GHSA-898c-q2cr-xwhg

Опубликовано: 29 мая 2026

Источник: github

Github: Прошло ревью

CVSS3: 4.8

Описание

axios has DoS & Header Injection via Prototype Pollution Read-Side Gadgets in axios merge functions

Summary

axios 1.15.2 exposes two read-side prototype-pollution gadgets. When Object.prototype is polluted by an upstream dependency in the same process (e.g. lodash _.merge / CVE-2018-16487), axios silently picks up the polluted values:

Header injection - lib/utils.js line 406 builds merge()'s accumulator as result = {}, so result[targetKey] (line 414) walks Object.prototype and the polluted bucket's own keys are copied into the merged headers and ride out on the wire.
Crash DoS - lib/core/mergeConfig.js line 26 builds the hasOwnProperty descriptor as a plain-object literal. Object.defineProperty reads descriptor.get/descriptor.set via the prototype chain, so a polluted Object.prototype.get or Object.prototype.set makes the call throw TypeError synchronously on every axios request.

Affected Properties

Polluted slot	Effect
`Object.prototype.common`	injects headers on every method
`Object.prototype.delete` / `.head` / `.post` / `.put` / `.patch` / `.query`	injects headers on the matching method
`Object.prototype.get`	every axios request throws `TypeError: Getter must be a function` from `mergeConfig.js:26`
`Object.prototype.set`	every axios request throws `TypeError: Setter must be a function` from `mergeConfig.js:26`

Per-request headers (axios.request(url, { headers: {...} })) overwrite polluted entries. Polluting Object.prototype.get triggers the crash before any header is built.

Proof of Concept

const axios = require('axios'); // Finding A - header injection Object.prototype.common = { 'X-Poisoned': 'yes' }; await axios.get('http://api.example.com/users'); // Wire request carries `X-Poisoned: yes`. // Finding B - crash DoS Object.prototype.get = { something: 'anything' }; await axios.get('http://api.example.com/users'); // TypeError: Getter must be a function: #<Object> // at Function.defineProperty (<anonymous>) // at mergeConfig (lib/core/mergeConfig.js:26:10)

Impact

Server hang (Content-Length: 99999): receiver waits for a body that never arrives. Affects requests with a body.
CL+TE conflict (Transfer-Encoding: chunked rides alongside axios's auto Content-Length): receiver rejects with 400 Bad Request. Affects requests with a body.
Response suppression (If-None-Match: *): receiver returns empty 304 Not Modified. Affects GET / HEAD.
Crash DoS (Object.prototype.get / .set): every axios request fails synchronously with TypeError, not AxiosError, so handlers filtering on error.isAxiosError mishandle the failure.

Attack Flow

flowchart TD ROOT["Polluted Object.prototype via upstream gadget (e.g. lodash <= 4.17.10 _.merge / CVE-2018-16487) axios <= 1.15.2"] ROOT --> CLASS_A["A. Arbitrary HTTP Header Injection Polluted defaults.headers slot rides along on every outbound axios request"] ROOT --> CLASS_B["B. Crash DoS via Object.prototype.get / .set Polluted descriptor breaks Object.defineProperty in mergeConfig"] CLASS_A --> PRE_A["Precondition: header not set per-request by the app Injected via defaults.headers slot (common, delete, head, post, put, patch, query)"] PRE_A --> PA1["Response Suppression Trigger: common = {If-None-Match: *} Affects GET / HEAD"] PA1 --> SA1["DoS 304 Not Modified empty"] PRE_A --> PA2["Server Hang Trigger: common = {Content-Length: 99999} Affects requests with body"] PA2 --> SA2["DoS connection hang"] PRE_A --> PA3["CL+TE Conflict Trigger: common = {Transfer-Encoding: chunked} Affects requests with body"] PA3 --> SA3["DoS 400 Bad Request"] CLASS_B --> SB1["DoS TypeError: Getter / Setter must be a function Crashes every axios request, not only GET"] %% Styles style ROOT fill:#f87171,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff style CLASS_A fill:#fb923c,stroke:#9a3412,color:#fff style CLASS_B fill:#fb923c,stroke:#9a3412,color:#fff style PRE_A fill:#e2e8f0,stroke:#64748b,color:#1e293b style PA1 fill:#fbbf24,stroke:#92400e,color:#000 style PA2 fill:#fbbf24,stroke:#92400e,color:#000 style PA3 fill:#fbbf24,stroke:#92400e,color:#000 style SA1 fill:#ef4444,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff style SA2 fill:#ef4444,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff style SA3 fill:#ef4444,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff style SB1 fill:#ef4444,stroke:#991b1b,color:#fff

Root Cause

Finding A. lib/utils.js:404-429's merge() creates result = {} at line 406. The dangerous-keys filter on lines 408-411 blocks the write side, but the read at line 414 (isPlainObject(result[targetKey])) still walks the prototype chain. When targetKey matches a polluted slot, result[targetKey] returns the polluted nested object, and the recursive merge(result[targetKey], val) on line 415 iterates that object's own keys via forEach and copies them as own properties into the new accumulator. Those keys flow through mergeConfig.js:35 → Axios.js:148 (utils.merge(headers.common, headers[config.method])) → Axios.js:155 (AxiosHeaders.concat(...)) → onto the wire via http.js:677 (headers: headers.toJSON()) → http.js:767 (transport.request(options, ...)).

Finding B. lib/core/mergeConfig.js:25 correctly makes config = Object.create(null), but the descriptor passed on line 26 is a plain-object literal - its get/set lookups walk Object.prototype. A polluted non-function Object.prototype.get or .set makes Object.defineProperty throw TypeError: Getter must be a function (or Setter must be a function) before the call returns. The descriptor is built unconditionally on every mergeConfig invocation, so every axios request throws - POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, QUERY, not only GET.

Suggested Fix

Use null-prototype objects in place of the plain-object literals at lib/utils.js:406 and lib/core/mergeConfig.js:26-31. The same descriptor pattern recurs at lib/core/AxiosError.js:37, lib/core/AxiosHeaders.js:100, lib/utils.js:447/454/492/498, and lib/adapters/adapters.js:28/32.

Resources

CVE-2018-16487 - lodash.merge prototype pollution in lodash <= 4.17.10
CWE-1321 - Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes

Ссылки

Пакеты

Наименование

axios

npm

Затронутые версииВерсия исправления

>= 1.0.0, < 1.16.0

1.16.0

Наименование

axios

npm

Затронутые версииВерсия исправления

<= 0.31.1

0.32.0

EPSS

Процентиль: 21%

0.00287

Низкий

4.8 Medium

CVSS3

CVE ID

CVE-2026-44490

Дефекты

CWE-1321

Связанные уязвимости

CVE-2026-44490

CVSS3: 4.8

ubuntu

около 2 месяцев назад

Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. Prior to 0.32.0 and 1.16.0, axios exposes two read-side prototype-pollution gadgets. When Object.prototype is polluted by an upstream dependency in the same process (e.g. lodash _.merge / CVE-2018-16487), axios silently picks up the polluted values. (1) lib/utils.js line 406 builds merge()'s accumulator as result = {}, so result[targetKey] (line 414) walks Object.prototype and the polluted bucket's own keys are copied into the merged headers and ride out on the wire. (2) lib/core/mergeConfig.js line 26 builds the hasOwnProperty descriptor as a plain-object literal. Object.defineProperty reads descriptor.get/descriptor.set via the prototype chain, so a polluted Object.prototype.get or Object.prototype.set makes the call throw TypeError synchronously on every axios request. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.32.0 and 1.16.0.