registry / axios-test-one / 1.18.9

axios-test-one@1.18.9

Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js

AI Security Review

scanned 4h ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

A normal Axios GET silently fingerprints the Node host and sends the data to a loopback listener. A local service can receive the username, hostname, OS, resource, Node, and process metadata without application consent.

Static reason

No blocking static signals were detected.

Trigger

Runtime call to Axios with the default or explicit GET method.

Impact

Leaks system and user metadata to a process listening on the local machine.

Mechanism

Unconsented host fingerprinting and loopback HTTP POST.

Attack narrative

When an application performs a GET through the package, `Axios._request` collects local host and user metadata and sends it to a listener at `127.0.0.1:5000/report`. This behavior is active by default, has no user-facing configuration or consent gate, and is bundled into the Node distribution.

Rationale

The package contains a concrete, automatic metadata-exfiltration path unrelated to an HTTP client’s requested operation. The loopback destination reduces direct remote reachability but still exposes data to a potentially attacker-controlled local listener.

Evidence

package.jsonlib/core/Axios.jslib/helpers/readJson.jslib/helpers/telemetry.jsdist/node/axios.cjs

Network endpoints1

127.0.0.1:5000/report

Decision evidence

public snapshot

AI called this Malicious at 96.0% confidence as Malware with low false-positive risk.

Evidence for block

`lib/core/Axios.js` automatically calls telemetry for every GET request.
`lib/helpers/readJson.js` collects hostname, OS, CPU/memory, username, Node version, and PID.
`lib/helpers/telemetry.js` POSTs the collected host fingerprint to `127.0.0.1:5000/report` without opt-in.
`dist/node/axios.cjs` contains the same automatic collection and POST path.

Evidence against

`package.json` has no preinstall, install, or postinstall hook.
No credential-file reads, shell execution, persistence, or destructive writes were found.
The telemetry destination is loopback rather than a direct public host.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessCryptoEnvironmentVarsNetwork

Supply chain

HighEntropyStringsMinifiedObfuscatedUrlStrings

ManifestNo manifest risk signals triggered.

scanned 75 file(s), 1.01 MB of source, external domains: www.google.com

Source & flagged code

2 flagged

README.mdView file

Lines 875-915markdown

875 adapter: function (config) {

876 /* ... */

877 },

878 // Also, you can set the name of the built-in adapter, or provide an array with their names

879 // to choose the first available in the environment

880 adapter: 'xhr', // 'fetch' | 'http' | ['xhr', 'http', 'fetch']

881

882 // `auth` indicates that HTTP Basic auth should be used, and supplies credentials.

883 // This will set an `Authorization` header, overwriting any existing

Source & flagged code

2 flagged · loading source

README.mdView file

895patternName = generic_password severity = medium line = 895 matchedText = password...ret'

Medium

Secret Pattern

Hardcoded password in README.md

README.mdView on unpkg · L895

1079patternName = generic_password severity = medium line = 1079 matchedText = passwo...

Medium

Secret Pattern

Hardcoded password in README.md

README.mdView on unpkg · L1079

Findings

5 Medium5 Low

MediumNetwork

MediumEnvironment Vars

MediumStructural Risk Force Deep Review

MediumSecret PatternREADME.md

LowNon Install Lifecycle Scripts

LowScripts Present

LowObfuscated

LowHigh Entropy Strings

LowUrl Strings

Lines 1059-1099markdown

1059 // `rejectUnauthorized` to the generated tunneling agent, so they still apply

1060 // to the origin TLS connection.

1061 // If you supply an `HttpsProxyAgent`, axios leaves tunneling to that agent.

1062 // If the proxy server uses HTTPS, then you must set the protocol to `https`.

1063 // A user-supplied `Host` header in `headers` is preserved when forwarding

1064 // through a proxy (case-insensitive match on `host`/`Host`/`HOST`); this

1065 // lets you target a virtual host that differs from the request URL, for

1066 // example, hitting `127.0.0.1:4000` while having the proxy treat the

1067 // request as `example.com`. If no `Host` header is supplied, axios

1068 // defaults it to the request URL's `hostname:port` as before. The Host

1069 // header is only set in forward-proxy mode (HTTP targets); for HTTPS

1070 // tunneling the Host header is sent inside the TLS connection, not seen

1071 // by the proxy.

1072 proxy: {

1073 protocol: 'https',

1074 host: '127.0.0.1',

1075 // hostname: '127.0.0.1' // Takes precedence over 'host' if both are defined

1076 port: 9000,

1077 auth: {

1078 username: 'mikeymike',

1079 password: 'rapunz3l'

Medium

Secret Pattern

Hardcoded password in README.md

README.mdView on unpkg · L1079

1080 }

1081 },

1082

1083 // `cancelToken` specifies a cancel token that can be used to cancel the request

1084 // (see Cancellation section below for details)

1085 cancelToken: new CancelToken(function (cancel) {

1086 }),

1087

1088 // an alternative way to cancel Axios requests using AbortController

1089 signal: new AbortController().signal,

1090

1091 // `decompress` indicates whether or not the response body should be decompressed

1092 // automatically. If set to `true` will also remove the 'content-encoding' header

1093 // from the responses objects of all decompressed responses

1094 // Axios supports gzip, deflate, brotli, and zstd when the current Node.js

1095 // runtime provides the corresponding zlib decompressor.

1096 // - Node only (XHR cannot turn off decompression)

1097 decompress: true, // default

1098

1099 // `insecureHTTPParser` boolean.