CVE-2021-43616
Description
The npm ci command in npm 7.x and 8.x through 8.1.3 proceeds with an installation even if dependency information in package-lock.json differs from package.json. This behavior is inconsistent with the documentation, and makes it easier for attackers to install malware that was supposed to have been blocked by an exact version match requirement in package-lock.json. NOTE: The npm team believes this is not a vulnerability. It would require someone to socially engineer package.json which has different dependencies than package-lock.json. That user would have to have file system or write access to change dependencies. The npm team states preventing malicious actors from socially engineering or gaining file system access is outside the scope of the npm CLI.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
✚ Propose a mitigation on Community → Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
Debian Mixed 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Fixed | 8.4.1~ds-1 |
| sid | Fixed | 8.4.1~ds-1 |
| forky | Fixed | 8.4.1~ds-1 |
| bullseye | Affected | — |
| bookworm | Fixed | 8.4.1~ds-1 |
Arch Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Fixed | 8.4.1-1 |
Red Hat Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Fixed | — |
Rocky Linux Fixed 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Fixed | — |
References
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.