CVE-2017-16040
HIGHCVE-2017-16040 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) CWE-311 vulnerability in gfe-sass. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2017-16040 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
gfe-sass downloads Resources over HTTP
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
gfe-sassnpmDescription
Affected versions of gfe-sass insecurely download an executable over an unencrypted HTTP connection.
In scenarios where an attacker has a privileged network position, it is possible to intercept the response and replace the executable with a malicious one, resulting in code execution on the system running gfe-sass.
Recommendation
No patch is currently available for this vulnerability.
The best mitigation is currently to avoid using this package, using a different package if available.
Alternatively, the risk of exploitation can be reduced by ensuring that this package is not installed while connected to a public network. If the package is installed on a private network, the only people who can exploit this vulnerability are those who have compromised your network or those who have privileged access to your ISP, such as Nation State Actors or Rogue ISP Employees.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | gfe-sass | ≥ 0.0.0 | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for gfe-sass. 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.
Remediation status
No patched version of gfe-sass has shipped for CVE-2017-16040 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-2017-16040 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-2017-16040. 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-2017-16040 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2017-16040 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.