Security Digest · Vulnerability record
CVE-2026-44523: Note Mark has a JWT Secret Weakness that allows Full Account Takeover via Token Forgery
Note Mark is an open-source note-taking application.
CVSS 10.0 Critical EPSS 0.2% · p5
Should you act?
Critical and remotely reachable
No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.
- Not in CISA KEV, but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
- EPSS 0.2%, percentile 5: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 5% 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
github.com/enchant97/note-mark/backend(Go) < 0.0.0-20260501152247-18b587758667, fixed in 0.0.0-20260501152247-18b587758667. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.
What it is
Note Mark is an open-source note-taking application. Prior to 0.19.4, no minimum length or entropy is enforced on the JWTSECRET configuration value. The application accepts any base64-decodable secret regardless of size, including secrets as short as 1 byte. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.19.4.
From the GitHub advisory
Summary
No minimum length or entropy is enforced on the JWTSECRET configuration value. The application accepts any base64-decodable secret regardless of size, including secrets as short as 1 byte.
HS256 secrets below 32 bytes are brute-forceable offline, allowing attackers to recover the signing key and forge valid JWTs for arbitrary users.
---
Impact
Weakness type: CWE-326, CWE-345.
Product: github.com/enchant97/note-mark/backend (Go) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2026-05-14
Affected and fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable | First fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/enchant97/note-mark/backend | < 0.0.0-20260501152247-18b587758667 | 0.0.0-20260501152247-18b587758667 |
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions (per CVE record) |
|---|---|---|
| enchant97 | note-mark | < 0.19.4 |
Severity scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_M | 3.1 | 10 Critical | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N |
| GitHub | 3.1 | 10.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N |
- Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
- Attack complexity: low
- Privileges required: none (no login)
- User interaction: none
- Scope: changed (can affect other components)
CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.
Exploitation and urgency
- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc, automatable yes, technical impact total.
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.16% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 5.
Timeline
- — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-q6mh-rqwh-g786 published (critical)
- — CVE record published by GitHub_M
- — CVE record last updated
Sources and references
Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.
Vulnerability records
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-q6mh-rqwh-g786 github.com
- CVE.org record CVE-2026-44523 cve.org
- NVD entry CVE-2026-44523 nvd.nist.gov
Other references from the CVE record and advisory
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com
- github.com github.com