Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
medium 5.3

CVE-2026-110816 json

qs.stringify with arrayFormat comma throws TypeError on array elements that cannot be coerced to a string

published 2026-10-14 25 d ago modified 2026-10-27 12 d ago also GHSA-6pq8-jhm2-2vcw , EUVD-2026-101710

cvss
5.3
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 30%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

### Summary

`qs.stringify` with `arrayFormat: 'comma'` throws `TypeError: Cannot convert object to primitive value` when an array element cannot be coerced to a string, such as an object with an own non-callable `toString` (`{ "toString": "x" }`) or a null-prototype object. The comma format joins array elements with `Array.prototype.join` and, under `encodeValuesOnly`, first passes each element through `String()` in `utils.encode`; neither guards against an element whose string coercion fails.

### Details

In `lib/stringify.js`, the comma branch collapses the array with `obj.join(',')`. For an element whose own `toString` is not callable, `ToPrimitive` skips it, falls through to `Object.prototype.valueOf` (which returns the object itself), and throws. Under `encodeValuesOnly: true`, the same element first reaches `String(str)` in `utils.encode` (`lib/utils.js`) and throws there. Nested arrays (`{ "a": [[{ "toString": "x" }]] }`) throw the same way, through `Array.prototype.toString`. The `indices`, `brackets`, and `repeat` formats walk into object elements instead of coercing them, and are not affected.

Such elements can come from untrusted input. `JSON.parse` produces `{ "a": [{ "toString": "x" }] }` with no qs option involved. `qs.parse("a[0][toString]=x", { allowPrototypes: true })` keeps the `toString` key, and `qs.parse("a[][b]=c", { plainObjects: true })` produces a null-prototype element; the default parse options drop `toString` and produce ordinary objects, which do not throw. Express 4's default `query parser`, Express 5's `extended` query parser, and body-parser's `urlencoded({ extended: true })` all call `qs.parse` with `allowPrototypes: true`.

#### PoC

```js

var qs = require("qs");

qs.stringify(JSON.parse("{\"a\":[{\"toString\":\"x\"}]}"), { arrayFormat: "comma" });

qs.stringify(qs.parse("a[0][toString]=x", { allowPrototypes: true }), { arrayFormat: "comma" });

qs.stringify(qs.parse("a[][b]=c", { plainObjects: true }), { arrayFormat: "comma", encodeValuesOnly: true });

// TypeError: Cannot convert object to primitive value

```

#### Fix

Applied in a952e75 on `main` and released as v6.16.1: an element whose string coercion would fail is coerced to its primitive `valueOf`, if any, or else to `Object.prototype.toString`, so it renders as `[object Object]`, the same as any other object element already does under the comma format. Nested arrays are walked the way `join` walks them. Every input that did not previously throw serializes exactly as before, and a `toString` or `valueOf` that itself throws still propagates.

### Affected versions

`>=6.7.0 <6.16.1`, fixed in v6.16.1.

The `join` path was introduced with the comma format in b84acba and first shipped in v6.7.0; v6.6.x and earlier ignore `arrayFormat: 'comma'` and are not affected. The `encodeValuesOnly` `String()` site was introduced in 4c4b23d (v6.11.1); before that, the same input throws at `join`. Every release from v6.7.0 through v6.16.0 is affected.

### Impact

An unauthenticated request can make any code path that re-serializes attacker-influenced data with `qs.stringify` and `arrayFormat: 'comma'` (for example, rebuilding a query string from `req.query` for a redirect or an upstream request, or serializing a parsed JSON body) throw synchronously. In a typical Node.js HTTP framework the throw is caught by the framework error boundary and the affected request returns a 500; the process survives and other requests are unaffected. Where the call runs outside an error boundary, such as an `async` Express 4 handler (where the throw becomes an unhandled promise rejection) or a bare `http` request handler, the process exits, so the impact in that case depends on the application error handling rather than on qs. The default `arrayFormat` (`indices`) is not affected.

Patch / fix

  • npm qs 6.16.1
  • ljharb qs 6.16.1
  • grafana13.2 hummingbird 1 13.2.3-0.3.hum1

red hat advisories RHSA-2026:85266

  • git-bug openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.11.0-3.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:12261-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-110816 updated cvss 5.3

qs: qs: Denial of Service via unhandled exception during array serialization

  • Red Hat Hardened Images grafana13.1 13.1.8-0.3.hum1, grafana13.2 13.2.3-0.3.hum1, grafana12.4 12.4.13-0.4.hum1
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:90388
  • Red Hat Hardened Images yarnpkg 1.22.22-18.1.hum1, prometheus3.13 3.13.4-0.1.hum1
    not affected: component not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
23 d ago

Exploit prediction

0.37% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 30% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/ljharb/qs/security/advisories/GHSA-6pq8-jhm2-2vcw referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CNA 4.0 6.3 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA 4.0 6.3 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
GitHub 3.1 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm qs
>=6.7.0, <6.16.1
6.16.1

Affected products

  • ljharb qs

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-248 Uncaught Exception
  • CWE-704 Incorrect Type Conversion or Cast

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.