CVE-2017-16069
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 · uneditednodeffmpeg 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 It has been unpublished by npm.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 confidencenodeffmpeg was a malicious npm module designed to hijack and exfiltrate environment variables, potentially exposing sensitive credentials, API keys, tokens, and other secrets from the execution environment. This represents a supply-chain compromise where a seemingly legitimate package was weaponized for credential theft.
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 nodeffmpeg dependencySearch your project's package.json file for 'nodeffmpeg' in the dependencies, devDependencies, or optionalDependencies sectionsAffected if nodeffmpeg is listed as a dependency
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Check package-lock.json for nodeffmpegSearch your package-lock.json file for 'nodeffmpeg' entry to confirm it was installed as a transitive dependencyAffected if nodeffmpeg appears in package-lock.json
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Verify node_modules for nodeffmpegRun 'ls node_modules/nodeffmpeg' or 'npm list nodeffmpeg' to check if the package exists in your installed node_modules directoryAffected if The nodeffmpeg directory or package is present in node_modules
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Check for suspicious network connectionsMonitor network traffic for unexpected outbound connections to unknown domains, particularly any connections initiated by nodeffmpeg during executionAffected if Your application is making unexpected outbound network requests to unfamiliar servers
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Audit environment variable exposureReview application logs, network logs, and any known exfiltration indicators for evidence that environment variables were sent to external serversAffected if Environment variables containing credentials, API keys, or tokens appear to have been transmitted to an unauthorized external destination
You are affected if nodeffmpeg appears in your dependencies, node_modules, or if evidence exists of environment variable exfiltration from your execution environment.
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 remove nodeffmpeg from all project dependencies, audit for any other suspicious packages, and rotate all credentials, API keys, and secrets that may have been present in environment variables during the time the malicious package was installed.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16069 — 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-2017-16069 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