Axios: Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `config.proxy` (axios axios)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 1.06 % · percentile 64 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- GitHub_M
- NVD status
- Modified
Description
Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. From 1.0.0 to before 1.16.0, the Axios library is vulnerable to a Prototype Pollution "Gadget" attack that allows any Object.prototype pollution in the application's dependency tree to be escalated into a full Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack — intercepting, reading, and modifying all HTTP traffic including authentication credentials. The HTTP adapter at lib/adapters/http.js:670 reads config.proxy via standard property access, which traverses the prototype chain. Because proxy is not present in Axios defaults, the merged config object has no own proxy property, making it trivially injectable via prototype pollution. Once injected, setProxy() routes all HTTP requests through the attacker's proxy server. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.16.0.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-441 — Unintended Proxy or Intermediary
- CWE-1321 — Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes
- CWE-915 — Improperly Controlled Modification of Dynamically-Determined Object Attributes
References
- https://github.com/axios/axios/security/advisories/GHSA-35jp-ww65-95wh
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-44494
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487942
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-44494.json
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42078
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66545
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66488
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41064
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30651
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36882
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:46903
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:57191
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20938
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20889
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42142
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36108
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33005
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41951
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36754
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33574
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29197
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41928
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50300
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:60520
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54188
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36611
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:28964
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29082
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29864
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40795
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29800
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40792
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:27044
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34794
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36820
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33155
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33160
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33163
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33173
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33183
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41031
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42146
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:43052
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42796
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41066
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:40262
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34530
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34527
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:34525
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:42085
- +4 more
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.7 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N | GitHub_M |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.7 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N | redhat-SADP |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.7 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N | NVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.7 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N | NVD · 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c (Secondary) |
Advisories
- GHSA-35jp-ww65-95wh — axios Vulnerable to Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `config.proxy`
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-36257
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-44494
CERT-FR advisories
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1256 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1165 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1094 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0958 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0934 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Atlassian · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*≥ 1.0.0 < 1.16.0
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| axios · axios | affected >= 1.0.0, < 1.16.0 |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| CERT-FR (ANSSI) | Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0 |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |