Axios Prototype Pollution MITM via proxy config, fixed in 1.16.0
CVE-2026-44494 Published on June 11, 2026

Axios: Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `config.proxy`
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.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-44494 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. Public availability of a proof of concept (POC) exploit exists for CVE-2026-44494. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
HIGH
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
CHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
NONE

Weakness Types

What is a Confused Deputy Vulnerability?

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.

CVE-2026-44494 has been classified to as a Confused Deputy vulnerability or weakness.

What is a Prototype Pollution Vulnerability?

The software receives input from an upstream component that specifies attributes that are to be initialized or updated in an object, but it does not properly control modifications of attributes of the object prototype.

CVE-2026-44494 has been classified to as a Prototype Pollution vulnerability or weakness.

What is a Mass Assignment Vulnerability?

The software receives input from an upstream component that specifies multiple attributes, properties, or fields that are to be initialized or updated in an object, but it does not properly control which attributes can be modified.

CVE-2026-44494 has been classified to as a Mass Assignment vulnerability or weakness.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-44494

You can be notified by email with stack.watch whenever vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-44494 are published in these products:

Axios
 
Red Hat Acm
 
Red Hat Container Native Virtualization
 
Red Hat Rhdh
 
Red Hat Discovery
 
Red Hat Openshift
 
Red Hat Service Mesh
 
Red Hat Multicluster Engine
 
Red Hat Cryostat
 
Red Hat Migration Toolkit Applications
 
Red Hat Rhmt
 
Red Hat Network Observ Optr
 
Red Hat Openshift Pipelines
 
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security
 
Red Hat Amq Broker
 
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
 
Red Hat Apache Camel Hawtio
 
Red Hat Apicurio Registry
 
Red Hat Podman Desktop
 
Red Hat Jboss Data Grid
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Ai
 
Red Hat Jboss Fuse
 
Red Hat Openshift Ai
 
Red Hat Openshift Devspaces
 
Red Hat Quay
 
Red Hat Satellite
 
Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer
 
Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer
 
Red Hat Ansible Portal
 
Red Hat Gatekeeper
 
Red Hat 3scale Amp
 
Red Hat Camel Spring Boot
 
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
 

Affected Versions

axios: Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8: Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Containers: Red Hat Network Observability Operator: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines: Red Hat AMQ Broker 7: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2: Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4: Red Hat build of Apicurio Registry 3: Red Hat Build of Podman Desktop - Tech Preview: Red Hat Data Grid 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) 3: Red Hat Fuse 7: Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI): Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4: Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4: Red Hat Quay 3: Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer: Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer: Red Hat Self-service automation portal 2: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes 4.10: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes 4.9: Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10: Red Hat Developer Hub 1.9: Red Hat Discovery 2: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.19: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.20: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.21: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22: Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3.29: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.3: Red Hat Quay 3.9: Red Hat Cryostat 4: Red Hat Gatekeeper 3: Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8: Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6: Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8: Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.9: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3: Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2: Red Hat build of Apache Camel for Spring Boot 4: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9: Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI): Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.13: Red Hat Container Native Virtualization 4.14: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2.6: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.1: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3.2: Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 3: Red Hat Satellite 6.19:

Exploit Probability

EPSS
0.42%
Percentile
33.14%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.