Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2016-10535 weakens CSRF protection in the csrf-lite Node module. The library compares secrets in a way that can leak information through timing, reducing the effort needed to guess the secret. Organizations are exposed only if they use csrf-lite version 0.1.1 or earlier.
Executive priority
Treat as a focused dependency risk, not an internet-wide emergency. Prioritize validation in legacy Node applications and any public workflow where CSRF failure could change data, funds, settings, or access.
Technical view
csrf-lite <=0.1.1 uses JavaScript strict equality for secret comparison rather than a time-constant comparison. The CVE states this fail-first behavior can reduce guessing effort from 16^18 possibilities to at most 288 guesses. The weakness is classified as CWE-208, observable timing discrepancy.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is limited to framework-less Node applications that depend on csrf-lite <=0.1.1 for CSRF protection on state-changing routes.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. The issue matters where attackers can repeatedly interact with CSRF-protected endpoints and observe timing differences.
Researcher notes
Evidence is narrow but clear: the affected component, version range, weakness class, and comparison flaw are stated. No CVSS score, active exploitation evidence, or explicit patch version was provided in the bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory applications and lockfiles for csrf-lite <=0.1.1.
- Check the referenced advisory and upstream PR for vendor remediation guidance.
- Update or replace csrf-lite if a fixed maintained option is available.
- Use time-constant comparison for CSRF secrets in custom code.
- Review exposed state-changing routes that depended on this library.
Validation and detection
- Search SBOMs, package manifests, and lockfiles for csrf-lite.
- Confirm installed versions are not <=0.1.1.
- Identify routes relying on csrf-lite for CSRF validation.
- Review token comparison code for time-constant behavior.
- Confirm remediation through dependency scans and targeted regression tests.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-208: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2016-10535 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/94CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/isaacs/csrf-lite/pull/1CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Observable Timing Discrepancy
Observable Timing Discrepancy represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.