CVE-2018-7159

The HTTP parser in all current versions of Node.js ignores spaces in the `Content-Length` header, allowing input such as `Content-Length: 1 2` to be interpreted as having a value of `12`. The HTTP specification does not allow for spaces in the `Content-Length` value and the Node.js HTTP parser has been brought into line on this particular difference. The security risk of this flaw to Node.js users is considered to be VERY LOW as it is difficult, and may be impossible, to craft an attack that makes use of this flaw in a way that could not already be achieved by supplying an incorrect value for `Content-Length`. Vulnerabilities may exist in user-code that make incorrect assumptions about the potential accuracy of this value compared to the actual length of the data supplied. Node.js users crafting lower-level HTTP utilities are advised to re-check the length of any input supplied after parsing is complete.

Published: 2018-05-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-7159 is rated Moderate Risk (54.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.62%). EPSS rose +2.72% 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-2018-7159

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 0.90% 3.62% +2.72%
2 2026-05-26 0.73% 0.90% +0.17%
3 2026-05-05 — 0.73% —

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-7159

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-7159

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-7159

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2018-7159: 2 source package rows (nodejs, nodejs-current); 32 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 15. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-7159
debian unimportant CVE-2018-7159 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-2018-7159
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7159
suse low CVE-2018-7159 severity low: SUSE including 59 source package names (MozillaFirefox-68.2.0-78.51.4, MozillaFirefox-branding-SLED-68-21.9.8, …), 156 product×package rows across 7 product lines (SUSE Enterprise Storage 4, SUSE Liberty Linux 7, … (7 product lines)): Fixed 156. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-7159/
ubuntu low CVE-2018-7159 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nodejs), 20 status rows across 20 suites (artful, bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 15, needed 3, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-7159

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-7159

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nodejs node.js >= 4.0.0, <= 4.1.2 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 4.2.0, < 4.9.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 6.0.0, <= 6.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 6.9.0, < 6.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 8.0.0, <= 8.8.1 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 8.9.0, < 8.11.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
nodejs node.js >= 9.0.0, < 9.10.0 cpe:2.3:a:nodejs:node.js:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-7159

cvelogic Threat Intelligence