---
title: "CVE-2023-46133: crypto-es PBKDF2 1,000 times weaker than specified in 1993 and 1.3M times weaker than current standard"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2023-46133/
description: "CVE-2023-46133 (crypto-es (npm)): CryptoES is a cryptography algorithms library compatible with ES6 and TypeScript. Prior to version 2.1.0, CryptoES PBKDF2…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2023-10-25
date_modified: 2024-09-10
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2023-46133"
kev: false
cvss: 9.1
epss: 0.00446
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2023-46133: crypto-es PBKDF2 1,000 times weaker than specified in 1993 and 1.3M times weaker than current standard

**Signal:** Critical and remotely reachable. No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 0.4% , percentile 38: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.4% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 38% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes crypto-es (npm) < 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.0 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

CryptoES is a cryptography algorithms library compatible with ES6 and TypeScript. Prior to version 2.1.0, CryptoES PBKDF2 is 1,000 times weaker than originally specified in 1993, and at least 1,300,000 times weaker than current industry standard. This is because it both defaults to SHA1, a cryptographic hash algorithm considered insecure since at least 2005, and defaults to one single iteration, a 'strength' or 'difficulty' value specified at 1,000 when specified in 1993. PBKDF2 relies on iteration count as a countermeasure to preimage and collision attacks. If used to protect passwords, the impact is high. If used to generate signatures, the impact is high. Version 2.1.0 contains a patch for this issue. As a workaround, configure CryptoES to use SHA256 with at least 250,000 iterations.

## Affected packages

- npm `crypto-es` < 2.1.0 → fixed: 2.1.0

## Affected products (CVE record)

- entronad crypto-es: < 2.1.0

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 3.1: 9.1 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`
- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 9.1 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable yes , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.45% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 38.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-mpj8-q39x-wq5h](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mpj8-q39x-wq5h)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2023-46133](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46133)
- [NVD entry CVE-2023-46133](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46133)
- [github.com](https://github.com/entronad/crypto-es/security/advisories/GHSA-mpj8-q39x-wq5h)
- [github.com](https://github.com/entronad/crypto-es/commit/d506677fae3d03a454b37ad126e0c119d416b757)

---
Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2023-46133/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt