CVE-2026-40175: Axios has Unrestricted Cloud Metadata Exfiltration via Header Injection Chain

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-40175 is a medium (CVSS 4.8) vulnerability in axios. EPSS estimates a 1.95% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 80.2% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 10-04-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 09-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. Versions prior to 1.15.0 and 0.3.1 are vulnerable to a specific gadget-style attack chain in which prototype pollution in a third-party dependency may be leveraged to inject unsanitized header values into outbound requests. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.15.0 and 0.3.1.

• CWE-113Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP HeadersThe product receives data from an HTTP agent/component (e.g., web server, proxy, browser, etc.), but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes CR and LF characters before the data is included in outgoing HTTP headers.
• CWE-444Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP RequestsThe product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.
• CWE-918Server-Side Request ForgeryThe web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination.
• CWE-915Improperly Controlled Modification of Dynamically-Determined Object AttributesThe product 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.