CVE-2021-39134
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2021-39134 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLIC |
| Assigner | [email protected] |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2021-08-31 17:15:00 UTC |
| Updated | 2023-11-07 03:37:00 UTC |
| Description | `@npmcli/arborist`, the library that calculates dependency trees and manages the `node_modules` folder hierarchy for the npm command line interface, aims to guarantee that package dependency contracts will be met, and the extraction of package contents will always be performed into the expected folder. This is, in part, accomplished by resolving dependency specifiers defined in `package.json` manifests for dependencies with a specific name, and nesting folders to resolve conflicting dependencies. When multiple dependencies differ only in the case of their name, Arborist's internal data structure saw them as separate items that could coexist within the same level in the `node_modules` hierarchy. However, on case-insensitive file systems (such as macOS and Windows), this is not the case. Combined with a symlink dependency such as `file:/some/path`, this allowed an attacker to create a situation in which arbitrary contents could be written to any location on the filesystem. For example, a package `pwn-a` could define a dependency in their `package.json` file such as `"foo": "file:/some/path"`. Another package, `pwn-b` could define a dependency such as `FOO: "file:foo.tgz"`. On case-insensitive file systems, if `pwn-a` was installed, and then `pwn-b` was installed afterwards, the contents of `foo.tgz` would be written to `/some/path`, and any existing contents of `/some/path` would be removed. Anyone using npm v7.20.6 or earlier on a case-insensitive filesystem is potentially affected. This is patched in @npmcli/arborist 2.8.2 which is included in npm v7.20.7 and above. |
Risk And Classification
Problem Types: CWE-178
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following in @npmcli/arborist · Advisory · npm/arborist · GitHub | CONFIRM | github.com | |
| @npmcli/arborist - npm | www.npmjs.com | ||
| Oracle Critical Patch Update Advisory - October 2021 | MISC | www.oracle.com | |
| cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf | CONFIRM | cert-portal.siemens.com | |
| @npmcli/arborist - npm | MISC | www.npmjs.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
Legacy QID Mappings
- 183667 Debian Security Update for npm (CVE-2021-39134)
- 296065 Oracle Solaris 11.4 Support Repository Update (SRU) 39.107.1 Missing (CPUOCT2021)
- 375828 Node.js Multiple Vulnerabilities (August 2021)
- 500445 Alpine Linux Security Update for nodejs
- 501454 Alpine Linux Security Update for nodejs
- 504208 Alpine Linux Security Update for nodejs
- 690030 Free Berkeley Software Distribution (FreeBSD) Security Update for node.js (7062bce0-1b17-11ec-9d9d-0022489ad614)
- 751457 OpenSUSE Security Update for nodejs12 (openSUSE-SU-2021:3940-1)
- 751475 OpenSUSE Security Update for nodejs14 (openSUSE-SU-2021:3964-1)
- 751509 OpenSUSE Security Update for nodejs12 (openSUSE-SU-2021:1574-1)
- 751518 OpenSUSE Security Update for nodejs14 (openSUSE-SU-2021:1552-1)
- 980370 Nodejs (npm) Security Update for @npmcli/arborist (GHSA-2h3h-q99f-3fhc)