Vulnerabilities in pkg:npm/charset

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-9cp3-fh5x-xfcj
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16098 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) affecting Charset libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves regular expression denial of service in charset. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.0.1.

1 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:npm/charset

1 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:npm/charset. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-9cp3-fh5x-xfcj CVE-2017-16098 HIGH Regular Expression Denial of Service in charset

CVE-2017-16098 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16098
GHSA Identifier GHSA-9cp3-fh5x-xfcj
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Charset
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-2017-16098

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

charset fixed: 1.0.1 
npm install charset@1.0.1
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 charset

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2017-16098, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls charset

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Charset in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.0.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls charset 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 Charset, 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 `charset` are susceptible to a regular expression denial of service. The amplification on this vulnerability is relatively low - it takes around 2 seconds for the engine to execute on a malicious input which is 50,000 characters in length. If node was compiled using the `-DHTTP_MAX_HEADER_SIZE` however, the impact of the vulnerability can be significant, as the primary limitation for the vulnerability is the default max HTTP header length in node. ## Recommendation Update to version 1.0.1 or later.

CVE-2017-16098 Affected Charset Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.0.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
charset
npm/charset
npm
< 1.0.1
1.0.1

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16098 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16098
Charset Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/node-modules/charset/issues/10
Charset Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/node-modules/charset/pull/11
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/node-modules/charset/commit/effda0c48c51b47a47f4cad7db0c51ee7407cc1b
Charset Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/node-modules/charset

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16098?
CVE-2017-16098 is a security vulnerability in Charset involving Regular Expression Denial of Service in charset under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Charset versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.0.1 across affected packages: charset.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16098?
Upgrading to 1.0.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is charset affected?
Yes, charset is affected in releases prior to 1.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.0.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16098?
CVE-2017-16098 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-2017-16098?
CVE-2017-16098 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-2017-16098?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls charset'. 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-9cp3-fh5x-xfcj",
  "modified" : "2023-03-31T15:44:11Z",
  "published" : "2018-08-09T20:55:46Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16098" ],
  "summary" : "Regular Expression Denial of Service in charset",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `charset` are susceptible to a regular expression denial of service.\n\nThe amplification on this vulnerability is relatively low - it takes around 2 seconds for the engine to execute on a malicious input which is 50,000 characters in length.\n\n\nIf node was compiled using the `-DHTTP_MAX_HEADER_SIZE` however, the impact of the vulnerability can be significant, as the primary limitation for the vulnerability is the default max HTTP header length in node.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 1.0.1 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" : "charset"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.0.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16098"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/node-modules/charset/issues/10"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/node-modules/charset/pull/11"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/node-modules/charset/commit/effda0c48c51b47a47f4cad7db0c51ee7407cc1b"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/node-modules/charset"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:28:14Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}