{"id":"CVE-2021-39176","aliases":["EUVD-2021-1986","GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj"],"status":"published","title":"Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding","description":"detect-character-encoding is a package for detecting character encoding using ICU. In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-11","score":0.01891,"percentile":0.79847,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-401"],"published":"2021-08-31T18:05:12Z","modified":"2026-10-20T14:29:20Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"npm","package":"detect-character-encoding","fixed_in":["0.3.1"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"npm","package":"detect-character-encoding","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.3.1"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"npm","package":"detect-character-encoding","ranges":[{"type":"SEMVER","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"0.3.1"}]}]}],"products":[{"vendor":"detect-character-encoding_project","product":"detect-character-encoding"},{"vendor":"sonicdoe","product":"detect-character-encoding"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/security/advisories/GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","Exploit","Patch","Third Party Advisory","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Issue Tracking","Patch","Third Party Advisory","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Patch","Third Party Advisory","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Third Party Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-39176","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj"},{"url":"https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2021-39176","title":"Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding","description":"detect-character-encoding is a package for detecting character encoding using ICU. In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.","status":"published","published":"2021-08-31T18:05:12Z","modified":"2024-08-04T01:58:18.257Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-401"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:33:09.540052Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2021-1986","description":"detect-character-encoding is a package for detecting character encoding using ICU. In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.","status":"published","published":"2021-08-31T18:05:12Z","modified":"2024-08-04T01:58:18Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T03:24:24.305495Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj","title":"Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding","description":"### Impact\n\nIn detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe problem has been patched in [detect-character-encoding v0.3.1](https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1).\n\n### CVSS score\n\n[CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C)\n\nBase Score: 7.5 (High)\nTemporal Score: 7.2 (High)\n\nSince detect-character-encoding is a library, the scoring is based on the “[reasonable worst-case implementation scenario](https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.1/user-guide#3-7-Scoring-Vulnerabilities-in-Software-Libraries-and-Similar)”, namely, using detect-character-encoding in a program accessible over the internet which becomes unavailable when running out of memory. Depending on your specific implementation, the vulnerability’s severity in your program may be different.\n\n### Proof of concept\n\n```js\nconst express = require(\"express\");\nconst detectCharacterEncoding = require(\"detect-character-encoding\");\n\nconst app = express();\n\napp.get(\"/\", (req, res) =\u003e {\n  detectCharacterEncoding(Buffer.from(\"foo\"));\n\n  res.end();\n});\n\napp.listen(3000);\n```\n\n`hey -n 1000000 http://localhost:3000` ([`hey`](https://github.com/rakyll/hey)) causes the Node.js process to consume more and more memory.\n\n### References\n\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6","status":"published","published":"2021-09-01T18:25:16Z","modified":"2023-02-01T05:06:05Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-401"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:36:37.441118Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2021-39176","description":"detect-character-encoding is a package for detecting character encoding using ICU. In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.","status":"published","published":"2021-08-31T18:15:08.49Z","modified":"2026-06-17T04:03:15.15Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"2.0","score":5,"vector":"AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P","level":"medium","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-401"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:06:57.67549Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2021-39176","description":"detect-character-encoding is a package for detecting character encoding using ICU. In detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released. The problem has been patched in detect-character-encoding v0.3.1.","status":"published","published":"2021-08-31T18:15:08.49Z","modified":"2026-10-20T14:29:20.362623861Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:20.843843Z"},{"id":"GHSA-5rwj-j5m3-3chj","title":"Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in detect-character-encoding","description":"### Impact\n\nIn detect-character-encoding v0.3.0 and earlier, allocated memory is not released.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe problem has been patched in [detect-character-encoding v0.3.1](https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/releases/tag/v0.3.1).\n\n### CVSS score\n\n[CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C](https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H/RL:O/RC:C)\n\nBase Score: 7.5 (High)\nTemporal Score: 7.2 (High)\n\nSince detect-character-encoding is a library, the scoring is based on the “[reasonable worst-case implementation scenario](https://www.first.org/cvss/v3.1/user-guide#3-7-Scoring-Vulnerabilities-in-Software-Libraries-and-Similar)”, namely, using detect-character-encoding in a program accessible over the internet which becomes unavailable when running out of memory. Depending on your specific implementation, the vulnerability’s severity in your program may be different.\n\n### Proof of concept\n\n```js\nconst express = require(\"express\");\nconst detectCharacterEncoding = require(\"detect-character-encoding\");\n\nconst app = express();\n\napp.get(\"/\", (req, res) =\u003e {\n  detectCharacterEncoding(Buffer.from(\"foo\"));\n\n  res.end();\n});\n\napp.listen(3000);\n```\n\n`hey -n 1000000 http://localhost:3000` ([`hey`](https://github.com/rakyll/hey)) causes the Node.js process to consume more and more memory.\n\n### References\n\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/commit/d44356927b92e3b13e178071bf6d7c671766f588\n- https://github.com/sonicdoe/detect-character-encoding/pull/6","status":"published","published":"2021-09-01T18:25:16Z","modified":"2026-07-08T06:28:33.588838025Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-401"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:38.911014Z"}]}}