serve-static vulnerable to template injection that can lead to XSS

CVE-2024-43800 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Impact

passing untrusted user input - even after sanitizing it - to redirect() may execute untrusted code

Patches

this issue is patched in serve-static 1.16.0

Workarounds

users are encouraged to upgrade to the patched version of express, but otherwise can workaround this issue by making sure any untrusted inputs are safe, ideally by validating them against an explicit allowlist

Details

successful exploitation of this vector requires the following:

  1. The attacker MUST control the input to response.redirect()
  2. express MUST NOT redirect before the template appears
  3. the browser MUST NOT complete redirection before:
  4. the user MUST click on the link in the template

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
low
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2024-09-10 19:42:33 UTC
Updated
2024-11-18 16:27:12 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2024-09-10 19:42:33 UTC
NVD published
2024-09-10

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.92% 75.64%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.0 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
2.3 4.0 —
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:P)
A user has to participate (for example click/open/approve).
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:N)
No integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:L)
Limited confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:L)
Limited integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:L)
Limited availability impact on subsequent systems.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-cm22-4g7w-348p ↗
CVE CVE-2024-43800 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Credits

  • AdamKorcz (reporter)
  • UlisesGascon (remediation_developer)
  • ctcpip (analyst)
  • wesleytodd (analyst)

Affected packages (2)

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

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
npm serve-static < 1.16.0 1.16.0 —
npm serve-static >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.0 2.1.0 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence