Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2017-16111 is an availability risk in the Node.js content module used by hapijs to parse HTTP Content-* headers. A specially crafted Content-Type or Content-Disposition header can trigger excessive regular expression processing, potentially slowing or tying up an application process.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority availability issue for internet-facing Node.js services. It is not shown as actively exploited in the supplied sources, but vulnerable parsing in production request paths can create business-impacting downtime under low-complexity traffic.
Technical view
The affected content node module versions are listed as <=3.0.5. The weakness is CWE-400, uncontrolled resource consumption, caused by regular expression denial of service during parsing of crafted HTTP header values. No CVSS score is provided in the supplied sources.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in Node.js services that depend on the content module directly or through hapijs and process externally supplied HTTP headers. Public-facing APIs and web applications have the clearest exposure path.
Exploitation context
The supplied bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation would require an attacker to deliver crafted Content-Type or Content-Disposition headers to code paths using the vulnerable parser.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description, affected version range, CWE-400 classification, and the Node Security advisory reference. The bundle does not provide CVSS, proof of exploitation, exploit maturity, or a named fixed version, so remediation should be validated against vendor guidance.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory direct and transitive use of the content node module.
- Check whether deployed versions are <=3.0.5.
- Review vendor or package advisory guidance before selecting a replacement or upgrade.
- Reduce exposure of affected services where external HTTP headers reach the parser.
- Monitor affected services for abnormal CPU saturation and request latency.
Validation and detection
- Check software composition analysis results for the content package and version.
- Review hapijs dependency trees for transitive inclusion of content <=3.0.5.
- Confirm public routes parse Content-Type or Content-Disposition headers using the affected module.
- Verify remediation by confirming vulnerable versions are absent from deployed artifacts.
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-400: 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 lookupCVE-2017-16111 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/530CVE 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.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.