CVE-2020-28426
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-28426 is a command injection vulnerability in the kill-process-on-port npm package that allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the host system. The vulnerability exists in the a.getProcessPortId function, which improperly sanitizes user input before passing it to system commands. Any application using this package is affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- kill-process-on-port npm package
📦 What is this software?
Kill Process On Port by Kill Process On Port Project
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise allowing remote code execution, data theft, lateral movement, and complete control of the affected server.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or execution of arbitrary commands within the application's context, potentially leading to data exposure or service disruption.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to proper input validation, sandboxing, or network segmentation preventing command execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the attacker to control input to the vulnerable function, which typically requires some level of access or the function to be exposed via API.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: N/A
Vendor Advisory: https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JS-KILLPROCESSONPORT-1055458
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Remove kill-process-on-port package from your project. 2. Use alternative methods for port management. 3. Update package.json to remove the dependency. 4. Run npm uninstall kill-process-on-port.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Wrapper
allCreate a wrapper function that validates and sanitizes all input before passing to kill-process-on-port functions
// Example: const safeGetProcessPortId = (input) => { if (!/^\d+$/.test(input)) throw new Error('Invalid input'); return originalFunction(input); }
Alternative Port Killing
allReplace kill-process-on-port with native OS commands or other secure libraries
// Linux: kill -9 $(lsof -t -i:PORT)
// Windows: netstat -ano | findstr :PORT && taskkill /PID PID /F
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user inputs passed to the vulnerable function
- Run the application with minimal privileges and in a sandboxed/containerized environment
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check package.json or node_modules for kill-process-on-port dependency: grep -r 'kill-process-on-port' package.jsonCheck Version:
npm list kill-process-on-portVerify Fix Applied:
Verify the package is removed: npm list kill-process-on-port should return 'empty'📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual process spawns from Node.js application
- Suspicious command execution patterns
- Failed port killing attempts with malformed input
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from the application server
- Command and control traffic patterns
SIEM Query:
process.name:node AND (process.args:*kill* OR process.args:*lsof* OR process.args:*netstat*) AND NOT process.args:expected_pattern