CVE-2023-49210
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-49210 is a critical command injection vulnerability in the malicious 'openssl' NPM package (also called node-openssl) that allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands on affected systems. This affects any application using this package through version 2.0.0. The package was intentionally created as malicious software with no legitimate purpose.
💻 Affected Systems
- openssl (node-openssl) NPM package
📦 What is this software?
Node Openssl by Node Openssl Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with remote code execution leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement across networks.
Likely Case
Attackers gain shell access to execute commands, install malware, or establish persistence on compromised systems.
If Mitigated
No impact if the package is not installed or proper network segmentation and least privilege controls prevent command execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
The package itself is weaponized malware - simply installing it enables command execution via the 'verb' parameter in opts argument.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: None - package is malicious and should be completely removed
Vendor Advisory: https://www.npmjs.com/package/openssl
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Immediately remove the package: npm uninstall openssl
2. Scan for any dependencies that might have installed it
3. Replace with legitimate OpenSSL bindings if needed
4. Review package-lock.json and node_modules for any traces
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Immediate package removal
allCompletely remove the malicious openssl package from all systems
npm uninstall openssl
npm audit fix --force
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate affected systems from network access immediately
- Implement strict egress filtering to prevent command and control communication
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check package.json or run: npm list openssl | grep openssl@Check Version:
npm list opensslVerify Fix Applied:
Verify package is removed: npm list openssl should show no results📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual command execution from Node.js processes
- npm install logs showing openssl package installation
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Node.js processes to unexpected destinations
- Command and control traffic patterns
SIEM Query:
process.name:node AND (process.args:*openssl* OR process.args:*verb*)🔗 References
- https://gist.github.com/mcoimbra/b05a55a5760172dccaa0a827647ad63e
- https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/tree/main/malicious/npm
- https://www.npmjs.com/package/openssl
- https://gist.github.com/mcoimbra/b05a55a5760172dccaa0a827647ad63e
- https://github.com/ossf/malicious-packages/tree/main/malicious/npm
- https://www.npmjs.com/package/openssl
