How severe is GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653?

No CVSS score has been assigned to GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653?

GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 affects the following packages: follow-redirects (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653?

Update follow-redirects to 1.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for follow-redirects. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 was published on April 14, 2026 and was last updated on April 16, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦 npm

GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653

follow-redirects leaks Custom Authentication Headers to Cross-Domain Redirect Targets

Published

Apr 14, 2026

Updated

Apr 16, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.

follow-redirectsnpm

108.3Mdownloads / week

Description

Summary

When an HTTP request follows a cross-domain redirect (301/302/307/308), follow-redirects only strips authorization, proxy-authorization, and cookie headers (matched by regex at index.js:469-476). Any custom authentication header (e.g., X-API-Key, X-Auth-Token, Api-Key, Token) is forwarded verbatim to the redirect target.

Since follow-redirects is the redirect-handling dependency for axios (105K+ stars), this vulnerability affects the entire axios ecosystem.

Affected Code

index.js, lines 469-476:

if (redirectUrl.protocol !== currentUrlParts.protocol &&
   redirectUrl.protocol !== "https:" ||
   redirectUrl.host !== currentHost &&
   !isSubdomain(redirectUrl.host, currentHost)) {
  removeMatchingHeaders(/^(?:(?:proxy-)?authorization|cookie)$/i, this._options.headers);
}

The regex only matches authorization, proxy-authorization, and cookie. Custom headers like X-API-Key are not matched.

Attack Scenario

App uses axios with custom auth header: headers: { 'X-API-Key': 'sk-live-secret123' }
Server returns 302 Location: https://evil.com/steal
follow-redirects sends X-API-Key: sk-live-secret123 to evil.com
Attacker captures the API key

Impact

Any custom auth header set via axios leaks on cross-domain redirect. Extremely common pattern. Affects all axios users in Node.js.

Suggested Fix

Add a sensitiveHeaders option that users can extend, or strip ALL non-standard headers on cross-domain redirect.

Disclosure

Source code review, manually verified. Found 2026-03-20.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`follow-redirects`	all versions	1.16.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for follow-redirects. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update follow-redirects to 1.16.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

## Summary When an HTTP request follows a cross-domain redirect (301/302/307/308), `follow-redirects` only strips `authorization`, `proxy-authorization`, and `cookie` headers (matched by regex at index.js:469-476). Any custom authentication header (e.g., `X-API-Key`, `X-Auth-Token`, `Api-Key`, `Token`) is forwarded verbatim to the redirect target. Since `follow-redirects` is the redirect-handling dependency for **axios** (105K+ stars), this vulnerability affects the entire axios ecosystem. ## Affected Code `index.js`, lines 469-476: ```javascript if (redirectUrl.protocol !== currentUrlPar

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 in your dependencies?

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