How severe is CVE-2019-16777?

CVE-2019-16777 has a CVSS score of 6.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2019-16777?

CVE-2019-16777 affects the following packages: npm (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2019-16777?

Update npm to 6.13.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-16777 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2019-16777 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for npm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2019-16777 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Is CVE-2019-16777 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2019-16777 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2019-16777?

CVE-2019-16777 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.1%, placing it in the 82th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2019-16777?

CVE-2019-16777 is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2019-16777 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2019-16777 was published on December 13, 2019 and was last updated on October 29, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2019-16777 — npm

MEDIUM

CVE-2019-16777 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in npm. A fix is available for npm — see the affected versions and patch details below.

npm Vulnerable to Global node_modules Binary Overwrite

Also known asGHSA-4328-8hgf-7wjr

Published

Dec 13, 2019

Updated

Oct 29, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 31, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs82th percentile — riskier than 82% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

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.

7Kother npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

npmnpm

24.2Mdownloads / week

Description

For example, if a package was installed globally and created a serve binary, any subsequent installs of packages that also create a serve binary would overwrite the first binary. This will not overwrite system binaries but only binaries put into the global node_modules directory.

This behavior is still allowed in local installations and also through install scripts. This vulnerability bypasses a user using the --ignore-scripts install option.

Recommendation

Upgrade to version 6.13.4 or later.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`npm`	all versions	6.13.4`npm install npm@6.13.4`

Affected Products

6 products · 6 configurations

fedorafedoraproject

1 version

Application

npmnpmjs

< 6.13.4

range

leapopensuse

1 version

15.1

Application

graalvmoracle

1 version

19.3.0.2

enterprise linuxredhat

1 version

8.0

enterprise linux eusredhat

1 version

8.1

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for npm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update npm to 6.13.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-16777 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatLow

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`nodejs:12-8010020200116150415.c27ad7f8`	RHEA-2020:0330
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`nodejs:10-8010020200213140254.c27ad7f8`	RHSA-2020:0579
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 Update Services for SAP Solutions	`nodejs:10-8000020200214110450.f8e95b4e`	RHSA-2020:0573
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7	`rh-nodejs10-nodejs-0:10.19.0-1.el7`	RHSA-2020:0597
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7	`rh-nodejs12-nodejs-0:12.16.1-1.el7`	RHSA-2020:0602
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7	`rh-nodejs8-nodejs-0:8.17.0-2.el7`	RHSA-2020:2625

Frequently Asked Questions

Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.13.4 are vulnerable to a Global node_modules Binary Overwrite. It fails to prevent existing globally-installed binaries to be overwritten by other package installations. For example, if a package was installed globally and created a `serve` binary, any subsequent installs of packages that also create a `serve` binary would overwrite the first binary. This will not overwrite system binaries but only binaries put into the global node_modules directory. This behavior is still allowed in local installations and also through install scripts. This vulnerability

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2019-16777 in your dependencies?

Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

6.5/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

High

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-22Path Traversal CWE-269Improper Privilege Management

Weaponization

No Nuclei template, Metasploit module or public proof-of-concept found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

cli

6.8/10

Code-Review10/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-ProtectionN/A

Assessed Oct 19, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Dec 13, 2019

Last updated

Oct 29, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2019-16777

GHSA-4328-8hgf-7wjr

References

Advisorylists.opensuse.org · msg00027 Advisoryaccess.redhat.com · RHEA 2020:0330 Advisoryaccess.redhat.com · RHSA 2020:0573 Advisoryaccess.redhat.com · RHSA 2020:0579 Advisoryaccess.redhat.com · RHSA 2020:0597 Advisoryaccess.redhat.com · RHSA 2020:0602 Advisoryblog.npmjs.org · binary planting with the npm cli Advisorygithub.com · GHSA 4328 8hgf 7wjr Advisorysecurity.gentoo.org · 202003 48 Advisoryoracle.com · cpujan2020 Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2019 16777 Advisorygithub.com · GHSA 4328 8hgf 7wjr Weblists.fedoraproject.org · Z36UKPO5F3PQ3Q2POMF5LEKXWAH5RUFP Weblists.fedoraproject.org · Z36UKPO5F3PQ3Q2POMF5LEKXWAH5RUFP Webnpmjs.com Packagegithub.com · cli

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects npm

This CVE is medium severity; 6 of 7 other CVEs affecting npm are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2022-29244CVE-2018-7408CVE-2013-4116CVE-2020-15095CVE-2019-16775CVE-2019-16776CVE-2016-3956

Same weakness: CWE-22

This CVE is medium severity; 1 of 1 other CVE with CWE-22 is rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-62331Browse all CWE-22

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 29, 2026

CVE-2019-16777 — npm

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Recommendation

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Fixing This On Your OS

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2019-16777 in your dependencies?