GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-m2hg-wjq3-28wq form-data-objectizer: Prototype pollution in form-data-objectizer via bracket-notation form keys
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-46510
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- form-data-objectizer
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
- Weaknesses
- CWE-1321
- Reviewed
- 2026-05-18
Affected packages
• npm form-data-objectizer: < 1.0.1 → fixed in 1.0.1
Description
Summary
`form-data-objectizer` walks bracket-notation form keys (e.g. `name[sub]`) into nested objects without filtering `__proto__`, `constructor`, or `prototype`. A single HTTP form field whose name starts with `__proto__[...]` causes the library to mutate `Object.prototype`, which is a prototype pollution primitive of the entire Node.js process.
The bug is in `treatInitial` and `treatSecond` inside `index.cjs`:
```js
if (inputName in result) { // 'in' walks the prototype chain, so '__proto__' matches
newResult = result[inputName] // newResult === Object.prototype
}
// ...
result[key] = value // sets the property on Object.prototype
```
With the form key `__proto__[polluted]` and value `yes`:
1. `treatInitial` matches `inputName = "__proto__"`, `rest = "[polluted]"`.
2. `"__proto__" in result` is true (inherited), so `newResult = result["__proto__"]`, which is `Object.prototype`.
3. `treatSecond` recurses with `key = "polluted"`, `newRest = ""`, and assigns `Object.prototype.polluted = "yes"`.
Affected versions
• `form-data-objectizer` ` 'yes'
```
Observed output:
```
package version: 1.0.0
before pollution: undefined
after pollution: yes
parsed data: { username: 'alice' }
confirmed: YES, prototype polluted
```
The field name `__proto__[polluted]` is the kind of value an attacker can submit from any HTML form or HTTP client. After the call, every plain object in the process inherits `polluted = 'yes'`. The visible parsed output drops the malicious key, so the attack leaves no obvious trace in request logs that show parsed bodies.
A second working payload is `constructor[prototype][polluted]=yes`, which walks `result.constructor` then `.prototype`.
Impact
• Default-reachable prototype pollution via a single unauthenticated HTTP form submission, in any Node.js application that uses `form-data-objectizer.toObject()` on incoming form data.
• Persists for the life of the worker process and affects every subsequent request handled by the same process.
• Direct downstream consequences depend on the host application and the rest of its dependency tree, but typical risks include: bypassing `if (obj.isAdmin)` style checks, injecting unintended config values into objects merged with user input, breaking template rendering, and crashing the worker by polluting properties used by other libraries (DoS).
CVSS
`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L` (8.2, High)
Integrity is High because the primitive lets the attacker change the meaning of property reads on every object in the process. Confidentiality is None and Availability is Low without a named downstream gadget; both could be higher in a specific consuming app.
Credit
Reported by Mohamed Bassia (@0xBassia).
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-46510 form-data-objectizer converts FormData to object. vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-1321 Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes weakness
References
- https://github.com/kaspernj/form-data-objectizer/security/advisories/GHSA-m2hg-wjq3-28wq web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46510 advisory
- https://github.com/kaspernj/form-data-objectizer/commit/7c54b99408e6e9cd6533b7245bf197dadc2a2dbc web
- https://github.com/kaspernj/form-data-objectizer package