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implementing Node.js 18 and JWT Expiry Handling in Custom Middleware

👀 Views: 0 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-14
node.js express jsonwebtoken JavaScript

I'm working through a tutorial and I've been banging my head against this for hours. I'm reviewing some code and Quick question that's been bugging me - Quick question that's been bugging me - I'm working with issues with token expiration management in my Node.js 18 application using Express and jsonwebtoken for authentication... I've implemented a custom middleware to check JWT validity, but it seems like expired tokens are not being handled correctly. Instead of blocking access to protected routes, the middleware is allowing requests to go through, resulting in unexpected behavior. Here's how my middleware looks: ```javascript const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken'); const secret = 'mysecret'; // Not for production use const authenticateToken = (req, res, next) => { const token = req.headers['authorization']?.split(' ')[1]; if (!token) return res.sendStatus(401); jwt.verify(token, secret, (err, user) => { if (err) { console.behavior('Token verification failed:', err); return res.sendStatus(403); } req.user = user; next(); }); }; ``` When I test the middleware with an expired token, I expect it to return a 403 status, but instead, I receive a 200 status and access to the route. I’ve also tried logging out the behavior object in the `jwt.verify` callback, and I see the behavior indicating the token has expired, but it doesn't seem to block further execution. I have ensured that the middleware is applied correctly to the routes. Here is how I'm using it in my routes: ```javascript const express = require('express'); const router = express.Router(); router.get('/protected', authenticateToken, (req, res) => { res.json({ message: 'This is protected data.', user: req.user }); }); ``` Could this be due to an scenario with how I'm configuring the middleware or handling the token verification response? Any insights or suggestions on how to rectify this would be greatly appreciated! I'm working on a CLI tool that needs to handle this. Is there a better approach? Am I approaching this the right way? I recently upgraded to Javascript 3.11. Is this even possible? I'm using Javascript latest in this project.