Summary
pnpm Has Lockfile Integrity Bypass that Allows Remote Dynamic Dependencies
HTTP tarball dependencies (and git-hosted tarballs) are stored in the lockfile without integrity hashes. This allows the remote server to serve different content on each install, even when a lockfile is committed.
Details
When a package depends on an HTTP tarball URL, pnpm's tarball resolver returns only the URL without computing an integrity hash:
resolving/tarball-resolver/src/index.ts:
return {
resolution: {
tarball: resolvedUrl,
// No integrity field
},
resolvedVia: 'url',
}
The resulting lockfile entry has no integrity to verify:
remote-dynamic-dependency@http://example.com/pkg.tgz:
resolution: {tarball: http://example.com/pkg.tgz}
version: 1.0.0
Since there is no integrity hash, pnpm cannot detect when the server returns different content.
This affects:
- HTTP/HTTPS tarball URLs (
"pkg": "https://example.com/pkg.tgz") - Git shorthand dependencies (
"pkg": "github:user/repo") - Git URLs (
"pkg": "git+https://github.com/user/repo")
npm registry packages are not affected as they include integrity hashes from the registry metadata.
PoC
See attached pnpm-bypass-integrity-poc.zip
The POC includes:
- A server that returns different tarball content on each request
- A
malicious-packagethat depends on the HTTP tarball - A
victimproject that depends onmalicious-package
To run:
cd pnpm-bypass-integrity-poc
./run-poc.sh
The output shows that each install (with pnpm store prune between them) downloads different code despite having a committed lockfile.
Impact
An attacker who publishes a package with an HTTP tarball dependency can serve different code to different users or CI/CD environments. This enables:
- Targeted attacks based on request metadata (IP, headers, timing)
- Evasion of security audits (serve benign code during review, malicious code later)
- Supply chain attacks where the malicious payload changes over time
The attack requires the victim to install a package that has an HTTP/git tarball in its dependency tree. The victim's lockfile provides no protection.
CVE-2025-69263 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (10.26.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-69263? CVE-2025-69263 is a high-severity security vulnerability in pnpm (npm), affecting versions < 10.26.0. It is fixed in 10.26.0.
- How severe is CVE-2025-69263? CVE-2025-69263 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of pnpm are affected by CVE-2025-69263? pnpm (npm) versions < 10.26.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2025-69263? Yes. CVE-2025-69263 is fixed in 10.26.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2025-69263 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-69263 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2025-69263 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2025-69263? Upgrade
pnpmto 10.26.0 or later.