dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2019-16777

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.13.4 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.13.4 are vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Overwrite. It fails to prevent existing globally-installed binaries to be overwritten by other package installations. For example, if a package was installed globally and created a serve binary, any subsequent installs of packages that also create a serve binary would overwrite the previous serve binary. This behavior is still allowed in local installations and also through install scripts. This vulnerability bypasses a user using the --ignore-scripts install option.

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 confidence

Versions of npm CLI before 6.13.4 fail to prevent existing globally-installed binaries from being overwritten during subsequent package installations. When a package is installed globally and creates a binary (e.g., 'serve'), any later-installed package that also creates a binary with the same name will overwrite the existing one, potentially allowing arbitrary file overwrite with the contents of the newly installed package's binary.

MitigationUpdate npm CLI to version 6.13.4 or later. Review globally-installed packages for unexpected binary overwrites and exercise caution with the --ignore-scripts flag as it does not prevent this vulnerability.

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 31
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Enterprise Linux EusOperating system
Affected:= 8.1
NpmApplication
Affected:< 6.13.4
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.1
GraalvmApplication
Affected:= 19.3.0.2

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check npm CLI version
    Run `npm --version` or `npm -v` to retrieve the installed npm CLI version number
    Affected if The version displayed is less than 6.13.4 (e.g., 6.13.3, 6.12.0, etc.)
  2. Check npm package version on Fedora 31
    Run `rpm -q npm` to query the installed npm package version
    Affected if The reported version is less than 6.13.4-1.fc31 or similar earlier versions
  3. Check npm package version on RHEL 8.0/8.1
    Run `rpm -q npm` or check the installed package via `dnf list npm`
    Affected if The npm package version is lower than 6.13.4 for RHEL 8.0 or 8.1 EUS
  4. Check npm version on openSUSE Leap 15.1
    Run `rpm -q npm` or check the package manager listing
    Affected if The installed npm version is below 6.13.4-lp151.3.3 or the equivalent for the distribution
  5. Check npm within Oracle GraalVM 19.3.0.2
    Run `gu available` to list installed languages or check the npm version bundled with GraalVM: `npm --version` inside the GraalVM environment
    Affected if The npm bundled with this specific GraalVM version is earlier than 6.13.4

You are affected if your installed npm CLI version is lower than 6.13.4, regardless of the operating system distribution.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.13.4 or later
Fixed in 6.13.4
Interim mitigation

Update npm CLI to version 6.13.4 or later. Review globally-installed packages for unexpected binary overwrites and exercise caution with the --ignore-scripts flag as it does not prevent this vulnerability.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-16777 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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