| # safe-buffer [![travis][travis-image]][travis-url] [![npm][npm-image]][npm-url] [![downloads][downloads-image]][downloads-url] [![javascript style guide][standard-image]][standard-url] |
| |
| [travis-image]: https://img.shields.io/travis/feross/safe-buffer/master.svg |
| [travis-url]: https://travis-ci.org/feross/safe-buffer |
| [npm-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/safe-buffer.svg |
| [npm-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer |
| [downloads-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dm/safe-buffer.svg |
| [downloads-url]: https://npmjs.org/package/safe-buffer |
| [standard-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/code_style-standard-brightgreen.svg |
| [standard-url]: https://standardjs.com |
| |
| #### Safer Node.js Buffer API |
| |
| **Use the new Node.js Buffer APIs (`Buffer.from`, `Buffer.alloc`, |
| `Buffer.allocUnsafe`, `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow`) in all versions of Node.js.** |
| |
| **Uses the built-in implementation when available.** |
| |
| ## install |
| |
| ``` |
| npm install safe-buffer |
| ``` |
| |
| [Get supported safe-buffer with the Tidelift Subscription](https://tidelift.com/subscription/pkg/npm-safe-buffer?utm_source=npm-safe-buffer&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=readme) |
| |
| ## usage |
| |
| The goal of this package is to provide a safe replacement for the node.js `Buffer`. |
| |
| It's a drop-in replacement for `Buffer`. You can use it by adding one `require` line to |
| the top of your node.js modules: |
| |
| ```js |
| var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer |
| |
| // Existing buffer code will continue to work without issues: |
| |
| new Buffer('hey', 'utf8') |
| new Buffer([1, 2, 3], 'utf8') |
| new Buffer(obj) |
| new Buffer(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe) |
| |
| // But you can use these new explicit APIs to make clear what you want: |
| |
| Buffer.from('hey', 'utf8') // convert from many types to a Buffer |
| Buffer.alloc(16) // create a zero-filled buffer (safe) |
| Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // create an uninitialized buffer (potentially unsafe) |
| ``` |
| |
| ## api |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.from(array) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v3.0.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `array` {Array} |
| |
| Allocates a new `Buffer` using an `array` of octets. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf = Buffer.from([0x62,0x75,0x66,0x66,0x65,0x72]); |
| // creates a new Buffer containing ASCII bytes |
| // ['b','u','f','f','e','r'] |
| ``` |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `array` is not an `Array`. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.from(arrayBuffer[, byteOffset[, length]]) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v5.10.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `arrayBuffer` {ArrayBuffer} The `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` or |
| a `new ArrayBuffer()` |
| * `byteOffset` {Number} Default: `0` |
| * `length` {Number} Default: `arrayBuffer.length - byteOffset` |
| |
| When passed a reference to the `.buffer` property of a `TypedArray` instance, |
| the newly created `Buffer` will share the same allocated memory as the |
| TypedArray. |
| |
| ```js |
| const arr = new Uint16Array(2); |
| arr[0] = 5000; |
| arr[1] = 4000; |
| |
| const buf = Buffer.from(arr.buffer); // shares the memory with arr; |
| |
| console.log(buf); |
| // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 a0 0f> |
| |
| // changing the TypedArray changes the Buffer also |
| arr[1] = 6000; |
| |
| console.log(buf); |
| // Prints: <Buffer 88 13 70 17> |
| ``` |
| |
| The optional `byteOffset` and `length` arguments specify a memory range within |
| the `arrayBuffer` that will be shared by the `Buffer`. |
| |
| ```js |
| const ab = new ArrayBuffer(10); |
| const buf = Buffer.from(ab, 0, 2); |
| console.log(buf.length); |
| // Prints: 2 |
| ``` |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `arrayBuffer` is not an `ArrayBuffer`. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.from(buffer) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v3.0.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `buffer` {Buffer} |
| |
| Copies the passed `buffer` data onto a new `Buffer` instance. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf1 = Buffer.from('buffer'); |
| const buf2 = Buffer.from(buf1); |
| |
| buf1[0] = 0x61; |
| console.log(buf1.toString()); |
| // 'auffer' |
| console.log(buf2.toString()); |
| // 'buffer' (copy is not changed) |
| ``` |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `buffer` is not a `Buffer`. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.from(str[, encoding]) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v5.10.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `str` {String} String to encode. |
| * `encoding` {String} Encoding to use, Default: `'utf8'` |
| |
| Creates a new `Buffer` containing the given JavaScript string `str`. If |
| provided, the `encoding` parameter identifies the character encoding. |
| If not provided, `encoding` defaults to `'utf8'`. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf1 = Buffer.from('this is a tést'); |
| console.log(buf1.toString()); |
| // prints: this is a tést |
| console.log(buf1.toString('ascii')); |
| // prints: this is a tC)st |
| |
| const buf2 = Buffer.from('7468697320697320612074c3a97374', 'hex'); |
| console.log(buf2.toString()); |
| // prints: this is a tést |
| ``` |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `str` is not a string. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.alloc(size[, fill[, encoding]]) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v5.10.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `size` {Number} |
| * `fill` {Value} Default: `undefined` |
| * `encoding` {String} Default: `utf8` |
| |
| Allocates a new `Buffer` of `size` bytes. If `fill` is `undefined`, the |
| `Buffer` will be *zero-filled*. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf = Buffer.alloc(5); |
| console.log(buf); |
| // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00> |
| ``` |
| |
| The `size` must be less than or equal to the value of |
| `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is |
| `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will |
| be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified. |
| |
| If `fill` is specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be initialized by calling |
| `buf.fill(fill)`. See [`buf.fill()`][] for more information. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf = Buffer.alloc(5, 'a'); |
| console.log(buf); |
| // <Buffer 61 61 61 61 61> |
| ``` |
| |
| If both `fill` and `encoding` are specified, the allocated `Buffer` will be |
| initialized by calling `buf.fill(fill, encoding)`. For example: |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf = Buffer.alloc(11, 'aGVsbG8gd29ybGQ=', 'base64'); |
| console.log(buf); |
| // <Buffer 68 65 6c 6c 6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64> |
| ``` |
| |
| Calling `Buffer.alloc(size)` can be significantly slower than the alternative |
| `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` but ensures that the newly created `Buffer` instance |
| contents will *never contain sensitive data*. |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafe(size) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v5.10.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `size` {Number} |
| |
| Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* `Buffer` of `size` bytes. The `size` must |
| be less than or equal to the value of `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit |
| architectures, `kMaxLength` is `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is |
| thrown. A zero-length Buffer will be created if a `size` less than or equal to |
| 0 is specified. |
| |
| The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not |
| initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and |
| *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such |
| `Buffer` instances to zeroes. |
| |
| ```js |
| const buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(5); |
| console.log(buf); |
| // <Buffer 78 e0 82 02 01> |
| // (octets will be different, every time) |
| buf.fill(0); |
| console.log(buf); |
| // <Buffer 00 00 00 00 00> |
| ``` |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number. |
| |
| Note that the `Buffer` module pre-allocates an internal `Buffer` instance of |
| size `Buffer.poolSize` that is used as a pool for the fast allocation of new |
| `Buffer` instances created using `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` (and the deprecated |
| `new Buffer(size)` constructor) only when `size` is less than or equal to |
| `Buffer.poolSize >> 1` (floor of `Buffer.poolSize` divided by two). The default |
| value of `Buffer.poolSize` is `8192` but can be modified. |
| |
| Use of this pre-allocated internal memory pool is a key difference between |
| calling `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` vs. `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)`. |
| Specifically, `Buffer.alloc(size, fill)` will *never* use the internal Buffer |
| pool, while `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size).fill(fill)` *will* use the internal |
| Buffer pool if `size` is less than or equal to half `Buffer.poolSize`. The |
| difference is subtle but can be important when an application requires the |
| additional performance that `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` provides. |
| |
| ### Class Method: Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size) |
| <!-- YAML |
| added: v5.10.0 |
| --> |
| |
| * `size` {Number} |
| |
| Allocates a new *non-zero-filled* and non-pooled `Buffer` of `size` bytes. The |
| `size` must be less than or equal to the value of |
| `require('buffer').kMaxLength` (on 64-bit architectures, `kMaxLength` is |
| `(2^31)-1`). Otherwise, a [`RangeError`][] is thrown. A zero-length Buffer will |
| be created if a `size` less than or equal to 0 is specified. |
| |
| The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is *not |
| initialized*. The contents of the newly created `Buffer` are unknown and |
| *may contain sensitive data*. Use [`buf.fill(0)`][] to initialize such |
| `Buffer` instances to zeroes. |
| |
| When using `Buffer.allocUnsafe()` to allocate new `Buffer` instances, |
| allocations under 4KB are, by default, sliced from a single pre-allocated |
| `Buffer`. This allows applications to avoid the garbage collection overhead of |
| creating many individually allocated Buffers. This approach improves both |
| performance and memory usage by eliminating the need to track and cleanup as |
| many `Persistent` objects. |
| |
| However, in the case where a developer may need to retain a small chunk of |
| memory from a pool for an indeterminate amount of time, it may be appropriate |
| to create an un-pooled Buffer instance using `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` then |
| copy out the relevant bits. |
| |
| ```js |
| // need to keep around a few small chunks of memory |
| const store = []; |
| |
| socket.on('readable', () => { |
| const data = socket.read(); |
| // allocate for retained data |
| const sb = Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(10); |
| // copy the data into the new allocation |
| data.copy(sb, 0, 0, 10); |
| store.push(sb); |
| }); |
| ``` |
| |
| Use of `Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow()` should be used only as a last resort *after* |
| a developer has observed undue memory retention in their applications. |
| |
| A `TypeError` will be thrown if `size` is not a number. |
| |
| ### All the Rest |
| |
| The rest of the `Buffer` API is exactly the same as in node.js. |
| [See the docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html). |
| |
| |
| ## Related links |
| |
| - [Node.js issue: Buffer(number) is unsafe](https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/4660) |
| - [Node.js Enhancement Proposal: Buffer.from/Buffer.alloc/Buffer.zalloc/Buffer() soft-deprecate](https://github.com/nodejs/node-eps/pull/4) |
| |
| ## Why is `Buffer` unsafe? |
| |
| Today, the node.js `Buffer` constructor is overloaded to handle many different argument |
| types like `String`, `Array`, `Object`, `TypedArrayView` (`Uint8Array`, etc.), |
| `ArrayBuffer`, and also `Number`. |
| |
| The API is optimized for convenience: you can throw any type at it, and it will try to do |
| what you want. |
| |
| Because the Buffer constructor is so powerful, you often see code like this: |
| |
| ```js |
| // Convert UTF-8 strings to hex |
| function toHex (str) { |
| return new Buffer(str).toString('hex') |
| } |
| ``` |
| |
| ***But what happens if `toHex` is called with a `Number` argument?*** |
| |
| ### Remote Memory Disclosure |
| |
| If an attacker can make your program call the `Buffer` constructor with a `Number` |
| argument, then they can make it allocate uninitialized memory from the node.js process. |
| This could potentially disclose TLS private keys, user data, or database passwords. |
| |
| When the `Buffer` constructor is passed a `Number` argument, it returns an |
| **UNINITIALIZED** block of memory of the specified `size`. When you create a `Buffer` like |
| this, you **MUST** overwrite the contents before returning it to the user. |
| |
| From the [node.js docs](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html#buffer_new_buffer_size): |
| |
| > `new Buffer(size)` |
| > |
| > - `size` Number |
| > |
| > The underlying memory for `Buffer` instances created in this way is not initialized. |
| > **The contents of a newly created `Buffer` are unknown and could contain sensitive |
| > data.** Use `buf.fill(0)` to initialize a Buffer to zeroes. |
| |
| (Emphasis our own.) |
| |
| Whenever the programmer intended to create an uninitialized `Buffer` you often see code |
| like this: |
| |
| ```js |
| var buf = new Buffer(16) |
| |
| // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer |
| for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) { |
| buf[i] = otherBuf[i] |
| } |
| ``` |
| |
| |
| ### Would this ever be a problem in real code? |
| |
| Yes. It's surprisingly common to forget to check the type of your variables in a |
| dynamically-typed language like JavaScript. |
| |
| Usually the consequences of assuming the wrong type is that your program crashes with an |
| uncaught exception. But the failure mode for forgetting to check the type of arguments to |
| the `Buffer` constructor is more catastrophic. |
| |
| Here's an example of a vulnerable service that takes a JSON payload and converts it to |
| hex: |
| |
| ```js |
| // Take a JSON payload {str: "some string"} and convert it to hex |
| var server = http.createServer(function (req, res) { |
| var data = '' |
| req.setEncoding('utf8') |
| req.on('data', function (chunk) { |
| data += chunk |
| }) |
| req.on('end', function () { |
| var body = JSON.parse(data) |
| res.end(new Buffer(body.str).toString('hex')) |
| }) |
| }) |
| |
| server.listen(8080) |
| ``` |
| |
| In this example, an http client just has to send: |
| |
| ```json |
| { |
| "str": 1000 |
| } |
| ``` |
| |
| and it will get back 1,000 bytes of uninitialized memory from the server. |
| |
| This is a very serious bug. It's similar in severity to the |
| [the Heartbleed bug](http://heartbleed.com/) that allowed disclosure of OpenSSL process |
| memory by remote attackers. |
| |
| |
| ### Which real-world packages were vulnerable? |
| |
| #### [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht) |
| |
| [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and I |
| ([Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/)) found this issue in one of our own packages, |
| [`bittorrent-dht`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/bittorrent-dht). The bug would allow |
| anyone on the internet to send a series of messages to a user of `bittorrent-dht` and get |
| them to reveal 20 bytes at a time of uninitialized memory from the node.js process. |
| |
| Here's |
| [the commit](https://github.com/feross/bittorrent-dht/commit/6c7da04025d5633699800a99ec3fbadf70ad35b8) |
| that fixed it. We released a new fixed version, created a |
| [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68), and deprecated all |
| vulnerable versions on npm so users will get a warning to upgrade to a newer version. |
| |
| #### [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws) |
| |
| That got us wondering if there were other vulnerable packages. Sure enough, within a short |
| period of time, we found the same issue in [`ws`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/ws), the |
| most popular WebSocket implementation in node.js. |
| |
| If certain APIs were called with `Number` parameters instead of `String` or `Buffer` as |
| expected, then uninitialized server memory would be disclosed to the remote peer. |
| |
| These were the vulnerable methods: |
| |
| ```js |
| socket.send(number) |
| socket.ping(number) |
| socket.pong(number) |
| ``` |
| |
| Here's a vulnerable socket server with some echo functionality: |
| |
| ```js |
| server.on('connection', function (socket) { |
| socket.on('message', function (message) { |
| message = JSON.parse(message) |
| if (message.type === 'echo') { |
| socket.send(message.data) // send back the user's message |
| } |
| }) |
| }) |
| ``` |
| |
| `socket.send(number)` called on the server, will disclose server memory. |
| |
| Here's [the release](https://github.com/websockets/ws/releases/tag/1.0.1) where the issue |
| was fixed, with a more detailed explanation. Props to |
| [Arnout Kazemier](https://github.com/3rd-Eden) for the quick fix. Here's the |
| [Node Security Project disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67). |
| |
| |
| ### What's the solution? |
| |
| It's important that node.js offers a fast way to get memory otherwise performance-critical |
| applications would needlessly get a lot slower. |
| |
| But we need a better way to *signal our intent* as programmers. **When we want |
| uninitialized memory, we should request it explicitly.** |
| |
| Sensitive functionality should not be packed into a developer-friendly API that loosely |
| accepts many different types. This type of API encourages the lazy practice of passing |
| variables in without checking the type very carefully. |
| |
| #### A new API: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` |
| |
| The functionality of creating buffers with uninitialized memory should be part of another |
| API. We propose `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`. This way, it's not part of an API that |
| frequently gets user input of all sorts of different types passed into it. |
| |
| ```js |
| var buf = Buffer.allocUnsafe(16) // careful, uninitialized memory! |
| |
| // Immediately overwrite the uninitialized buffer with data from another buffer |
| for (var i = 0; i < buf.length; i++) { |
| buf[i] = otherBuf[i] |
| } |
| ``` |
| |
| |
| ### How do we fix node.js core? |
| |
| We sent [a PR to node.js core](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514) (merged as |
| `semver-major`) which defends against one case: |
| |
| ```js |
| var str = 16 |
| new Buffer(str, 'utf8') |
| ``` |
| |
| In this situation, it's implied that the programmer intended the first argument to be a |
| string, since they passed an encoding as a second argument. Today, node.js will allocate |
| uninitialized memory in the case of `new Buffer(number, encoding)`, which is probably not |
| what the programmer intended. |
| |
| But this is only a partial solution, since if the programmer does `new Buffer(variable)` |
| (without an `encoding` parameter) there's no way to know what they intended. If `variable` |
| is sometimes a number, then uninitialized memory will sometimes be returned. |
| |
| ### What's the real long-term fix? |
| |
| We could deprecate and remove `new Buffer(number)` and use `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` when |
| we need uninitialized memory. But that would break 1000s of packages. |
| |
| ~~We believe the best solution is to:~~ |
| |
| ~~1. Change `new Buffer(number)` to return safe, zeroed-out memory~~ |
| |
| ~~2. Create a new API for creating uninitialized Buffers. We propose: `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)`~~ |
| |
| #### Update |
| |
| We now support adding three new APIs: |
| |
| - `Buffer.from(value)` - convert from any type to a buffer |
| - `Buffer.alloc(size)` - create a zero-filled buffer |
| - `Buffer.allocUnsafe(size)` - create an uninitialized buffer with given size |
| |
| This solves the core problem that affected `ws` and `bittorrent-dht` which is |
| `Buffer(variable)` getting tricked into taking a number argument. |
| |
| This way, existing code continues working and the impact on the npm ecosystem will be |
| minimal. Over time, npm maintainers can migrate performance-critical code to use |
| `Buffer.allocUnsafe(number)` instead of `new Buffer(number)`. |
| |
| |
| ### Conclusion |
| |
| We think there's a serious design issue with the `Buffer` API as it exists today. It |
| promotes insecure software by putting high-risk functionality into a convenient API |
| with friendly "developer ergonomics". |
| |
| This wasn't merely a theoretical exercise because we found the issue in some of the |
| most popular npm packages. |
| |
| Fortunately, there's an easy fix that can be applied today. Use `safe-buffer` in place of |
| `buffer`. |
| |
| ```js |
| var Buffer = require('safe-buffer').Buffer |
| ``` |
| |
| Eventually, we hope that node.js core can switch to this new, safer behavior. We believe |
| the impact on the ecosystem would be minimal since it's not a breaking change. |
| Well-maintained, popular packages would be updated to use `Buffer.alloc` quickly, while |
| older, insecure packages would magically become safe from this attack vector. |
| |
| |
| ## links |
| |
| - [Node.js PR: buffer: throw if both length and enc are passed](https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/4514) |
| - [Node Security Project disclosure for `ws`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67) |
| - [Node Security Project disclosure for`bittorrent-dht`](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68) |
| |
| |
| ## credit |
| |
| The original issues in `bittorrent-dht` |
| ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/68)) and |
| `ws` ([disclosure](https://nodesecurity.io/advisories/67)) were discovered by |
| [Mathias Buus](https://github.com/mafintosh) and |
| [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org/). |
| |
| Thanks to [Adam Baldwin](https://github.com/evilpacket) for helping disclose these issues |
| and for his work running the [Node Security Project](https://nodesecurity.io/). |
| |
| Thanks to [John Hiesey](https://github.com/jhiesey) for proofreading this README and |
| auditing the code. |
| |
| |
| ## license |
| |
| MIT. Copyright (C) [Feross Aboukhadijeh](http://feross.org) |