CVE-2017-16118: Forwarded Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mpcf-4gmh-23w8
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16118 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Forwarded libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in forwarded. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.1.2.

CVE-2017-16118 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16118
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mpcf-4gmh-23w8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Forwarded
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-2017-16118

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

forwarded fixed: 0.1.2 
npm install forwarded@0.1.2
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 forwarded

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-16118, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls forwarded

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Forwarded in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.1.2), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls forwarded 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 Forwarded, 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 `forwarded` are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when parsing specially crafted user input. ## Recommendation Update to version 0.1.2 or later

CVE-2017-16118 Affected Forwarded Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.1.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
forwarded
npm/forwarded
npm
< 0.1.2
0.1.2

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16118 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16118
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mpcf-4gmh-23w8
www.npmjs.com/advisories/527 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/527
Forwarded Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104427

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16118?
CVE-2017-16118 is a security vulnerability in Forwarded involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in forwarded under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Forwarded versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.1.2 across affected packages: forwarded.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16118?
Upgrading to 0.1.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is forwarded affected?
Yes, forwarded is affected in releases prior to 0.1.2. Upgrade your dependency to 0.1.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16118?
CVE-2017-16118 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-2017-16118?
CVE-2017-16118 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-2017-16118?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls forwarded'. 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-mpcf-4gmh-23w8",
  "modified" : "2023-09-11T22:05:14Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-24T20:16:30Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16118" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in forwarded",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `forwarded` are vulnerable to regular expression denial of service when parsing specially crafted user input.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 0.1.2 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" : "forwarded"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.1.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16118"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mpcf-4gmh-23w8"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/527"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104427"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:46:42Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}