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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2017-20165

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2023-01-09
  • Fixed in3.1.0 · 2.6.9
  • WeaknessCWE-1333

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in debug-js debug up to 3.0.x. This affects the function useColors of the file src/node.js. The manipulation of the argument str leads to inefficient regular expression complexity. Upgrading to version 3.1.0 is able to address this issue. The identifier of the patch is c38a0166c266a679c8de012d4eaccec3f944e685. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier VDB-217665 was assigned to this vulnerability.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-01-0910:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2026-10-2319:23First public proof of conceptPoC-in-GitHub

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2017-20165?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2017-20165?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Debug project debug
BranchAffectedFixed in
3.x≥ 3.0.0, < 3.1.03.1.0
2.6< 2.6.92.6.9

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Debug project debug to 3.1.0 · 2.6.9

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:23 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
1 repository, unverifiedfastify/send
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionnone2024-07-18
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionnone—
  • CNACVSS 3.13.5read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.17.5read 2026-10-23
  • CNACVSS 2.02.7read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-1333read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-1333read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score2.1 %2026-10-22
  • PoC-in-GitHubproof of concept1read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2023-01-09
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-20165?

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in debug-js debug up to 3.0.x. This affects the function useColors of the file src/node.js. The manipulation of the argument str leads to inefficient regular expression complexity. Upgrading to version 3.1.0 is able to address this issue. The identifier of the patch is c38a0166c266a679c8de012d4eaccec3f944e685. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier VDB-217665 was assigned to this vulnerability.

Is CVE-2017-20165 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2017-20165 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 2.1% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2017-20165?

CVE-2017-20165 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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