How to quickly fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error in Node.js

The ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error happens in Node.js when a JavaScript module still uses a flawed OpenSSL version that is incompatible with the version Node.js uses.

To fix it, downgrade to Node.js v16.13.0, or use the npm audit fix --force command to upgrade your packages to versions that use the updated OpenSSL version.

Why does the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error occur in Node.js?

In Node.js v17, the Node.js team patched an OpenSSL security vulnerability. This fix introduced a breaking change; if you try to use OpenSSL in Node.js v17 or later versions without simultaneously updating those modules that use previous OpenSSL versions, you’ll get this error.

And you’ll get it the next time Node.js updates to use a newer OpenSSL version with breaking changes and you haven’t updated the OpenSSL-dependent libraries.

Fix: upgrade NPM packages

To fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error, update the Node.js packages causing the error to the latest version.

Run npm audit fix to fix vulnerabilities

You can run the npm audit fix command to identify those packages using the outdated OpenSSL version and fix them automatically.

npm audit fix reviews the project’s dependency tree to identify packages that have known vulnerabilities, and attempts to upgrade and/or fix the vulnerable dependencies to a safe version.

npm audit fix --force

If you want to install semver major updates to vulnerable packages, you can use the --force option. 

Be cautious with this option as it could potentially break your project.

yarn-audit-fix

If you’re a Yarn user, you can use the yarn-audit-fix package to do what npm audit fix does.

Upgrade Webpack to v5

If you’re using Webpack directly to bundle your files, you can upgrade it to version v5 – specifically, v5.61.0 – to fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error.

If instead, you’re using a tool like Create React App and the Vue CLI that use Webpack internally, you’ll upgrade the tool to a version that doesn’t have this error.

Fix for Create React App: Upgrade react-scripts to v5

If you’re using Create React App then you can fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error by upgrading react-scripts to version 5, which comes with the newer Webpack version 5.

Install version 5 or later with this command:

Fix for Vue CLI: Upgrade to v5

Similarly for the Vue CLI, you can fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error by upgrading the Vue CLI to version 5 which also comes with the newer Webpack version 5.

Install Vue CLI version 5 or later with this command:

More info on how to upgrade the Vue CLI here.

Fix: Use --openssl-legacy-provider option

To fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error in Node.js, you can also use the --openssl-legacy-provider option when running the script.

This solution is more of a hack though, as it leaves your app open to security threats.

The --openssl-legacy-provider option is only available in Node version 17 or later.

Run with script

So for the start script, you’ll use this command:

Modify script

You can also set this directly in the script to avoid needless repetition.

On Linux/Mac:

On Windows:

Make sure the script is cross-platform

But now the scripts aren’t cross-platform.

They’ll obviously be problematic when collaborating and team members use other operating systems. What do we do? We install the cross-env NPM module and run the script with it.

Now the script runs successfully on every platform.

Fix for Vue CLI

So to fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error when using Vue with the Vue CLI, install the cross-env module and set the --openssl-legacy-provider option:

Fix for Create React App

And to fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error when using React with Create React App, install the cross-env module and set the --openssl-legacy-provider option.

Fix: Downgrade to Node.js v16.13.0

To fix the ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error in Node.js, downgrade your Node.js version to 16.13.0.

This solution is more of a hack though, as it leaves your app open to security threats.

Install from official website

Use this official link to download Node.js v16.13.0.

Install with Chocolatey

If you’re using Chocolatey, Node.js is available as the nodejs package, meaning you can easily install it in a terminal using the following command.

Install with nvm

If you’re using nvm or nvm-windows, use these commands to quickly install and switch to Node.js v16.13.0.

Key takeaways

• The ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED error in Node.js occurs when a JavaScript module uses an outdated OpenSSL version that is incompatible with the current Node version. This typically happens when Node.js v17 or later versions are used without updating the modules that use previous OpenSSL versions.
• To fix this error, you can:
  • Downgrade to Node.js v16.13.0.
  • Use the npm audit fix --force or yarn-audit-fix command to upgrade your packages to versions that use the updated OpenSSL version.
• If you’re using Webpack, you can upgrade it to version v5.61.0 to fix the error. For Create React App and Vue CLI, you can upgrade them to v5.
• Another way to fix the error is to use the --openssl-legacy-provider option when running the script. However, this solution leaves your app open to security threats and is only available in Node version 17 or later.
• Downgrading to Node.js v16.13.0 is another way to fix the error. However, this solution also leaves your app open to security threats. You can install this version from the official website, or use Chocolatey, nvm, or nvm-windows to install and switch to this version.

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