Summary
With credentials: true and no explicit origin (the default wildcard), the CORS Middleware reflects the request's Origin and sends Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true. Any site can then make credentialed cross-origin requests and read the responses, exposing cookie-authenticated endpoints to arbitrary origins.
Details
The spec forbids Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * with credentials and browsers reject it, so this configuration used to fail closed. In affected versions the middleware reflects the request Origin instead, so it now succeeds for every origin, including null. The preflight also echoes the requested headers back, approving non-simple credentialed requests too.
This issue arises when an application enables credentials: true and leaves origin unset or set to the wildcard.
Impact
Any third-party page a logged-in user visits can read the application's cookie-authenticated endpoints and perform credentialed state-changing requests. This affects applications that enable credentialed CORS without restricting origin.
CVE-2026-54290 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (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 (4.12.25); 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.
Remediation advice
Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-54290? CVE-2026-54290 is a high-severity security vulnerability in hono (npm), affecting versions < 4.12.25. It is fixed in 4.12.25.
- How severe is CVE-2026-54290? CVE-2026-54290 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (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 hono are affected by CVE-2026-54290? hono (npm) versions < 4.12.25 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-54290? Yes. CVE-2026-54290 is fixed in 4.12.25. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-54290 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-54290 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-2026-54290 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-2026-54290? Upgrade
honoto 4.12.25 or later.