# CVE-2018-7164: Denial of service in Node.js

> An attacker can cause a denial of service by sending tiny data chunks, exploiting excessive memory consumption in Node.js network streams.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Jun 2018
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-7164, GHSA-32gr-2v7q-xgqj

## What is CVE-2018-7164?

CVE-2018-7164 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 13 Jun 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Node.js versions 9.7.0 and later and 10.x are vulnerable and the severity is MEDIUM. A bug introduced in 9.7.0 increases the memory consumed when reading from the network into JavaScript using the net.Socket object directly as a stream. An attacker could use this cause a denial of service by sending tiny chunks of data in short succession. This vulnerability was restored by reverting to the prior behaviour.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-7164?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Nodejs Node.js.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-7164?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2018-7164 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7164 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-2018-7164 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-7164 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Nodejs Node.js, published on 13 Jun 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7164 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-2018-7164/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7164/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7164
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7164
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-7164

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7164/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.