Node.js security covers vulnerabilities, dependency risks, and runtime defenses that can affect server-side applications and their data.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform runtime that executes JavaScript outside a web browser, using Google’s V8 engine. Its event-driven, non-blocking input/output model is widely used for web servers, APIs, command-line tools, and backend services. The runtime is not itself an application framework; security outcomes depend substantially on the code and modules running within it.
Security concerns include vulnerabilities in the Node.js runtime, insecure application logic such as injection or server-side request forgery, and risks from the large npm dependency ecosystem. Malicious or compromised packages, unsafe install scripts, transitive dependencies, and prototype-pollution flaws can expand an application’s attack surface. Practitioners should track runtime and package advisories, use lockfiles and dependency review, restrict package-install and process permissions where practical, validate untrusted input, and protect credentials and session data. During incidents, dependency inventories and build records help determine whether a vulnerable module or runtime was deployed.
LottieFiles has revealed that its npm package "lottie-player" was compromised as part of a supply chain attack, prompting it to release an updated version of the library
Three malicious packages published to the npm registry in September 2024 have been found to contain a known malware called BeaverTail, a JavaScript downloader and information stealer linked to an ongoing North Korean campaign tracked as Contagious Interview