CVE-2026-44974 — @hapi/content
Fix: hapijs/content@3850079CVE-2026-44974 is a CWE-436 vulnerability in @hapi/content. A fix is available for @hapi/content — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Parameter smuggling in @hapi/content header parser allows upload-filter bypass via duplicate parameters
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-44974.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
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.
@hapi/contentnpmDescription
Impact
The two parsers resolved duplicates inconsistently and silently:
Content.disposition()retained the last occurrence of each parameter.Content.type()retained the first occurrence of charset and boundary.
Either behavior creates a parameter-smuggling primitive when another component in the request-processing chain (a WAF, reverse proxy, security filter, or alternate parser) resolves duplicates the opposite way. The primary attack vector is upload filename allowlist bypass:
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="safe.txt"; filename="shell.php"
Patches
The issue has been patched in 6.0.2.
Workarounds
Pre or post validate headers looking for duplicates.
Resources
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @hapi/content | all versions | 6.0.2npm install @hapi/content@6.0.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @hapi/content, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @hapi/content to 6.0.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-44974 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-44974 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.