# CVE-2026-116689: follow-redirects: Cross-realm sensitiveHeaders arrays are discarded and custom credentials can follow redirects


- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-116689, GHSA-mrwp-f3q8-3g9p, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-116689

## What is CVE-2026-116689?

CVE-2026-116689 is a medium-severity vulnerability in follow-redirects, published on 27 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

follow-redirects is a Node.js HTTP and HTTPS client wrapper that automatically follows redirects. From 1.16.0 until 1.16.2, the documented sensitiveHeaders option is checked with value instanceof Array, so an array created in another JavaScript realm is replaced with an empty list even though Array.isArray recognizes it. When a request then follows an attacker-controlled cross-origin redirect, a custom credential header named in that discarded list can be forwarded to the redirect destination. This issue is fixed in version 1.16.2.

Weakness: CWE-201 (Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-116689?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-116689?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-116689 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-116689 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-116689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-116689 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-116689 is a medium-severity vulnerability in follow-redirects, published on 27 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-116689 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: follow-redirects. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-116689/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-116689/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-116689
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-116689
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-116689

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-116689/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.