CVE-2017-15897

Node.js had a bug in versions 8.X and 9.X which caused buffers to not be initialized when the encoding for the fill value did not match the encoding specified. For example, 'Buffer.alloc(0x100, "This is not correctly encoded", "hex");' The buffer implementation was updated such that the buffer will be initialized to all zeros in these cases.

Published: 2017-12-11 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2017-15897 is rated Moderate Risk (42.4/100): CVSS Low severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.30%). EPSS rose +1.66% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-15897

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.64% 2.30% +1.66%
2 2026-04-09 0.49% 0.64% +0.15%
3 2026-03-08 — 0.49% —

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-15897

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.1 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.6 1.4 [email protected]
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-15897

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-15897

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2017-15897: 2 source package rows (nodejs, nodejs-current); 17 state rows across 17 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-community, 3.17-main, 3.18-community, 3.18-main, 3.19-community, 3.19-main, 3.20-community, 3.20-main, 3.21-community, 3.21-main, 3.22-community, 3.22-main, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 17, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2017-15897
debian unimportant CVE-2017-15897 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (nodejs), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-15897
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-15897
ubuntu medium CVE-2017-15897 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nodejs), 6 status rows across 6 suites (artful, bionic, trusty, upstream, xenial, zesty): not-affected 4, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-15897

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-15897

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nodejs node.js >= 8.0.0, <= 8.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 8.9.0, < 8.9.3 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 9.0.0, < 9.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*

References for CVE-2017-15897

cvelogic Threat Intelligence