CVE-2016-10542
HIGHCVE-2016-10542 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in ws. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2016-10542 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
DoS due to excessively large websocket message in ws
Real-World Exposure
wsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
ws is a "simple to use, blazing fast and thoroughly tested websocket client, server and console for node.js, up-to-date against RFC-6455". By sending an overly long websocket payload to a ws server, it is possible to crash the node process. This affects ws 1.1.0 and earlier.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | ws | all versions | 1.1.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ws. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update ws to 1.1.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-10542 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2016-10542 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2016-10542. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-10542 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2016-10542 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.