GHSA-273r-mgr4-v34f — high GitHub Advisory (CVE-2022-21676) in npm/engine.io

Description

Impact

A specially crafted HTTP request can trigger an uncaught exception on the Engine.IO server, thus killing the Node.js process.

> RangeError: Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV2 and RSV3 must be clear
> at Receiver.getInfo (/.../node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:176:14)
> at Receiver.startLoop (/.../node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:136:22)
> at Receiver._write (/.../node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:83:10)
> at writeOrBuffer (internal/streams/writable.js:358:12)

This impacts all the users of the engine.io package starting from version 4.0.0, including those who uses depending packages like socket.io.

Patches

A fix has been released for each major branch:

Version range	Fixed version
`[email protected]`	`4.1.2`
`[email protected]`	`5.2.1`
`[email protected]`	`6.1.1`

Previous versions (< 4.0.0) are not impacted.

For socket.io users:

Version range	`engine.io` version	Needs minor update?
`[email protected]`	`~6.1.0`	-
`[email protected]`	`~6.0.0`	Please upgrade to `[email protected]`
`[email protected]`	`~5.2.0`	-
`[email protected]`	`~5.1.1`	Please upgrade to `[email protected]`
`[email protected]`	`~5.0.0`	Please upgrade to `[email protected]`
`[email protected]`	`~4.1.0`	-
`[email protected]`	`~4.0.0`	Please upgrade to `[email protected]` or `[email protected]` (see here)

In most cases, running npm audit fix should be sufficient. You can also use npm update engine.io --depth=9999.

Workarounds

There is no known workaround except upgrading to a safe version.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in engine.io

Thanks to Marcus Wejderot from Mevisio for the responsible disclosure.

Basic information

Type: reviewed
Severity: high
Advisory on GitHub: Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory: Open repository advisory ↗
Source code: Browse source ↗
Published (advisory): 2022-01-13 16:14:17 UTC
Updated: 2023-06-27 22:26:31 UTC
GitHub reviewed: 2022-01-12 19:26:23 UTC
NVD published: 2022-01-12

Score	Percentile
4.11%	88.51%

CVSS Scores

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector
7.5	3.1	—	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` 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:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

Type	Value
GHSA	GHSA-273r-mgr4-v34f ↗
CVE	CVE-2022-21676 ↗

CWEs

CWE id	Name
CWE-754	Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions
CWE-755	Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

Credits

marwej (analyst)

Affected packages (3)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	First patched	Vulnerable functions
npm	engine.io	>= 4.0.0, < 4.1.2	4.1.2	—
npm	engine.io	>= 5.0.0, < 5.2.1	5.2.1	—
npm	engine.io	>= 6.0.0, < 6.1.1	6.1.1	—

Uncaught Exception in engine.io