CVE-2017-16005: Http signature Header Forgery Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-q257-vv4p-fg92
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16005 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) header forgery vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Http signature libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves header forgery in http-signature. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.10.0.

CVE-2017-16005 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16005
GHSA Identifier GHSA-q257-vv4p-fg92
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Http signature
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:H/A:N).

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 High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2017-16005

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

http-signature fixed: 0.10.0 
npm install http-signature@0.10.0
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 http-signature

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-16005, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls http-signature

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Http signature in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.10.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls http-signature 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-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Http signature, 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 `http-signature` contain a vulnerability which can allow an attacker in a privileged network position to modify header names and change the meaning of the request, without requiring an updated signature. This problem occurs because vulnerable versions of `http-signature` sign the contents of headers, but not the header names. ## Proof of Concept Consider this to be the initial, untampered request: ```http POST /pay HTTP/1.1 Host: example.com Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:31:40 GMT X-Payment-Source: src@money.com X-Payment-Destination: dst@money.com Authorization: Signature keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",headers="x-payment-source x-payment-destination" MDyO5tSvin5... ``` And the request is intercepted and tampered as follows: ```http X-Payment-Source: dst@money.com // Emails switched X-Payment-Destination: src@money.com Authorization: Signature keyId="Test",algorithm="rsa-sha256",headers="x-payment-destination x-payment-source" MDyO5tSvin5... ``` In the resulting responses, both requests would pass signature verification without issue. ``` src@money.com\n dst@money.com\n ``` ## Recommendation Update to version 0.10.0 or higher.

CVE-2017-16005 Affected Http signature Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.10.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
http-signature
npm/http-signature
npm
< 0.10.0
0.10.0

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16005 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16005
Http signature Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/joyent/node-http-signature/issues/10
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q257-vv4p-fg92
www.npmjs.com/advisories/318 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/318

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16005?
CVE-2017-16005 is a security vulnerability in Http signature involving Header Forgery in http-signature under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Http signature versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.10.0 across affected packages: http-signature.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16005?
Upgrading to 0.10.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is http-signature affected?
Yes, http-signature is affected in releases prior to 0.10.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.10.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16005?
CVE-2017-16005 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:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-16005?
CVE-2017-16005 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2017-16005?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls http-signature'. 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-q257-vv4p-fg92",
  "modified" : "2023-09-08T23:24:59Z",
  "published" : "2018-11-09T17:49:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16005" ],
  "summary" : "Header Forgery in http-signature",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `http-signature` contain a vulnerability which can allow an attacker in a privileged network position to modify header names and change the meaning of the request, without requiring an updated signature. \n\nThis problem occurs because vulnerable versions of `http-signature` sign the contents of headers, but not the header names.\n\n## Proof of Concept\n\nConsider this to be the initial, untampered request:\n```http\nPOST /pay HTTP/1.1\nHost: example.com\nDate: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:31:40 GMT\nX-Payment-Source: src@money.com\nX-Payment-Destination: dst@money.com\nAuthorization: Signature keyId=\"Test\",algorithm=\"rsa-sha256\",headers=\"x-payment-source x-payment-destination\" MDyO5tSvin5...\n```\n\nAnd the request is intercepted and tampered as follows:\n```http\nX-Payment-Source: dst@money.com // Emails switched\nX-Payment-Destination: src@money.com\nAuthorization: Signature keyId=\"Test\",algorithm=\"rsa-sha256\",headers=\"x-payment-destination x-payment-source\" MDyO5tSvin5...\n```\n\nIn the resulting responses, both requests would pass signature verification without issue.\n```\nsrc@money.com\\n\ndst@money.com\\n\n```\n\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 0.10.0 or higher.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "http-signature"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.10.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16005"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/joyent/node-http-signature/issues/10"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-q257-vv4p-fg92"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/318"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:50:21Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}