CVE-2017-16115: Timespan Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f523-2f5j-gfcg
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16115 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Timespan libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in timespan. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2017-16115 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16115
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f523-2f5j-gfcg
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Timespan
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

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

How to Fix CVE-2017-16115

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

timespan fixed: Latest secure release 
npm install timespan@Latest secure release
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 timespan

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-16115, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls timespan

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

Note: The npm ls timespan 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-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. In Timespan, 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

Affected versions of `timespan` are vulnerable to a regular expression denial of service when parsing dates. The amplification for this vulnerability is significant, with 50,000 characters resulting in the event loop being blocked for around 10 seconds. ## Recommendation No direct patch is available for this vulnerability. Currently, the best available solution is to use a functionally equivalent alternative package. It is also sufficient to ensure that user input is not being passed into `timespan`, or that the maximum length of such user input is drastically reduced. Limiting the input length to 150 characters should be sufficient in most cases.

CVE-2017-16115 Affected Timespan Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
timespan
npm/timespan
npm
≤ 2.3.0

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16115 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16115
Timespan Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/indexzero/TimeSpan.js/issues/10
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f523-2f5j-gfcg
www.npmjs.com/advisories/533 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/533

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16115?
CVE-2017-16115 is a security vulnerability in Timespan involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in timespan under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Timespan versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: timespan.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16115?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is timespan affected?
Yes, timespan is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16115?
CVE-2017-16115 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-16115?
CVE-2017-16115 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2017-16115?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls timespan'. 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-f523-2f5j-gfcg",
  "modified" : "2023-09-13T19:38:19Z",
  "published" : "2018-08-29T23:04:14Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16115" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in timespan",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `timespan` are vulnerable to a regular expression denial of service when parsing dates.\n\nThe amplification for this vulnerability is significant, with 50,000 characters resulting in the event loop being blocked for around 10 seconds.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nNo direct patch is available for this vulnerability.\n\nCurrently, the best available solution is to use a functionally equivalent alternative package.\n\nIt is also sufficient to ensure that user input is not being passed into `timespan`, or that the maximum length of such user input is drastically reduced. Limiting the input length to 150 characters should be sufficient in most cases.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "timespan"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "2.3.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16115"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/indexzero/TimeSpan.js/issues/10"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f523-2f5j-gfcg"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/533"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:33:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}