Axios up to 1.15.x lib/adapters/http.js setProxy confused deputy

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Axios up to 1.15.x and classified as problematic. This impacts the function setProxy in the library lib/adapters/http.js. Performing a manipulation results in confused deputy. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-44494. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Axios up to 1.15.x. It has been classified as problematic. This affects the function setProxy in the library lib/adapters/http.js. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a confused deputy vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-441. The product receives a request, message, or directive from an upstream component, but the product does not sufficiently preserve the original source of the request before forwarding the request to an external actor that is outside of the product's control sphere. This causes the product to appear to be the source of the request, leading it to act as a proxy or other intermediary between the upstream component and the external actor. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

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.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-44494 since 05/06/2026. The exploitability is told to be difficult. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 1.16.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Name

• Axios

Version

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.4
• 1.5
• 1.6
• 1.7
• 1.8
• 1.9
• 1.10
• 1.11
• 1.12
• 1.13
• 1.14
• 1.15

Website

• Product: https://github.com/axios/axios/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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