CVE-2018-7160: Withdrawn Advisory Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-wq4c-wm6x-jw44
CVSS 8.8
CWE-290
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-7160 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing) affecting Withdrawn Advisory libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves node.js inspector rce via dns rebinding. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2018-7160 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-7160
GHSA Identifier GHSA-wq4c-wm6x-jw44
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
Affected Product Withdrawn Advisory
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

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:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

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

How to Fix CVE-2018-7160

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Withdrawn Advisory dependencies to a patched release.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

node-inspector fixed: Latest secure release
npm install node-inspector@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 node-inspector

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2018-7160, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls node-inspector

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Withdrawn Advisory in your dependency tree.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 node-inspector 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-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing, where this attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks. In Withdrawn Advisory, 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

## Withdrawn Advisory This advisory has been withdrawn because this vulnerability affects inspector code in https://github.com/nodejs/node, not the [legacy debugger](https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector#legacy-debugger) at https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector. https://github.com/nodejs/node is not in a [supported ecosystem](https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/README.md#supported-ecosystems). ## Original Description The Node.js inspector, in 6.x and later is vulnerable to a DNS rebinding attack which could be exploited to perform remote code execution. An attack is possible from malicious websites open in a web browser on the same computer, or another computer with network access to the computer running the Node.js process. A malicious website could use a DNS rebinding attack to trick the web browser to bypass same-origin-policy checks and to allow HTTP connections to localhost or to hosts on the local network. If a Node.js process with the debug port active is running on localhost or on a host on the local network, the malicious website could connect to it as a debugger, and get full code execution access.

CVE-2018-7160 Affected Withdrawn Advisory Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
node-inspector
npm
≥ 6.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-7160?
CVE-2018-7160 is a security vulnerability in Withdrawn Advisory involving Node.js Inspector RCE via DNS Rebinding under CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing.
Which Withdrawn Advisory versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: node-inspector.
What version fixes CVE-2018-7160?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is node-inspector affected?
Yes, node-inspector 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-2018-7160?
CVE-2018-7160 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-7160?
CVE-2018-7160 is classified under CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing (This attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2018-7160?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls node-inspector'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-wq4c-wm6x-jw44",
  "modified" : "2023-10-09T00:42:54Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:08:23Z",
  "withdrawn" : "2023-10-09T00:42:54Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-7160" ],
  "summary" : "Withdrawn Advisory: Node.js Inspector RCE via DNS Rebinding",
  "details" : "## Withdrawn Advisory\nThis advisory has been withdrawn because this vulnerability affects inspector code in https://github.com/nodejs/node, not the [legacy debugger](https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector#legacy-debugger) at https://github.com/node-inspector/node-inspector. https://github.com/nodejs/node is not in a [supported ecosystem](https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/README.md#supported-ecosystems).\n\n## Original Description\nThe Node.js inspector, in 6.x and later is vulnerable to a DNS rebinding attack which could be exploited to perform remote code execution. An attack is possible from malicious websites open in a web browser on the same computer, or another computer with network access to the computer running the Node.js process. A malicious website could use a DNS rebinding attack to trick the web browser to bypass same-origin-policy checks and to allow HTTP connections to localhost or to hosts on the local network. If a Node.js process with the debug port active is running on localhost or on a host on the local network, the malicious website could connect to it as a debugger, and get full code execution access.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "node-inspector"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "6.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7160"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nodejs/node/commit/e3950d1a402b80e4098a40aacddd6a104da0cfa9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/march-2018-security-releases"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K63025104?utm_source=f5support&utm_medium=RSS"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-290" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-07-20T22:39:06Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-05-17T14:29:00Z"
  }
}