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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.1

CVE-2026-48713 json

i18next-fs-backend: Prototype pollution via crafted missing-key string

published 2026-06-15 4 mo ago modified 2026-10-25 14 d ago also GHSA-2933-q333-qg83 , EUVD-2026-37005

cvss
9.1
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 42%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Versions prior to 2.6.6 are vulnerable to prototype pollution via crafted missing-key strings when used to persist missing translation keys (e.g. via i18next-http-middleware's missingKeyHandler exposed to untrusted input). Backend.writeFile() splits each queued missing-key string on the configured keySeparator (default .) before calling the internal setPath() walker. The walker (getLastOfPath in lib/utils.js) did not guard against unsafe segments, so a key like "__proto__.polluted" was split into ["__proto__", "polluted"] and walked straight into Object.prototype, allowing an attacker to write arbitrary properties onto the global object prototype. Depending on the host application, polluted prototype properties may cause crashes, corrupted translation behaviour, configuration poisoning, or bypasses of property-based security checks. Applications are affected only if the missingKeyHandler (or another route that forwards untrusted request bodies to i18next.t(..., { ... }) with saveMissing: true) is reachable by untrusted users and the default behaviour of splitting missing-key strings on keySeparator is in use (i.e. keySeparator is not false). Apps that do not expose missing-key persistence to untrusted input are not directly affected through this attack path. This issue has been fixed in version 2.6.6. If developers using the library are unable to upgrade immediately, they should take the following precautions: do not expose i18next-http-middleware's missingKeyHandler to untrusted users (mount it behind authentication, or remove the route), disable missing-key persistence (saveMissing: false, or no backend.create implementation) when accepting writes from untrusted input, and set keySeparator: false in their i18next options to disable backend key splitting (note: this also disables nested translation keys).

Patch / fix

  • npm i18next-fs-backend 2.6.6
  • i18next i18next-fs-backend 2.6.6

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
4 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.49% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 42% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 9.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 9.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm i18next-fs-backend
<2.6.6
2.6.6

Affected products

  • i18next i18next-fs-backend

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-1321 Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes

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.