CVE-2018-3711: Fastify Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mq6c-fh97-4gwv
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-400 CWE-770
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-3711 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Fastify libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves denial of service vulnerability with large json payloads in fastify. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.38.0.

CVE-2018-3711 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-3711
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mq6c-fh97-4gwv
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Fastify
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:3.1/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-2018-3711

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

fastify fixed: 0.38.0 
npm install fastify@0.38.0
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 fastify

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2018-3711, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls fastify

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Fastify in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.38.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls fastify 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 Fastify, 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 `fastify` are vulnerable to a denial of service when processing a request with `Content-Type` set to `application/json` and a very large payload. ## Recommendation Update to version 0.38.0 or later.

CVE-2018-3711 Affected Fastify Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.38.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
fastify
npm/fastify
npm
< 0.38.0
0.38.0

References

NVD — CVE-2018-3711 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-3711
Fastify Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/fastify/fastify/pull/627
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/fastify/fastify/commit/fabd2a011f2ffbb877394abe699f549513ffbd76
hackerone.com/reports/303632 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/303632
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mq6c-fh97-4gwv
www.npmjs.com/advisories/564 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/564

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-3711?
CVE-2018-3711 is a security vulnerability in Fastify involving Denial of Service vulnerability with large JSON payloads in fastify under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Fastify versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.38.0 across affected packages: fastify.
What version fixes CVE-2018-3711?
Upgrading to 0.38.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is fastify affected?
Yes, fastify is affected in releases prior to 0.38.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.38.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-3711?
CVE-2018-3711 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-3711?
CVE-2018-3711 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-2018-3711?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls fastify'. 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-mq6c-fh97-4gwv",
  "modified" : "2023-03-01T01:17:45Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-18T21:20:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-3711" ],
  "summary" : "Denial of Service vulnerability with large JSON payloads in fastify",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `fastify` are vulnerable to a denial of service when processing a request with `Content-Type` set to `application/json` and a very large payload.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 0.38.0 or later.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "fastify"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.38.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.37.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-3711"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/fastify/fastify/pull/627"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/fastify/fastify/commit/fabd2a011f2ffbb877394abe699f549513ffbd76"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/303632"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-mq6c-fh97-4gwv"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/564"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400", "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:46:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-06-07T02:29:00Z"
  }
}