# CVE-2017-15897: Information disclosure in Node.js

> Improper buffer initialization in Node.js may expose sensitive memory contents when encoding mismatches occur during buffer allocation.

- **Severity:** Low 3.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 11 Dec 2017
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2017-15897, CLEANSTART-2026-BR75725, CLEANSTART-2026-ID13469, GHSA-f2j2-5fh3-4jrr

## What is CVE-2017-15897?

CVE-2017-15897 is a low-severity vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 11 Dec 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Node.js had a bug in versions 8.X and 9.X which caused buffers to not be initialized when the encoding for the fill value did not match the encoding specified. For example, 'Buffer.alloc(0x100, "This is not correctly encoded", "hex");' The buffer implementation was updated such that the buffer will be initialized to all zeros in these cases.

Weakness: CWE-665 (Improper Initialization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15897?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nodejs Node.js.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15897?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2017-15897 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15897 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Nodejs Node.js

- [CVE-2023-32002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32002/): Security feature bypass in Node (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6303](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6303/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-15896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15896/): Security feature bypass in Node.js (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2018-7160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7160/): Server-side request forgery in Node.js (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-12120](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12120/): Misconfiguration in Node.js (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15897 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15897 is a low-severity vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 11 Dec 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15897 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Nodejs Node.js. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15897/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15897/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15897
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15897
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15897

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15897/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.