CVE-2020-15168 | File size limit bypass in node-fetch

node-fetch before versions 2.6.1 and 3.0.0-beta.9 did not honor the size option after following a redirect, which means that when a content size was over the limit, a FetchError would never get thrown and the process would end without failure. For most people, this fix will have a little or no impact. However, if you are relying on node-fetch to gate files above a size, the impact could be significant, for example: If you don't double-check the size of the data after fetch() has completed, your JS thread could get tied up doing work on a large file (DoS) and/or cost you money in computing.

Published: 2020-09-10 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-15168 is rated Low Risk (37.9/100): CVSS Low severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.69%). EPSS rose +1.62% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2020-15168

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 0.07% 1.69% +1.62%
2 2025-11-21 0.25% 0.07% -0.18%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.25% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-15168

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.6 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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: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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.2 1.4 [email protected]
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P 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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-15168

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-15168

GHSA-w7rc-rwvf-8q5r · Severity: low · Ecosystem: npm — The `size` option isn't honored after following a redirect in node-fetch

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-15168

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-15168 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (node-fetch), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-15168
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-15168
ubuntu low CVE-2020-15168 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (node-fetch), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 10, needs-triage 3, DNE 2, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-15168

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-15168

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
node-fetch_project node-fetch < 2.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
node-fetch_project node-fetch 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:3.0.0:beta1:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
node-fetch_project node-fetch 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:3.0.0:beta5:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
node-fetch_project node-fetch 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:3.0.0:beta6:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
node-fetch_project node-fetch 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:3.0.0:beta7:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
node-fetch_project node-fetch 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:node-fetch_project:node-fetch:3.0.0:beta8:*:*:*:node.js:*:*

References for CVE-2020-15168

cvelogic Threat Intelligence