CVE-2026-42041
Axios: Authentication Bypass via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `validateStatus` Merge Strategy
MEDIUM 4.8
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.66 % · percentile 51 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- GitHub_M
- NVD status
- Modified
Description
Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. Prior to 1.15.1 and 0.31.1, 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. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.15.1 and 0.31.1.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-287 — Improper Authentication
- 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-w9j2-pvgh-6h63
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-42041
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2461629
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-42041.json
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25089
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16874
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36882
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24539
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25273
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20938
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20889
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22619
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:21338
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33574
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:14937
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25041
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50300
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24977
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:17468
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:17474
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:21772
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16476
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16534
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16532
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16535
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:16542
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22840
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22629
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:21017
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24853
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19375
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:22465
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:23361
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26214
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26232
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26225
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:25271
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:24536
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:17657
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:17699
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19109
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 4.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N | GitHub_M |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N | redhat-SADP |
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 4.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N | NVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | MEDIUM 6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N | NVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary) |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 8.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N | NVD · 0b0ca135-0b70-47e7-9f44-1890c2a1c46c (Secondary) |
Advisories
- GHSA-w9j2-pvgh-6h63 — Axios: Authentication Bypass via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `validateStatus` Merge Strategy
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-25606
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-42041
CERT-FR advisories
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1378 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1256 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-1206 — 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
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0901 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0834 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0810 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
- CERTFR-2026-AVI-0698 — Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM · cert.ssi.gouv.fr
Affected configurations (NVD CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*< 0.31.1cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*≥ 1.0.0 < 1.15.1
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| axios · axios | affected >= 1.0.0, < 1.15.1 ; affected < 0.31.1 |
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 |