Electron: Buffer performs incorrect byte length calculations resulting in heap buffer under/overflowGHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc
GHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc is a CWE-120 vulnerability in electron. A fix is available for electron — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
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.
electronnpmDescription
Impact
Most apps will crash and some may perform incorrect buffer allocations in the Node.js Buffer API resulting in unexpected truncation or allocation.
Workarounds
No workarounds. Do not use these impacted Electron releases
Fixed Versions
42.3.3
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | electron | ≥ 42.3.1&&< 42.3.3 | 42.3.3npm install electron@42.3.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for electron, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update electron to 42.3.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
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.
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-q6m5-f73j-m9mc in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.