CVE-2017-12581: Electron Electron Vulnerable To Remote Command Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8
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CVSS 8.1
CWE-78
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-12581 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.1) electron vulnerable to remote command vulnerability (CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')) affecting Electron libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves electron vulnerable to remote command execution. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.6.8.

CVE-2017-12581 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-12581
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.1
CWE Classification CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Affected Product Electron
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2017-12581

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Electron dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

electron fixed: 1.6.8 
npm install electron@1.6.8
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

npm ls electron

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-12581, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls electron

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Electron in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.6.8), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls electron command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of an os command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended os command when it is sent to a downstream component. In Electron, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Electron before 1.6.8 allows remote command execution because of a `nodeIntegration` bypass vulnerability. This also affects all applications that bundle Electron code equivalent to 1.6.8 or earlier. Bypassing the Same Origin Policy (SOP) is a precondition; however, recent Electron versions do not have strict SOP enforcement. Combining an SOP bypass with a privileged URL internally used by Electron, it was possible to execute native Node.js primitives in order to run OS commands on the user's host. Specifically, a `chrome-devtools://devtools/bundled/inspector.html` window could be used to eval a Node.js `child_process.execFile` API call.

CVE-2017-12581 Affected Electron Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.6.8
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
electron
npm/electron
npm
< 1.6.8
1.6.8

References

NVD — CVE-2017-12581 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12581
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/electron/electron/commit/05b6d91bf4c1e0ee65eeef70cd5d1bd1df125644
Electron Security Information SECURITY
https://blog.doyensec.com/2017/08/03/electron-framework-security.html
Electron Security Information SECURITY
https://doyensec.com/resources/us-17-Carettoni-Electronegativity-A-Study-Of-Electron-Security.pdf
Electron Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/electron/electron

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-12581?
CVE-2017-12581 is a security vulnerability in Electron involving Electron vulnerable to remote command execution under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection').
Which Electron versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.6.8 across affected packages: electron.
What version fixes CVE-2017-12581?
Upgrading to 1.6.8 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is electron affected?
Yes, electron is affected in releases prior to 1.6.8. Upgrade your dependency to 1.6.8 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-12581?
CVE-2017-12581 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-12581?
CVE-2017-12581 is classified under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') (The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2017-12581?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls electron'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8",
  "modified" : "2023-10-19T18:37:38Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-17T02:14:12Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-12581" ],
  "summary" : "Electron vulnerable to remote command execution",
  "details" : "Electron before 1.6.8 allows remote command execution because of a `nodeIntegration` bypass vulnerability. This also affects all applications that bundle Electron code equivalent to 1.6.8 or earlier. Bypassing the Same Origin Policy (SOP) is a precondition; however, recent Electron versions do not have strict SOP enforcement. Combining an SOP bypass with a privileged URL internally used by Electron, it was possible to execute native Node.js primitives in order to run OS commands on the user's host. Specifically, a `chrome-devtools://devtools/bundled/inspector.html` window could be used to eval a Node.js `child_process.execFile` API call.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "electron"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12581"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/electron/electron/commit/05b6d91bf4c1e0ee65eeef70cd5d1bd1df125644"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://blog.doyensec.com/2017/08/03/electron-framework-security.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://doyensec.com/resources/us-17-Carettoni-Electronegativity-A-Study-Of-Electron-Security.pdf"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/electron/electron"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-10-19T18:37:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-08-06T02:29:00Z"
  }
}