Vulnerabilities in pkg:npm/detect-character-encoding

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-39176 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) missing release of memory after vulnerability (CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime) affecting Detect character encoding libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves missing release of memory after effective lifetime in detect-character-encoding. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.3.1.

2 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:npm/detect-character-encoding

2 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:npm/detect-character-encoding. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj CVE-2021-39176 HIGH Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding
GHSA-jqfh-8hw5-fqjr CVE-2021-39157 HIGH Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions in detect-character-encoding

CVE-2021-39176 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-39176
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
Affected Product Detect character encoding
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-2021-39176

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

detect-character-encoding fixed: 0.3.1 
npm install detect-character-encoding@0.3.1
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 detect-character-encoding

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2021-39176, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls detect-character-encoding

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Detect character encoding in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.3.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls detect-character-encoding 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-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime, where the product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse. In Detect character encoding, 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

### Impact In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. ### Patches The problem has been patched in [detect-character-encoding v0.3.1](https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1). ### CVSS score [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C) Base Score: 7.5 (High) Temporal Score: 7.2 (High) Since detect-character-encoding is a library, the scoring is based on the “[reasonable worst-case implementation scenario](https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.1/user-guide#3-7-Scoring-Vulnerabilities-in-Software-Libraries-and-Similar)”, namely, using detect-character-encoding in a program accessible over the internet which becomes unavailable when running out of memory. Depending on your specific implementation, the vulnerability’s severity in your program may be different. ### Proof of concept ```js const express = require("express"); const detectCharacterEncoding = require("detect-character-encoding"); const app = express(); app.get("/", (req, res) => { detectCharacterEncoding(Buffer.from("foo")); res.end(); }); app.listen(3000); ``` `hey -n 1000000 http://localhost:3000` ([`hey`](https://github.com/rakyll/hey)) causes the Node.js process to consume more and more memory. ### References - https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588 - https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6

CVE-2021-39176 Affected Detect character encoding Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.3.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
detect-character-encoding
npm/detect-character-encoding
npm
< 0.3.1
0.3.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/security/advisories/GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj
NVD — CVE-2021-39176 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39176
Detect character encoding Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588
Detect character encoding Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding
Detect character encoding Release RELEASE
https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-39176?
CVE-2021-39176 is a security vulnerability in Detect character encoding involving Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime.
Which Detect character encoding versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.3.1 across affected packages: detect-character-encoding.
What version fixes CVE-2021-39176?
Upgrading to 0.3.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is detect-character-encoding affected?
Yes, detect-character-encoding is affected in releases prior to 0.3.1. Upgrade your dependency to 0.3.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-39176?
CVE-2021-39176 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-2021-39176?
CVE-2021-39176 is classified under CWE-401: Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime (The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2021-39176?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls detect-character-encoding'. 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-5rwj-j5m3-3chj",
  "modified" : "2021-10-21T14:28:07Z",
  "published" : "2021-09-01T18:25:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-39176" ],
  "summary" : "Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nIn detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe problem has been patched in [detect-character-encoding v0.3.1](https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1).\n\n### CVSS score\n\n[CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C)\n\nBase Score: 7.5 (High)\nTemporal Score: 7.2 (High)\n\nSince detect-character-encoding is a library, the scoring is based on the “[reasonable worst-case implementation scenario](https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.1/user-guide#3-7-Scoring-Vulnerabilities-in-Software-Libraries-and-Similar)”, namely, using detect-character-encoding in a program accessible over the internet which becomes unavailable when running out of memory. Depending on your specific implementation, the vulnerability’s severity in your program may be different.\n\n### Proof of concept\n\n```js\nconst express = require(\"express\");\nconst detectCharacterEncoding = require(\"detect-character-encoding\");\n\nconst app = express();\n\napp.get(\"/\", (req, res) => {\n  detectCharacterEncoding(Buffer.from(\"foo\"));\n\n  res.end();\n});\n\napp.listen(3000);\n```\n\n`hey -n 1000000 http://localhost:3000` ([`hey`](https://github.com/rakyll/hey)) causes the Node.js process to consume more and more memory.\n\n### References\n\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6",
  "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" : "detect-character-encoding"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.3.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/security/advisories/GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39176"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-401" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-08-31T19:58:46Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-08-31T18:15:00Z"
  }
}