CVE-2016-10536 Insecure Defaults Allow MITM Over TLS in engine.io-client
Attackers can bypass TLS certificate validation in engine.io-client due to improper handling of null settings, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2016-10536?
CVE-2016-10536 is a medium-severity vulnerability in HackerOne engine.io-client node module, published on 31 May 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
engine.io-client is the client for engine.io, the implementation of a transport-based cross-browser/cross-device bi-directional communication layer for Socket.IO. The vulnerability is related to the way that node.js handles the `rejectUnauthorized` setting. If the value is something that evaluates to false, certificate verification will be disabled. This is problematic as engine.io-client 1.6.8 and earlier passes in an object for settings that includes the rejectUnauthorized property, whether it has been set or not. If the value has not been explicitly changed, it will be passed in as `null`, resulting in certificate verification being turned off.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-10536?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including engine.io-client. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
engine.io-client npm | All versions | 1.6.9 |
engine.io-client npm | All versions | 1.6.9 |
Products include Socket Engine.io-Client.
How do I fix CVE-2016-10536?
Upgrade engine.io-client to 1.6.9 or later.
Is CVE-2016-10536 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-10536 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-4r4m-hjwj-43p8.