Fix: ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED digital envelope routines (webpack 4)

Error: error:0308010C:digital envelope routines::unsupported
  opensslErrorStack: [
    'error:03000086:digital envelope routines::initialization error',
    'error:0308010C:digital envelope routines::unsupported'
  ],
  library: 'digital envelope routines',
  code: 'ERR_OSSL_EVP_UNSUPPORTED'

The fix

Best quick fix: upgrade webpack 4 to 4.47.0

You don’t have to jump to webpack 5. The last webpack 4 release handles this itself:

npm install -D webpack@4.47.0

If webpack comes from a tool you don’t control (an old react-scripts, vue-cli or similar), check which webpack it installed with npm ls webpack. Pinning 4.47.0 with overrides in package.json may work there too. I didn’t test those tools for this post.

Fallback: the legacy OpenSSL provider

# macOS / Linux
NODE_OPTIONS=--openssl-legacy-provider npm run build

# Windows PowerShell
$env:NODE_OPTIONS = "--openssl-legacy-provider"; npm run build

It works, but it re-enables old, weaker algorithms for the whole Node process. Treat it as a stopgap, not the fix.

Long term

Move to webpack 5 or a current build tool. Webpack 4 no longer gets updates, and 4.47.0 is its final release.

Why it happens

Webpack 4 hashes files with the md4 algorithm through Node’s crypto. Node 17 switched to OpenSSL 3, which disables legacy algorithms like md4 by default. Asking for it fails with 0308010C: digital envelope routines::unsupported. Webpack 4.47.0 added its own md4 implementation, so it no longer asks OpenSSL for it.

What didn’t work