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CriticalPublic exploit

Prototype Pollution Gadget in Axios HTTP Adapter

IdentifiersCVE-2026-42264CWE-1321· Improperly Controlled Modification…

CVE-2026-42264 affects Axios, a promise-based HTTP client for browsers and Node.js. In Axios versions 1.0.0 through before 1.15.2, the HTTP adapter reads five configuration properties — auth, baseURL, socketPath, beforeRedirect, and insecureHTTPParser — via direct property access without hasOwnProperty-style guards. As a result, if Object.prototype has been polluted elsewhere in the same process, Axios can inherit attacker-controlled values for these options and silently apply them to outbound HTTP requests. This makes the affected properties usable as prototype pollution gadgets. The issue is patched in Axios 1.15.2.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows attacker-controlled prototype properties to influence Axios outbound request behavior process-wide in a polluted runtime. Depending on which inherited property is abused, this can alter request destinations or paths, inject authentication settings, affect redirect handling, or weaken HTTP parsing behavior. The primary security consequence is unintended outbound request manipulation and potential downstream impacts such as SSRF-like behavior, credential misuse, request redirection, or other security boundary bypasses contingent on application usage.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate upgrade is not possible, reduce exposure by preventing prototype pollution in the application and its dependencies, validating and freezing sensitive object prototypes where operationally feasible, avoiding use of polluted shared objects for request configuration, and constraining outbound network access to limit the impact of manipulated HTTP requests. Monitoring for anomalous outbound requests and unexpected Axios configuration behavior may help detect exploitation attempts.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Axios to version 1.15.2 or later, which patches the vulnerable property access pattern in the HTTP adapter. Also identify and remediate any upstream prototype pollution sources in the application dependency chain, since exploitation requires Object.prototype pollution by another component in the same process.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

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VendorProductType
AxiosAxiosapplication

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ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity6

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.