{"cve":"CVE-2026-82562","nvd":{"published":"2026-08-30T01:20:32.820","modified":"2026-09-03T18:00:36.970","status":"Awaiting Analysis","description":"### Summary\n\n\n\nWhen `qs.parse` is called with `comma: true` and `throwOnLimitExceeded: true`, a comma-separated value under a bracket-push key (`a[]=1,2,3,4`) is split into an array without being compared against `arrayLimit`, while the same value under a flat key (`a=1,2,3,4`), an indexed key (`a[0]=`), a nested key (`a[b]=`), or a dotted key (`a.b=` with `allowDots`) throws the documented `RangeError`. A single parameter such as `a[]=1,2,2,...` therefore produces an inner array of arbitrary length even though the caller opted into the hard limit. This is the `[]=` key form that the fix for CVE-2026-2391 (qs 6.14.2) did not cover.\n\n\n\n### Details\n\n\n\nIn `lib/parse.js`, a comma-separated value under a `[]=` key is split and then wrapped as a single nested element (`val = [val]`, so that each `a[]=x,y` group counts as one element of the outer array). The `arrayLimit` check that 6.14.2 added for comma values runs after that wrap, so for `[]=` parts it only ever saw the wrapper of length 1. 6.15.3 added a pre-split comma count so that an oversized value throws before it is allocated, but gated it on an `isFlatArrayValue` flag that `parseValues` set to `false` for any part containing `[]=`, and did not pass it for object-valued input, so the gap remained.\n\n\n\n#### PoC\n\n\n\n```js\n\n\n\nvar qs = require('qs');\n\n\n\nvar options = { comma: true, arrayLimit: 3, throwOnLimitExceeded: true };\n\n\n\nqs.parse('a=1,2,3,4', options);   // RangeError: Array limit exceeded. Only 3 elements allowed in an array.\n\n\n\nqs.parse('a[]=1,2,3,4', options); // { a: [ [ '1', '2', '3', '4' ] ] }  (no throw)\n\n\n\nqs.parse('a[]=' + '1,'.repeat(1000000) + '1', { comma: true, arrayLimit: 20, throwOnLimitExceeded: true });\n\n\n\n// no throw; a 1,000,001-element inner array is allocated\n\n\n\n```\n\n\n\n#### Fix\n\n\n\n`lib/parse.js`, applied in 8859c37 on `main` and released as v6.16.0: the `isFlatArrayValue` gate is removed, so every comma-split value is counted against `arrayLimit` before splitting regardless of key form. An in-limit group under `a[]=` still counts as one element of the outer array, and the default (`throwOnLimitExceeded: false`) path is unchanged.\n\n\n\n### Affected versions\n\n\n\n`>=6.14.2 <6.16.0`, fixed in v6.16.0.\n\n\n\nv6.14.2 introduced `arrayLimit` enforcement for comma values (the fix for CVE-2026-2391) but only for values not under a `[]=` key, and every release from v6.14.2 through v6.15.3 has the same gap. v6.14.0 and v6.14.1, where `throwOnLimitExceeded` exists but does not apply to any comma form, are covered by CVE-2026-2391 rather than this record. Earlier lines (6.7.x through 6.13.x) have `comma` but no `throwOnLimitExceeded`, so there is no hard cap on any comma path to bypass; releases before 6.7.0 have no `comma` option.\n\n\n\n### Impact\n\n\n\nAn unauthenticated attacker who can reach an application that parses untrusted query strings or urlencoded bodies with both `comma: true` and `throwOnLimitExceeded: true` (both non-default) can bypass the configured limit with a single `a[]=` parameter and force the parser to allocate an array proportional to the request size. The cost is strictly linear in the attacker-supplied bytes (about 0.1 microseconds and 6 to 7 retained bytes per input byte; the same out-of-memory threshold as the documented default `throwOnLimitExceeded: false` path), so a transport-layer request or body size limit bounds it completely (and node's default maximum HTTP header size of 16 KB already bounds the request line, so multi-megabyte payloads need a body parser). The impact is that an opt-in hard limit fails open on one key spelling, not unbounded allocation from a small input.","cvss_v4":{"vector":"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","score":6.3},"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L","score":3.7},"cwes":["CWE-770"],"references":["https://github.com/ljharb/qs/commit/8859c37470e11b42b547b275e4e9bd0bc8cc5464","https://github.com/ljharb/qs/security/advisories/GHSA-w7fw-mjwx-w883","https://github.com/ljharb/qs/security/advisories/GHSA-x5fp-wj9c-mxmx","https://github.com/ljharb/qs/security/advisories/GHSA-x5fp-wj9c-mxmx"],"products":[],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T22:50:50.842544443+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2026-82562","score":0.0054,"percentile":0.45453,"date":"2026-11-01"},"kev":null,"osv":[{"id":"GHSA-x5fp-wj9c-mxmx","url":"https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-x5fp-wj9c-mxmx","summary":"qs array-limit bypass via bracket-key comma parsing","modified":"2026-09-10T03:50:54.569331980Z","packages":[{"ecosystem":"npm","name":"qs","purl":"pkg:npm/qs","ranges":[">=6.14.2 <6.16.0"],"fixed":["6.16.0"]}]}],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}