CVE-2025-23165

Description

In Node.js, the `ReadFileUtf8` internal binding leaks memory due to a corrupted pointer in `uv_fs_s.file`: a UTF-16 path buffer is allocated but subsequently overwritten when the file descriptor is set. This results in an unrecoverable memory leak on every call. Repeated use can cause unbounded memory growth, leading to a denial of service. Impact: * This vulnerability affects APIs relying on `ReadFileUtf8` on Node.js release lines: v20 and v22.

CVSS Metrics

• v3.0•LOW•Score: 3.7CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

EPSS Trends

Current EPSS score: 0.55%• Percentile: 45%

Techniques & Countermeasures

• CWE-401•Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

  The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.

Affected Systems

• alpine•nodejs

  < 22.15.1-r0

• chainguard•nodejs-16

  < 16.20.2-r15

• chainguard•nodejs-18

  < 0

• chainguard•nodejs-21

  < 21.7.3-r12

• wolfi•nodejs-16

  < 16.20.2-r15

• wolfi•nodejs-18

  < 0

• wolfi•nodejs-21

  < 21.7.3-r12

• debian•nodejs

  < 20.19.2+dfsg-1 | < 20.19.2+dfsg-1

• nodejs•node

  ≥ 4.0, < 4.* | ≥ 5.0, < 5.* | ≥ 6.0, < 6.* | ≥ 7.0, < 7.* | ≥ 8.0, < 8.* | ≥ 9.0, < 9.* | ≥ 10.0, < 10.* | ≥ 11.0, < 11.* | ≥ 12.0, < 12.* | ≥ 13.0, < 13.* | ≥ 14.0, < 14.* | ≥ 15.0, < 15.* | ≥ 16.0, < 16.* | ≥ 17.0, < 17.* | ≥ 18.0, < 18.* | ≥ 19.0, < 19.* | ≥ 20.0, ≤ 20.19.1 | ≥ 22.0, ≤ 22.15.0 | ≥ 21.0, < 21.*

References (3)

• https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/may-2025-security-releases
• https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-23165
• https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2025-23165