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GHSA-5c9x-8gcm-mpgx

MediumCVSS 5.3 / 10
Published May 5, 2026·Last modified May 6, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

For stream request bodies, maxBodyLength is bypassed when maxRedirects is set to 0 (native http/https transport path). Oversized streamed uploads are sent fully even when the caller sets strict body limits.

Details

Relevant flow in lib/adapters/http.js:

  • 556-564: maxBodyLength check applies only to buffered/non-stream data.
  • 681-682: maxRedirects === 0 selects native http/https transport.
  • 694-699: options.maxBodyLength is set, but native transport does not enforce it.
  • 925-945: stream is piped directly to socket (data.pipe(req)) with no Axios byte counting.

This creates a path-specific bypass for streamed uploads.

PoC

Environment:

  • Axios main at commit f7a4ee2
  • Node v24.2.0

Steps:

  1. Start an HTTP server that counts uploaded bytes and returns {received}.
  2. Send a 2 MiB Readable stream with:
    • adapter: 'http'
    • maxBodyLength: 1024
    • maxRedirects: 0

Observed:

  • Request succeeds; server reports received: 2097152.

Control checks:

  • Same stream with default/nonzero redirects: rejected with ERR_FR_MAX_BODY_LENGTH_EXCEEDED.
  • Buffered body with maxRedirects: 0: rejected with ERR_BAD_REQUEST.

Impact

Type: DoS / uncontrolled upstream upload / resource exhaustion. Impacted: Node.js services using streamed request bodies with maxBodyLength expecting hard enforcement, especially when following Axios guidance to use maxRedirects: 0 for streams.

Risk Scores
Base Score
5.3

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a low impact on the availability of the system.

Threat Intelligence
4.9

Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.

EPSS
0.33%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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Medium severity
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