Threat database

A vulnerability in the ljharb qs library versions 6.7.0 through 6.16.0 causes a TypeError when qs.stringify is called with arrayFormat 'comma' on arrays containing elements that cannot be coerced to strings. This uncaught exception can cause synchronous throws leading to HTTP 500 errors or, in some cases, process crashes due to unhandled promise rejections. The issue was fixed in version 6.16.1.

traverse (npm) versions 0.3.6 through 0.3.9, 0.4.0 through 0.4.6, 0.5.0 through 0.5.2, and 0.6.0 through 0.6.11 allow prototype pollution through set(). When the path passed to set() crosses a primitive value, the next path segment is resolved on that primitive's built-in prototype, so an application that passes an untrusted path to set() lets an attacker add or overwrite properties of String.prototype, Number.prototype, or Boolean.prototype using plain JSON data, for example traverse({ name: 'bob' }).set(['name', '__proto__', 'polluted'], 'yes'). Object.prototype was reachable only with a non-data path segment, such as an object whose toString returns a different value on each call, or through a Proxy that accepts an assignment without storing it. This is fixed in 0.3.10, 0.4.7, 0.5.3, and 0.6.12.

CVE-2026-82562 is a vulnerability in the ljharb qs library versions 6.14.2 through 6.15.3 where the array size limit enforcement for comma-separated values does not apply to parameters using the bracket-push key form (e.g., a[]=1,2,3,4). This allows an attacker to bypass the configured array size limit and cause the parser to allocate large arrays proportional to the input size. The issue is fixed in version 6.16.0.

A vulnerability in the ljharb qs library causes qs.stringify to throw a TypeError when serializing objects whose own constructor property has a truthy but non-callable isBuffer member. This occurs because the isBuffer check calls obj.constructor.isBuffer without verifying it is a function. The issue affects versions from 2.2.5 up to but not including 6.16.0 and was fixed in version 6.16.0. An attacker can craft input that triggers this error, causing synchronous exceptions during serialization. In typical Node.js HTTP frameworks, this results in a 500 error response without crashing the process, but in some cases, such as async handlers or background jobs without error boundaries, it can cause process termination.

shell-quote prior to 1.8.5 finalizes parsed tokens in parse() using Array.prototype.concat as a reduce accumulator, which reallocates and copies the entire growing array on every iteration. As a result parse() runs in O(n^2) time relative to the number of input tokens. An attacker who can supply an attacker-controlled string to any code path that calls parse() (no shell metacharacters are required; plain space-separated words suffice) can block the single-threaded Node.js event loop for an extended period with a small input, resulting in a denial of service. There is no code execution or data disclosure; impact is to availability only. Fixed in 1.8.5.

### Summary `qs.stringify` throws `TypeError` when called with `arrayFormat: 'comma'` and `encodeValuesOnly: true` on an array containing `null` or `undefined`. The throw is synchronous and not handled by any of qs's null-related options (`skipNulls`, `strictNullHandling`). ### Details In the comma + `encodeValuesOnly` branch, `lib/stringify.js:145` mapped the array through the raw encoder before joining: ```js obj = utils.maybeMap(obj, encoder); ``` `utils.encode` (`lib/utils.js:195`) reads `str.length` with no null guard, so a `null` or `undefined` element throws `TypeError`. `skipNulls` and `strictNullHandling` are both checked in the per-element loop below this line and never get a chance to run. Same class of bug as the filter-array path fixed in 0c180a4. The vulnerable shape of the comma + `encodeValuesOnly` branch was introduced in 4c4b23d ("encode comma values more consistently", PR #463, 2023-01-19), first released in v6.11.1. #### PoC ```js const qs = require('qs'); qs.stringify({ a: [null, 'b'] }, { arrayFormat: 'comma', encodeValuesOnly: true }); qs.stringify({ a: [undefined, 'b'] }, { arrayFormat: 'comma', encodeValuesOnly: true }); qs.stringify({ a: [null] }, { arrayFormat: 'comma', encodeValuesOnly: true }); // TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'length') // at encode (lib/utils.js:195:13) // at Object.maybeMap (lib/utils.js:322:37) // at stringify (lib/stringify.js:145:25) ``` #### Fix `lib/stringify.js:145`, applied in 21f80b3 on `main` and released as v6.15.2: ```diff - obj = utils.maybeMap(obj, encoder); + obj = utils.maybeMap(obj, function (v) { + return v == null ? v : encoder(v); + }); ``` `null` and `undefined` now pass through `maybeMap` unchanged and reach the `join(',')` step as-is. For `{ a: [null, 'b'] }` this produces `a=,b`, matching the non-`encodeValuesOnly` comma path (which already joins before encoding and produces `a=%2Cb` for the same input). Single-element `[null]` arrays still collapse via the existing `obj.join(',') || null` and remain subject to `skipNulls` / `strictNullHandling` in the main loop. ### Affected versions `>=6.11.1 <6.15.2` — fixed in v6.15.2. The vulnerable code shape was introduced in 4c4b23d and first shipped in v6.11.1. Earlier versions — including all of 6.7.x, 6.8.x, 6.9.x, 6.10.x, and 6.11.0 — implemented the comma + `encodeValuesOnly` path differently (joining before encoding) and are not affected. Empirically verified across released versions. ### Impact Application code that calls `qs.stringify` with both `arrayFormat: 'comma'` and `encodeValuesOnly: true` (both non-default) on input that may contain a `null` or `undefined` array element will throw synchronously instead of producing a query string. In a typical Node.js HTTP framework (Express, Fastify, Koa, hapi) the sync throw is caught by the framework's error boundary and the affected request returns a 500; the worker process does not exit and subsequent requests are unaffected. The "kills the worker process" framing applies only to call sites outside a request-handler error boundary (background jobs, startup paths, stream pipelines) or to deployments with framework error handling explicitly disabled. The vulnerable input is a `null` or `undefined` entry inside an array; this is reachable from JSON request bodies or from application code constructing arrays from user input, but not from standard HTML form submissions (which produce strings or omitted fields, not literal `null`).