CVE-2019-5484: Bower Symlink Arbitrary File Overwrite Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-p6mr-pxg4-68hx
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-5484 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) symlink arbitrary file overwrite vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Bower libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves symlink arbitrary file overwrite in bower. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.8.8.

CVE-2019-5484 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-5484
GHSA Identifier GHSA-p6mr-pxg4-68hx
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product Bower
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: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-2019-5484

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

bower fixed: 1.8.8 
npm install bower@1.8.8
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 bower

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2019-5484, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls bower

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Bower in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.8.8), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls bower 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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'), where the product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. In Bower, 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 `bower` prior to 1.8.8 are affected by an arbitrary file write vulnerability. The vulnerability occurs because `bower` does not verify that extracted symbolic links do not resolve to targets outside of the extraction root directory. ## Recommendation Update to version 1.8.8 or later

CVE-2019-5484 Affected Bower Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.8.8
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
bower
npm/bower
npm
< 1.8.8
1.8.8

References

NVD — CVE-2019-5484 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5484
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/bower/bower/commit/45c6bfa86f6e57731b153baca9e0b41a1cc699e3
hackerone.com/reports/473811 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/473811
Bower Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/nodejs/security-wg/blob/master/vuln/npm/487.json
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ba4c6... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ba4c628fba7181af58817d452119481adce4ba92e889c643e4c7dd3@%3Ccommits.netbeans.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb5ac16... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb5ac16fad337d1f3bb7079549f97d8166d0ef3082629417c39f12d63@%3Cnotifications.netbeans.apache.org%3E
Bower Security Information SECURITY
https://snyk.io/blog/severe-security-vulnerability-in-bowers-zip-archive-extraction
www.npmjs.com/advisories/776 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/776

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-5484?
CVE-2019-5484 is a security vulnerability in Bower involving Symlink Arbitrary File Overwrite in bower under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Bower versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.8.8 across affected packages: bower.
What version fixes CVE-2019-5484?
Upgrading to 1.8.8 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is bower affected?
Yes, bower is affected in releases prior to 1.8.8. Upgrade your dependency to 1.8.8 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-5484?
CVE-2019-5484 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:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-5484?
CVE-2019-5484 is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2019-5484?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls bower'. 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-p6mr-pxg4-68hx",
  "modified" : "2023-03-01T01:53:44Z",
  "published" : "2019-09-17T23:21:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-5484" ],
  "summary" : "Symlink Arbitrary File Overwrite in bower",
  "details" : "Versions of `bower` prior to 1.8.8 are affected by an arbitrary file write vulnerability. The vulnerability occurs because `bower` does not verify that extracted symbolic links do not resolve to targets outside of the extraction root directory.\n\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 1.8.8 or later",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "bower"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.8.8"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5484"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/bower/bower/commit/45c6bfa86f6e57731b153baca9e0b41a1cc699e3"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/473811"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nodejs/security-wg/blob/master/vuln/npm/487.json"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ba4c628fba7181af58817d452119481adce4ba92e889c643e4c7dd3@%3Ccommits.netbeans.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb5ac16fad337d1f3bb7079549f97d8166d0ef3082629417c39f12d63@%3Cnotifications.netbeans.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/blog/severe-security-vulnerability-in-bowers-zip-archive-extraction"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/776"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2019-09-17T23:21:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-09-13T18:15:00Z"
  }
}