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GHSA-vf2m-468p-8v99

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

No affected components available

Description

Summary

When responseType: 'stream' is used, Axios returns the response stream without enforcing maxContentLength. This bypasses configured response-size limits and allows unbounded downstream consumption.

Details

In lib/adapters/http.js:

  • 786-789: for responseType === 'stream', Axios immediately settles with the stream.
  • 797-810: maxContentLength enforcement exists only in the non-stream buffering branch.

So callers may set maxContentLength and still receive/read arbitrarily large streamed responses.

PoC

Environment:

  • Axios main at commit f7a4ee2
  • Node v24.2.0

Steps:

  1. Start an HTTP server that returns a 2 MiB response body.
  2. Call Axios with:
    • adapter: 'http'
    • responseType: 'stream'
    • maxContentLength: 1024
  3. Read the returned stream fully.

Observed:

  • Success; full 2097152 bytes readable.

Control check:

  • Same endpoint with responseType: 'text' and same maxContentLength: rejected with maxContentLength size of 1024 exceeded.

Impact

Type: DoS / unbounded response processing. Impacted: Node.js applications relying on maxContentLength as a safety boundary while using streamed Axios responses.

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
0.42%

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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