CVE-2017-16030: Useragent Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-pjmx-9xr3-82qr
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CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16030 is a HIGH denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Useragent libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves redos via long useragent header in useragent. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.1.13.

CVE-2017-16030 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16030
GHSA Identifier GHSA-pjmx-9xr3-82qr
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Useragent
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2017-16030

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

useragent fixed: 2.1.13 
npm install useragent@2.1.13
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 useragent

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-16030, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls useragent

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Useragent in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.1.13), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls useragent 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 Useragent, 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 `useragent` are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when an arbitrarily long `User-Agent` header is parsed. ## Proof of Concept ```js var useragent = require('useragent'); var badUserAgent = 'MSIE 0.0'+Array(900000).join('0')+'XBLWP'; var request = 'GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nUser-Agent: ' + badUserAgent + '\r\n\r\n'; console.log(useragent.parse(request)); ``` ## Recommendation Update to version 2.1.13 or later.

CVE-2017-16030 Affected Useragent Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.1.13
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
useragent
npm/useragent
npm
< 2.1.13
2.1.13

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16030 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16030
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pjmx-9xr3-82qr
www.npmjs.com/advisories/312 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/312

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16030?
CVE-2017-16030 is a security vulnerability in Useragent involving ReDoS via long UserAgent header in useragent under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Useragent versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.1.13 across affected packages: useragent.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16030?
Upgrading to 2.1.13 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is useragent affected?
Yes, useragent is affected in releases prior to 2.1.13. Upgrade your dependency to 2.1.13 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-16030?
CVE-2017-16030 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-2017-16030?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls useragent'. 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-pjmx-9xr3-82qr",
  "modified" : "2023-09-06T20:07:59Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-24T19:59:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16030" ],
  "summary" : "ReDoS via long UserAgent header in useragent",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `useragent` are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when an arbitrarily long `User-Agent` header is parsed.\n\n\n## Proof of Concept\n```js\nvar useragent = require('useragent');\n\nvar badUserAgent = 'MSIE 0.0'+Array(900000).join('0')+'XBLWP';\nvar request = 'GET / HTTP/1.1\\r\\nUser-Agent: ' + badUserAgent + '\\r\\n\\r\\n';\nconsole.log(useragent.parse(request));\n```\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 2.1.13 or later.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "useragent"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.1.13"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 2.1.12"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16030"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pjmx-9xr3-82qr"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/312"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:49:26Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}