CVE-2017-16080
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 · uneditednodesass 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 It has been unpublished by npm.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 confidencenodesass (note: distinct from the legitimate node-sass) was a malicious npm package published to the npm registry with the explicit intent of hijacking and exfiltrating environment variables. The package has been unpublished from npm.
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.
-
Check package.json for malicious nodesass dependencyInspect your project's package.json file and look for 'nodesass' (with lowercase 's') in the dependencies, devDependencies, or optionalDependencies sections. Note that the legitimate package is 'node-sass' (with uppercase 'S').Affected if package.json contains 'nodesass' (lowercase 's') as a dependency
-
Check package-lock.json for nodesassSearch your package-lock.json file for any entry containing 'nodesass'. This file records the exact versions of all installed packages and their dependencies.Affected if package-lock.json contains an entry for 'nodesass' (lowercase 's')
-
Check node_modules directoryInspect your node_modules folder for a directory named 'nodesass' (lowercase 's'). This directory would contain the malicious package code if it was installed.Affected if node_modules/nodesass directory exists in your project
-
Check yarn.lock if applicableIf your project uses Yarn, search the yarn.lock file for 'nodesass' entries to see if the malicious package was ever installed as a dependency.Affected if yarn.lock contains 'nodesass' references
You are affected if the malicious 'nodesass' package (lowercase 's') appears in any of your project's dependency files or node_modules directory, as this indicates the typosquatted 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 project dependencies to determine if nodesass was ever installed, remove it if present, and treat any environment variables that may have been exposed as compromised (rotate credentials, API keys, and secrets).
- Consultation3.0 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 $3,168.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16080 — 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-2017-16080 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