CVE-2026-42035 | Axios: Header Injection via Prototype Pollution

Exp

Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. Prior to 1.15.1 and 0.31.1, a prototype pollution gadget exists in the Axios HTTP adapter (lib/adapters/http.js) that allows an attacker to inject arbitrary HTTP headers into outgoing requests. The vulnerability exploits duck-type checking of the data payload, where if Object.prototype is polluted with getHeaders, append, pipe, on, once, and Symbol.toStringTag, Axios misidentifies any plain object payload as a FormData instance and calls the attacker-controlled getHeaders() function, merging the returned headers into the outgoing request. The vulnerable code resides exclusively in lib/adapters/http.js. The prototype pollution source does not need to originate from Axios itself — any prototype pollution primitive in any dependency in the application's dependency tree is sufficient to trigger this gadget. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.15.1 and 0.31.1.

Published: 2026-04-24 Last update: 2026-04-27 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-42035 is rated Exploit Available (50/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2026-42035

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-42035

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-22 0.06% 0.03% -0.03%
2 2026-04-28 0.03% 0.06% +0.03%
3 2026-04-25 0.03%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-42035

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.4 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.2 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-42035

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-42035

GHSA-6chq-wfr3-2hj9 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: npm — Axios: Header Injection via Prototype Pollution

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-42035

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-42035 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (node-axios), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-42035
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-42035 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (node-axios), 6 status rows across 6 suites (focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 5, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42035

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-42035

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
axios axios < 0.31.1 cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
axios axios >= 1.0.0, < 1.15.1 cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*

References for CVE-2026-42035

cvelogic Threat Intelligence