CVE-2024-38983
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2024-38983 is a prototype pollution vulnerability in the alykoshin mini-deep-assign npm package version 0.0.8 that allows attackers to modify JavaScript object prototypes, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution, denial of service, or other impacts. This affects any application using this vulnerable version of the package, particularly Node.js applications that process untrusted user input through the _assign() method.
💻 Affected Systems
- alykoshin mini-deep-assign
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or ransomware deployment.
Likely Case
Denial of service causing application crashes or instability, potentially leading to data corruption.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and sandboxing, though prototype pollution could still affect application behavior.
🎯 Exploit Status
Proof of concept available in GitHub gists. Exploitation requires the application to process attacker-controlled input through the vulnerable function.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not available
Vendor Advisory: No official vendor advisory found
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Remove mini-deep-assign v0.0.8 from package.json
2. Run npm uninstall mini-deep-assign
3. Find alternative deep assignment library
4. Update code to use alternative
5. Restart all affected applications
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input validation wrapper
allCreate a wrapper function that validates input before passing to _assign()
// JavaScript code to implement input validation
function safeAssign(target, ...sources) {
// Validate inputs are plain objects
const allObjects = [target, ...sources].every(obj =>
obj && typeof obj === 'object' && obj.constructor === Object
);
if (!allObjects) throw new Error('Invalid input');
return _assign(target, ...sources);
}
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict Content Security Policy and input validation
- Isolate affected applications in containers with minimal privileges
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check package.json for "mini-deep-assign": "0.0.8" or run: npm list mini-deep-assignCheck Version:
npm list mini-deep-assign | grep mini-deep-assignVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm mini-deep-assign is removed from package.json and node_modules📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual application crashes
- Memory usage spikes
- Unexpected prototype modifications in logs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual HTTP requests with nested object payloads
- Requests containing __proto__ or constructor properties
SIEM Query:
source="application.logs" AND ("prototype pollution" OR "__proto__" OR "constructor")