Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.2.0 through 0.40.8, nvm does not check whether `.nvmrc` is a symbolic link. A repository or archive that ships `.nvmrc` as a symlink to another file (for example `../../.npmrc`, or `/proc/self/environ` on Linux) makes a plain `nvm use`, `nvm install`, `nvm which`, `nvm exec`, `nvm run`, or `nvm-exec` read that file and print its contents in the invalid-`.nvmrc` message (even with `--silent`) or, for a one-line file, in the `Found ... with version <...>` message; with the README's zsh `load-nvmrc` or bash `cdnvm` hook installed, entering the directory is enough. nvm sends the content nowhere; the attacker learns it only where they can see the victim's output, such as a CI log for a contributed branch. Version 0.41.0 still follows a symlinked `.nvmrc`, so deliberate links to another version file keep working, but never prints its content, and accepts it only if it contains a version or the name of an existing alias; the README's bash `cdnvm` hook, which read `.nvmrc` itself, now gets the version from nvm, so users of that hook must also update their copy of it.
"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/security/advisories/GHSA-j6ch-mq5c-3h4x","name":"GHSA-j6ch-mq5c-3h4x","tags":["vendor-advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/commit/67268ebcb6e1a26ae3d71b3710d6333bb7358662","name":"Fix commit 67268ebc","tags":["patch"]},{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/commit/c314f1cbb3c301c587a4e4f96511d31f1134ffd1","name":"Fix commit c314f1cb","tags":["patch"]}],"metrics":[{"format":"CVSS","scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}],"cvssV4_0":{"attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","attackRequirements":"NONE","privilegesRequired":"NONE","userInteraction":"ACTIVE","vulnConfidentialityImpact":"HIGH","subConfidentialityImpact":"NONE","vulnIntegrityImpact":"NONE","subIntegrityImpact":"NONE","vulnAvailabilityImpact":"NONE","subAvailabilityImpact":"NONE","exploitMaturity":"NOT_DEFINED","Safety":"NOT_DEFINED","Automatable":"NOT_DEFINED","Recovery":"NOT_DEFINED","valueDensity":"NOT_DEFINED","vulnerabilityResponseEffort":"NOT_DEFINED","providerUrgency":"NOT_DEFINED","version":"4.0","baseSeverity":"MEDIUM","baseScore":6.7,"vectorString":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"}},{"format":"CVSS","scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}],"cvssV3_1":{"version":"3.1","attackVector":"LOCAL","attackComplexity":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"NONE","userInteraction":"REQUIRED","scope":"UNCHANGED","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"NONE","availabilityImpact":"NONE","baseSeverity":"MEDIUM","baseScore":5.5,"vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"}}],"workarounds":[{"lang":"en","value":"Until upgrading, check for a symlinked `.nvmrc` (`ls -l .nvmrc`) before running nvm in an untrusted project directory, and do not run nvm in CI for untrusted branches where its output is visible to their authors.","supportingMedia":[{"type":"text/html","base64":false,"value":"Until upgrading, check for a symlinked `.nvmrc` (`ls -l .nvmrc`) before running nvm in an untrusted project directory, and do not run nvm in CI for untrusted branches where its output is visible to their authors.
"}]}],"solutions":[{"lang":"en","value":"Upgrade to nvm 0.41.0 or later.","supportingMedia":[{"type":"text/html","base64":false,"value":"Upgrade to nvm 0.41.0 or later.
"}]}],"credits":[{"lang":"en","value":"Anthropic's OSS Scanner, as vulnerability ANT-2026-G9REVGKT","type":"finder"},{"lang":"en","value":"d3doxp (https://github.com/d3doxp)","type":"finder"},{"lang":"en","value":"Jordan Harband (https://github.com/ljharb)","type":"remediation developer"}],"source":{"advisory":"GHSA-j6ch-mq5c-3h4x","discovery":"EXTERNAL"}}}}