & Fix

Description

pnpm is a package manager. Prior to 10.34.0 and 11.4.0, pnpm's tarball extraction worker skips integrity verification when the integrity field is absent from the lockfile resolution. If an attacker can both modify pnpm-lock.yaml to remove the integrity: field and cause the referenced registry URL to serve altered package content, pnpm install --frozen-lockfile can install the altered package without an integrity error. npm's npm ci enforces integrity by default; pnpm's behavior of silently skipping verification is a pnpm-specific fail-open gap. This vulnerability is fixed in 10.34.0 and 11.4.0.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2026-50021?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

6.8

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0017

Probability of exploitation

0.07%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-354 CWE-354

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
pnpm	pnpm	< 10.34.0
pnpm	pnpm	11.0.0 — 11.4.0

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/security/advisories/GHSA-q6j5-fjx5-2mc3 https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/security/advisories/GHSA-q6j5-fjx5-2mc3

Exploits

https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/security/advisories/GHSA-q6j5-fjx5-2mc3 https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/security/advisories/GHSA-q6j5-fjx5-2mc3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-50021? +

pnpm is a package manager. Prior to 10.34.0 and 11.4.0, pnpm's tarball extraction worker skips integrity verification when the integrity field is absent from the lockfile resolution. If an attacker can both modify pnpm-lock.yaml to remove the integrity: field and cause the referenced registry URL to serve altered package content, pnpm install --frozen-lockfile can install the altered package without an integrity error. npm's npm ci enforces integrity by default; pnpm's behavior of silently skipping verification is a pnpm-specific fail-open gap. This vulnerability is fixed in 10.34.0 and 11.4.0. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-50021? +

CVE-2026-50021 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0017, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

What products are affected by CVE-2026-50021? +

CVE-2026-50021 affects products from pnpm, specifically: pnpm. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-50021? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-12816

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.85, IESEngine stream-mode MAC forgery via length-dependent KDF split. This issue also affects Bouncy …

CVE-2025-11694

A security issue exists within 1769 CompactLogix controllers due to the missing validation of sequence numbers and source IP addresses …

CVE-2025-4616

An insufficient validation of an untrusted input vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Prisma® Browser allows a locally authenticated non-admin user …

CVE-2026-12803

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.85, KCCMBlockCipher MAC does not bind nonce when AAD is absent (cross-nonce AEAD forgery). …

CVE-2026-59642

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.85, CMS AuthenticatedData content not bound to MAC when authAttrs present. This issue also …

CVE-2026-12817

In Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.85, OpenPGP AEAD decryption skips final tag on chunk-aligned data. This issue also affects …

CVE-2026-50021