Quantum Secular Labs / Blog / Advisories

CVE-2017-16151: Electronjs: Remote code execution

CVE-2017-16151 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.0 base score of 9.8 and affects Electronjs. Per its scoring, it can be exploited over the network, without authentication, without any user interaction. The scored impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability is the highest available.

Vulnerability description

Based on details posted by the ElectronJS team; A remote code execution vulnerability has been discovered in Google Chromium that affects all recent versions of Electron. Any Electron app that accesses remote content is vulnerable to this exploit, regardless of whether the [sandbox option](https://electron.atom.io/docs/api/sandbox-option) is enabled.

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.0 9.8: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network. Exploitable remotely over the network, with no need for local or physical access.
  • Attack complexity: Low. No special conditions; the attack can be repeated reliably.
  • Privileges required: None. No account or prior access is needed.
  • User interaction: None. No action from any user is needed.
  • Scope: Unchanged. Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High. Total loss of confidentiality; sensitive data can be fully disclosed.
  • Integrity impact: High. Total loss of integrity; data or system state can be fully modified.
  • Availability impact: High. Total loss of availability; the component can be shut down.

Underlying weakness

CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code

The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment.

Affected products

  • Electronjs: before 1.7.8

References