CVE-2017-16040
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedgfe-sass is a library for promises (CommonJS/Promises/A,B,D) gfe-sass downloads resources over HTTP, which leaves it vulnerable to MITM attacks. It may be possible to cause remote code execution (RCE) by swapping out the requested resources with an attacker controlled copy if the attacker is on the network or positioned in between the user and the remote server.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe gfe-sass library downloads resources over unencrypted HTTP instead of HTTPS, making it vulnerable to Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks. An attacker positioned on the network could intercept the HTTP requests and inject malicious code into the downloaded resources, potentially leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) when those resources are processed by the application.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 1.0.19CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify gfe-sass package versionRun 'npm list gfe-sass' or check package.json dependencies to see the installed version numberAffected if Installed version is 1.0.19 or lower
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Locate gfe-sass library filesFind the gfe-sass module directory in node_modules (typically node_modules/gfe-sass/)Affected if The gfe-sass package is present in the project dependencies
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Inspect resource download codeExamine the main gfe-sass source files (often in lib/ or src/) for HTTP request patterns. Search for 'http://' strings in the codebaseAffected if Code contains HTTP URLs pointing to external resources instead of HTTPS
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Monitor network requests at runtimeUse a network proxy or debugger to observe outbound connections from the application. Look for HTTP (not HTTPS) requests originating from gfe-sassAffected if Application makes unencrypted HTTP requests to external servers when using gfe-sass
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Check configuration or downloaded assetsReview any downloaded Sass files or configuration for hardcoded HTTP URLs, or inspect the application's downloaded resources directoryAffected if Resources were downloaded over unencrypted HTTP connection
A user is affected if gfe-sass version is 1.0.19 or lower AND the library is used to download or process external resources over unencrypted HTTP URLs.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataReplace all HTTP URLs with HTTPS URLs in the library's resource download functionality to enable secure, encrypted communication and prevent tampering.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16040 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-16040 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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