CVE-2017-16064
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 · uneditednode-openssl 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 It has been unpublished by npm.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 · high confidencenode-openssl was a malicious npm module published to the npm registry with the explicit intent to hijack environment variables. It leveraged the npm package installation process to intercept and exfiltrate sensitive environment variables (such as API keys, credentials, and secrets) from the host system.
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.
-
Search package-lock.json for node-opensslSearch your codebase for files named 'package-lock.json' and grep for 'node-openssl' within them. Use: grep -r 'node-openssl' . --include='package-lock.json'Affected if The package name 'node-openssl' appears as a dependency entry in any package-lock.json file in your project
-
Search yarn.lock for node-opensslSearch your codebase for files named 'yarn.lock' and grep for 'node-openssl' within them. Use: grep -r 'node-openssl' . --include='yarn.lock'Affected if The package name 'node-openssl' appears as a dependency entry in any yarn.lock file in your project
-
Check node_modules directory for node-opensslSearch your local node_modules directories for the node-openssl package folder. Use: find . -type d -name 'node-openssl'Affected if A directory named 'node-openssl' exists within any node_modules folder in your project or home directory
-
Search git history for node-openssl referencesSearch your git repository history for any commits or files referencing node-openssl. Use: git log --all --oneline --source --remotes --grep='node-openssl' or git grep 'node-openssl'Affected if Git history contains any references to node-openssl in commits, package.json files, or lock files
You are affected if node-openssl appears anywhere in your dependency lock files, node_modules directories, or git history, as the package was malicious and designed to exfiltrate environment variables during installation.
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 dataImmediately check if node-openssl was ever installed in any project dependency trees (search package-lock.json and yarn.lock files), uninstall the package if present, and rotate all credentials and secrets that may have been exposed through environment variable hijacking.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16064 — 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-2017-16064 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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