Hono added timing comparison hardening in basicAuth and bearerAuthGHSA-gq3j-xvxp-8hrf
LOWFix: honojs/hono@91def7cGHSA-gq3j-xvxp-8hrf is a low-severity (CVSS 3.7) CWE-208 vulnerability in hono. A fix is available for hono — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-gq3j-xvxp-8hrf.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
hononpmDescription
Summary
The basicAuth and bearerAuth middlewares previously used a comparison that was not fully timing-safe.
The timingSafeEqual function used normal string equality (===) when comparing hash values. This comparison may stop early if values differ, which can theoretically cause small timing differences.
The implementation has been updated to use a safer comparison method.
Details
The issue was caused by the use of normal string equality (===) when comparing hash values inside the timingSafeEqual function.
In JavaScript, string comparison may stop as soon as a difference is found. This means the comparison time can slightly vary depending on how many characters match.
Under very specific and controlled conditions, this behavior could theoretically allow timing-based analysis.
The implementation has been updated to:
- Avoid early termination during comparison
- Use a constant-time-style comparison method
Impact
This issue is unlikely to be exploited in normal environments.
It may only be relevant in highly controlled situations where precise timing measurements are possible.
This change is considered a security hardening improvement. Users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest version.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | hono | all versions | 4.11.10npm install hono@4.11.10 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for hono, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update hono to 4.11.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-gq3j-xvxp-8hrf is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | grafana13-1-main-13.1.1-0.2.hum1 | RHSA-2026:47618 |
| Red Hat Hardened Images | grafana12-4-main-12.4.6-0.2.hum1 | RHSA-2026:47619 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-gq3j-xvxp-8hrf in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.