CVE-2021-39135

HIGH

@npmcli/arborist < 2.8.2 - Arbitrary File Write via Symbolic Link Following

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Description

`@npmcli/arborist`, the library that calculates dependency trees and manages the node_modules folder hierarchy for the npm command line interface, aims to guarantee that package dependency contracts will be met, and the extraction of package contents will always be performed into the expected folder. This is accomplished by extracting package contents into a project's `node_modules` folder. If the `node_modules` folder of the root project or any of its dependencies is somehow replaced with a symbolic link, it could allow Arborist to write package dependencies to any arbitrary location on the file system. Note that symbolic links contained within package artifact contents are filtered out, so another means of creating a `node_modules` symbolic link would have to be employed. 1. A `preinstall` script could replace `node_modules` with a symlink. (This is prevented by using `--ignore-scripts`.) 2. An attacker could supply the target with a git repository, instructing them to run `npm install --ignore-scripts` in the root. This may be successful, because `npm install --ignore-scripts` is typically not capable of making changes outside of the project directory, so it may be deemed safe. This is patched in @npmcli/arborist 2.8.2 which is included in npm v7.20.7 and above. For more information including workarounds please see the referenced GHSA-gmw6-94gg-2rc2.

References (4)

Core 4
Core References
Various Sources x_refsource_misc
https://www.npmjs.com/package/%40npmcli/arborist
Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_confirm
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf

Scores

CVSS v3 8.2
EPSS 0.0051
EPSS Percentile 39.4%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Details

CWE
CWE-61 CWE-59
Status published
Products (5)
npmcli/arborist 0 - 2.8.2npm
npmjs/arborist < 2.8.2
oracle/graalvm 20.3.3
oracle/graalvm 21.2.0
siemens/sinec_infrastructure_network_services < 1.0.1.1
Published Aug 31, 2021
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026