CVE-2026-42264 axios CVE debrief

Who should care

Developers and security teams using Axios in their applications should be aware of this vulnerability. Given the high CVSS score of 7.4, this issue is considered serious and requires immediate attention. Updating Axios to version 1.15.2 or later is recommended to prevent potential security breaches.

Technical summary

Axios, a popular HTTP client library for Node.js and browsers, suffers from a prototype pollution vulnerability. This vulnerability arises from the library's direct property access to certain configuration properties (auth, baseURL, socketPath, beforeRedirect, and insecureHTTPParser) without using hasOwnProperty guards. An attacker can exploit this by polluting Object.prototype, leading to Axios silently incorporating these polluted values into its configuration on every HTTP request. This issue affects Axios versions from 1.0.0 up to but not including 1.15.2. The vulnerability has been addressed in Axios version 1.15.2.

Defensive priority

High priority should be given to updating Axios to version 1.15.2 or later. Additionally, developers should review their dependencies for any other potential prototype pollution vulnerabilities and ensure that Object.prototype is not being polluted by other libraries or dependencies.

Recommended defensive actions

• Update Axios to version 1.15.2 or later.
• Review and audit dependencies for potential prototype pollution vulnerabilities.
• Implement hasOwnProperty checks for configuration properties in HTTP adapters.
• Monitor HTTP requests for anomalies that could indicate exploitation.
• Consider using a proxy or middleware to validate and sanitize HTTP request configurations.

Evidence notes

The CVE-2026-42264 vulnerability in Axios is confirmed by multiple sources, including the official CVE record and NVD details. The vulnerability allows for prototype pollution, which can lead to security issues with HTTP requests. The issue is patched in Axios version 1.15.2.

Official resources