CVE-2017-16151
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 · uneditedBased on details posted by the ElectronJS team; A remote code execution vulnerability has been discovered in Google Chromium that affects all recent versions of Electron. Any Electron app that accesses remote content is vulnerable to this exploit, regardless of whether the [sandbox option](https://electron.atom.io/docs/api/sandbox-option) is enabled.
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 confidenceA remote code execution vulnerability in Google Chromium affects all recent versions of Electron. Any Electron application that accesses remote content is vulnerable, regardless of whether the sandbox option is enabled, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary code via malicious remote content.
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 data< 1.7.8CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Identify Electron usageExamine the project's package.json for 'electron' in the dependencies or devDependencies field, or check for the electron binary in node_modulesAffected if Electron is not present in the project dependencies
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Determine installed Electron versionRun 'npm list electron' in the project directory, or check the version field in node_modules/electron/package.json, or run 'electron --version' if the binary is accessibleAffected if The displayed version is below 1.7.8
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Check for remote content loadingSearch the source code for methods that load remote content, such as webContents.loadURL, BrowserWindow.loadURL, or similar functions that accept external URLsAffected if The application loads content from remote URLs (http:// or https://) in any window or webview
The environment is affected if the installed Electron version is below 1.7.8 AND the application loads any remote content via web loading methods.
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.
dbcve · scoped1.7.8
Update Electron to a patched version that addresses the Chromium vulnerability. Until then, avoid loading untrusted remote content in Electron applications.
Electron 1.7.8 or later (recommended: latest stable 1.x release)
- Check the current Electron version in your project by examining package.json or running `npm list electron`
- Update the Electron version in package.json to version 1.7.8 or later (recommended: latest stable version such as 1.7.11 or 1.8.x)
- Run `npm install` to update the Electron dependency
- If using electron-builder or similar packaging tools, rebuild your application with the updated Electron version
- Verify the update was successful by checking `npm list electron` confirms version 1.7.8 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-16151 — 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-2017-16151 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