CVE-2017-16071
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 · uneditednodemailer-js 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 It has been unpublished by npm.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 confidencenodemailer-js was a malicious npm package published to the npm registry with the explicit intent of hijacking environment variables. The module would exfiltrate environment variable contents (which often contain API keys, tokens, and credentials) to an attacker-controlled endpoint.
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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Inspect package.json dependenciesSearch your project's package.json file for 'nodemailer-js' in the dependencies, devDependencies, or optionalDependencies sectionsAffected if nodemailer-js appears as a dependency with any version string
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Check package-lock.jsonSearch your project's package-lock.json file for entries containing 'nodemailer-js'Affected if nodemailer-js appears in the lockfile with any version
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Verify node_modules installationCheck if the nodemailer-js directory exists in your project's node_modules folder by inspecting the filesystem or using 'ls node_modules | grep nodemailer-js'Affected if The nodemailer-js directory or file exists in node_modules
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Audit npm install historyReview your project's installation history or npm-shrinkwrap.json if present, to see if nodemailer-js was ever installed as a dependencyAffected if nodemailer-js was previously installed or appears in shrinkwrap
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Search for exfiltration code patternsIf nodemailer-js is found, inspect its source code for network requests sending environment variable data to external endpointsAffected if The package code contains logic to transmit process.env data to remote servers
If nodemailer-js appears in any dependency file or node_modules directory, the environment is affected and credentials may have been exfiltrated.
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 nodemailer-js from any project dependencies, audit the codebase for its usage, and rotate all credentials, API keys, and secrets that may have been present in environment variables during the time the malicious package was installed.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA0.5 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16071 — 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-2017-16071 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