Summary
Nx daemon and plugin worker sockets are accessible to other local users
Nx creates the Unix domain sockets for its daemon and its plugin workers in a shared temporary directory with default permissions, so any other user on the same machine can connect to them. The daemon accepts a PROCESS_IN_BACKGROUND request that names a module to load and invokes its default export, which turns socket access into code execution inside the daemon process. On a multi-user machine, a shared build server, a shared developer box, or a container running several accounts, one local user can execute code as another user running Nx.
Severity
Exploitable by any other unprivileged local user on a shared host while a daemon or plugin worker is running, with no user interaction. There is no known evidence of exploitation in the wild.
Affected & Patched Versions
| Package | Vulnerable | Patched |
|---|---|---|
nx |
>= 14.6.0, < 22.7.9; >= 23.0.0, < 23.1.2 |
22.7.9, 23.1.2 |
Every version in the ranges above is affected. The lower bound is 14.6.0, when the daemon request handler that turns socket access into code execution was added.
[!IMPORTANT]
Single-user machines are not exposed. The vulnerability requires another local account on the same host, so an ordinary laptop with one user account is unaffected, the exposure is shared CI runners, shared build and development servers, and containers or images that run more than one uid.
Disabling the daemon is not sufficient on its own: the plugin worker sockets used by plugin isolation are created in the same directory with the same permissions, and those are used during normal command runs whether or not the daemon is enabled.
Details
The daemon and the plugin workers communicate over Unix domain sockets placed in a subdirectory of the shared OS temporary directory. That directory is created with default permissions, which on a typical system leave it readable and traversable by every user on the machine, and nothing narrows the socket files themselves. The directory name is derived from a hash of the workspace path and the process id, so it is unique but not secret, any local user who lists the temporary directory can find it.
The connection carries no authentication: the containment is meant to be the filesystem permissions alone, and those are too broad. Any local process that can reach the socket is treated as a fully trusted client.
The impact of that access is set by what the daemon's request handlers allow. One handler takes a module path from the request and loads and invokes it; because an absolute path resolves regardless of the lookup constraints in place, a caller who can write a file anywhere on the machine, their own home directory suffices, and connect to the socket can have the daemon execute it, as the user running the daemon. Other handlers expose workspace file contents, the project graph, and task hashes to the same unauthenticated caller.
Credits
Reported by researchers at the University of Sydney:
- Liyi
- Ziyue
- Strick
- Maurice
- Chenchen
Impact
The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access. Typical impact: privilege escalation beyond the intended level.
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.
Already deployed Kodem?
See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
Upgrade to 22.7.9 (22.x line) or 23.1.2 (23.x line) or later:
nx migrate 23.1.2
On a shared machine, run nx reset after upgrading so that any sockets and directories created by an older version are removed rather than reused.
If you cannot upgrade, point NX_SOCKET_DIR at a directory you own with mode 0700, which is already honoured by the vulnerable versions, and disable the daemon with NX_DAEMON=false to reduce the reachable surface, though, per the callout above, that does not remove the plugin worker sockets.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-104854? CVE-2026-104854 is a high-severity improper privilege management vulnerability in nx (npm), affecting versions >= 14.6.0, < 22.7.9. It is fixed in 22.7.9, 23.1.2. The application assigns, modifies, tracks, or checks privileges incorrectly, allowing a user to gain elevated access.
- Which versions of nx are affected by CVE-2026-104854? nx (npm) versions >= 14.6.0, < 22.7.9 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-104854? Yes. CVE-2026-104854 is fixed in 22.7.9, 23.1.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-104854 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-104854 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-2026-104854 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-2026-104854?
- Upgrade
nxto 22.7.9 or later - Upgrade
nxto 23.1.2 or later
- Upgrade