CVE-2019-16776 | Unauthorized File Access in npm CLI before before version 6.13.3

Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.13.3 are vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Write. It fails to prevent access to folders outside of the intended node_modules folder through the bin field. A properly constructed entry in the package.json bin field would allow a package publisher to modify and/or gain access to arbitrary files on a user's system when the package is installed. This behavior is still possible through install scripts. This vulnerability bypasses a user using the --ignore-scripts install option.

Published: 2019-12-13 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-16776 is rated Moderate Risk (58.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.23%). 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-2019-16776

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 2026-05-20 1.03% 1.23% +0.20%
2 2026-05-03 0.83% 1.03% +0.20%
3 2026-03-04 — 0.83% —

Full EPSS history (45 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-16776

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.7 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.3 5.8 [email protected]
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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: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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.8 5.2 [email protected]
5.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-16776

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2019-16776

GHSA-x8qc-rrcw-4r46 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: npm — npm symlink reference outside of node_modules

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-16776

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-16776 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (npm), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-16776
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-16776
suse high CVE-2019-16776 severity important: SUSE including 38 source package names (nodejs-12.14.1-1.module+el8.1.0+5466+30f75629, nodejs-devel-12.14.1-1.module+el8.1.0+5466+30f75629, …), 119 product×package rows across 20 product lines (SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1, SUSE Liberty Linux 8, … (20 product lines)): Fixed 65, Known Not Affected 54. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-16776/
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-16776 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (npm), 18 status rows across 18 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 10, needs-triage 8. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-16776

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-16776

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
npmjs npm < 6.13.3 cpe:2.3:a:npmjs:npm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle graalvm 19.3.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:19.3.0.2:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 31 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:31:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_eus 8.1 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-16776

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-01/msg00027.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2020:0330 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0573 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0579 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0597 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0602 Third Party Advisory
https://blog.npmjs.org/post/189618601100/binary-planting-with-the-npm-cli Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/npm/cli/security/advisories/GHSA-x8qc-rrcw-4r46 Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/Z36UKPO5F3PQ3Q2POMF5LEKXWAH5RUFP/
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2020.html Third Party Advisory
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