Summary
Prototype Pollution in defaults-deep
All versions of defaults-deep are vulnerable to prototype pollution. Provided certain input defaults-deep can add or modify properties of the Object prototype. These properties will be present on all objects.
Impact
Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.
CVE-2018-16486 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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As no patch is currently available for this vulnerability it is our recommendation to select another module that can provide this functionality.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2018-16486? CVE-2018-16486 is a critical-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in defaults-deep (npm), affecting versions <= 0.2.4. No fixed version is listed yet. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
- How severe is CVE-2018-16486? CVE-2018-16486 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of defaults-deep are affected by CVE-2018-16486? defaults-deep (npm) versions <= 0.2.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2018-16486? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2018-16486 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
- Is CVE-2018-16486 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2018-16486 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2018-16486 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2018-16486? No fixed version is listed yet. In the interim: Apply input size limits and request rate limiting. Reject input that exceeds reasonable bounds before processing begins.