CVE-2017-16058
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 · uneditedgruntcli was a malicious module published with the intent to hijack environment variables. It has been unpublished by npm.
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 · moderate confidencegruntcli was a malicious npm package published to the npm registry designed to hijack environment variables, likely for credential exfiltration or session hijacking. The package has since been unpublished from npm, but any systems that installed it during its brief availability window were compromised.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Check package.json for gruntcli dependencySearch for 'gruntcli' in all package.json files in your project directories: grep -r '"gruntcli"' .Affected if gruntcli is listed as a dependency in any package.json file
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Check package-lock.json for gruntcli entrySearch for 'gruntcli' in package-lock.json files: grep -r 'gruntcli' package-lock.jsonAffected if gruntcli appears in any package-lock.json file
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Check node_modules for gruntcli directoryList the gruntcli directory if it exists: ls -la node_modules/gruntcli/ or find node_modules -name gruntcliAffected if A gruntcli directory exists in node_modules
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Inspect gruntcli package contentsIf the directory exists, examine the main entry file (usually index.js or gruntcli.js) for environment variable access patterns or suspicious codeAffected if The package contains code that reads or exports environment variables (process.env accesses)
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Review environment variable exposureAudit any systems where gruntcli was installed for unauthorized access to environment variables, focusing on credentials, API keys, or session tokens that may have been exfiltratedAffected if Environment variables containing secrets were accessed or transmitted during the window the package was active
Your environment is affected if gruntcli appears in any dependency file (package.json, package-lock.json) or node_modules directory, indicating the malicious package was installed.
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 dataAudit all npm dependency trees and package-lock files for the presence of gruntcli and remove if found; review access logs and environment configurations for any signs of unauthorized variable access during the window the package was live.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16058 — 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-2017-16058 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data