CVE-2016-2515: Hawk Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-jcpv-g9rr-qxrc
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-1333
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-2515 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity) affecting Hawk libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in hawk. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.1.1, 3.1.3.

CVE-2016-2515 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-2515
GHSA Identifier GHSA-jcpv-g9rr-qxrc
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
Affected Product Hawk
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:3.0/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-2016-2515

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

hawk fixed: 4.1.1 
npm install hawk@4.1.1
hawk fixed: 3.1.3 
npm install hawk@3.1.3
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 hawk

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2016-2515, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls hawk

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Hawk in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.1.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls hawk 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-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity, where the product uses a regular expression with a worst-case computational complexity that is inefficient and possibly exponential. In Hawk, 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

Versions of `hawk` prior to 3.1.3, or 4.x prior to 4.1.1 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability related to excessively long headers and URI's. ## Recommendation Update to hawk version 4.1.1 or later.

CVE-2016-2515 Affected Hawk Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.1.13.1.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
hawk
npm/hawk
npm
≥ 4.0.0
< 4.1.1
4.1.1
hawk
npm/hawk
npm
< 3.1.3
3.1.3

References

NVD — CVE-2016-2515 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2515
Hawk Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk/issues/168
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk/commit/0833f99ba64558525995a7e21d4093da1f3e15fa
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1309721
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jcpv-g9rr-qxrc
Hawk Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk
www.npmjs.com/advisories/77 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/77
Hawk Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/20/1
Hawk Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/20/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-2515?
CVE-2016-2515 is a security vulnerability in Hawk involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in hawk under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity.
Which Hawk versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.1.1, 3.1.3 across affected packages: hawk.
What version fixes CVE-2016-2515?
Upgrading to 4.1.1, 3.1.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is hawk affected?
Yes, hawk is affected in releases prior to 4.1.1, 3.1.3. Upgrade your dependency to 4.1.1, 3.1.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-2515?
CVE-2016-2515 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-2515?
CVE-2016-2515 is classified under CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity (The product uses a regular expression with a worst-case computational complexity that is inefficient and possibly exponential.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2016-2515?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls hawk'. 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-jcpv-g9rr-qxrc",
  "modified" : "2021-09-14T19:39:20Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-31T22:52:00Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-2515" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in hawk",
  "details" : "Versions of `hawk` prior to 3.1.3, or 4.x prior to 4.1.1 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability related to excessively long headers and URI's.\n\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to hawk version 4.1.1 or later.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "hawk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.1.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "hawk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.1.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2515"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk/issues/168"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk/commit/0833f99ba64558525995a7e21d4093da1f3e15fa"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1309721"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jcpv-g9rr-qxrc"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/hueniverse/hawk"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/77"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/20/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/02/20/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:43:06Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}