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AxiosApplication

CVE-2026-44494

HIGH · 8.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.16.0 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
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.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Axios versions 1.0.0 to before 1.16.0 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution where the HTTP adapter reads config.proxy via standard property access, traversing the prototype chain. Since proxy is not an own property in Axios defaults, attackers can inject a malicious proxy value through Object.prototype pollution, causing setProxy() to route all HTTP requests through an attacker-controlled proxy for full MITM interception of credentials and traffic.

MitigationUpgrade Axios to version 1.16.0 or later. As a defense-in-depth measure, freeze Object.prototype or use Object.create(null) for config objects to prevent prototype pollution attacks.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AxiosApplication
Affected:>= 1.0.0, < 1.16.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Axios version
    Run 'npm list axios' or inspect package.json to find the installed version of axios
    Affected if Installed version is >= 1.0.0 and < 1.16.0
  2. Confirm HTTP adapter usage
    Inspect your codebase to verify that the HTTP adapter (lib/adapters/http.js) is being used for outbound HTTP requests
    Affected if Your application uses Axios for HTTP requests, which loads the http adapter by default in Node.js environments
  3. Check for proxy configuration
    Search your codebase and configuration files for any proxy-related settings or calls to axios.setProxy(). Also inspect runtime config objects passed to axios requests for 'proxy' properties.
    Affected if Your application passes proxy configuration to Axios requests OR Object.prototype pollution exists that could inject a 'proxy' property
  4. Audit dependencies for prototype pollution
    Run a dependency audit tool (npm audit, snyk, or npm outdated) to scan for known prototype pollution vulnerabilities in your dependency tree, particularly in packages that handle object merging or config processing
    Affected if Any dependency in your project has a known Object.prototype pollution vulnerability that could be chained with this Axios issue

Your environment is affected if you run Axios version 1.0.0 through 1.15.x AND an attacker could inject a 'proxy' property via Object.prototype pollution in any dependency, causing all HTTP traffic to route through an attacker-controlled proxy.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.16.0 or later
Fixed in 1.16.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Axios to version 1.16.0 or later. As a defense-in-depth measure, freeze Object.prototype or use Object.create(null) for config objects to prevent prototype pollution attacks.

Recommended fix High confidence

axios version 1.16.0 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current axios version in your project by checking package.json or running `npm list axios`
  2. 2. Upgrade axios to version 1.16.0 or later using your package manager: `npm install axios@^1.16.0` or `yarn upgrade axios@^1.16.0`
  3. 3. Verify the upgrade was successful by running `npm list axios` to confirm the installed version
  4. 4. Run your test suite to ensure no regressions were introduced
  5. 5. Rebuild and redeploy your application

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Axios Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-44494 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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