# CVE-2026-44494: Axios: Full Man-in-the-Middle via Prototype Pollution Gadget in `config.proxy`

> Prototype pollution in Axios allows attackers to inject a malicious proxy, enabling full Man-in-the-Middle attacks on HTTP traffic.

- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 11 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** CLEANSTART-2026-MB49894, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-44494, ECHO-a885-7d09-dc48, GHSA-35jp-ww65-95wh, MINI-27f7-p6r6-4q2p, MINI-32wf-rx86-653h, MINI-3cmm-pv2p-fcc3, MINI-7c6c-w8hf-5665, MINI-8584-r7p6-gc29, MINI-8gg8-87pf-6w5w, MINI-9q3p-4vr9-rq5j, MINI-c87v-987w-5hfg, MINI-f8pq-335q-8255, MINI-fq2j-558x-whp8, MINI-hf5c-gpcg-h5c9, MINI-jvc9-5g88-pcrc, MINI-mjp4-fhjj-xjg4, MINI-mq5x-43xq-2h7x, MINI-qfxm-882q-q65w, MINI-qm46-75p6-jv2f, MINI-qw8x-5ccw-3frw, MINI-rf2r-cqcf-m6vj, MINI-rvhm-58p6-pjhh, MINI-v464-vj4x-qpx6, MINI-vp97-6839-6x74, MINI-w2qj-qvfr-4vhj, MINI-w2x6-5rp2-qxw2, MINI-wppv-xwv3-f45g, MINI-xvxc-mjc7-7f3g, ROOT-APP-NPM-CVE-2026-44494, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-44494

## What is CVE-2026-44494?

CVE-2026-44494 is a high-severity vulnerability in axios, published on 11 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-915 (Improperly Controlled Modification of Dynamically-Determined Object Attributes), CWE-441 (Unintended Proxy or Intermediary), CWE-1321 (Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44494?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including axios. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `axios` | npm | From 1.0.0 | 1.16.0 |
| `axios` | npm | From 1.0.0 | 1.16.0 |

Products: Axios Axios.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-44494?

Upgrade axios to 1.16.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-44494 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44494 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in axios

- [CVE-2026-44492](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44492/): axios's shouldBypassProxy does not recognize IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses, allowing NO_PROXY bypass (incomplete fix for CVE-2025-62718) (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-67320](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-67320/): axios before 0.33.0 Prototype Pollution via Node HTTP adapter (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2026-44487](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44487/): Axios: Proxy-Authorization Credential Leak to Origin Server Across HTTP-to-HTTPS Redirect in Axios Node.js HTTP Adapter (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2025-27152](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27152/): Possible SSRF and Credential Leakage via Absolute URL in axios Requests (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2026-44486](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44486/): Axios: Proxy-Authorization header leaks to redirect target when proxy is re-evaluated to direct connection (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-44494 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-44494 is a high-severity vulnerability in axios, published on 11 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44494 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- axios (npm): affected from 1.0.0; fixed in 1.16.0
- axios (npm): affected from 1.0.0; fixed in 1.16.0

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-2026-44494/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44494/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44494
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44494
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44494

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44494/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.