follow-redirects is a Node.js HTTP and HTTPS client wrapper that automatically follows redirects. From version 1.16.0 to before version 1.16.1, follow-redirects removes sensitive credential headers (Authorization, Proxy-Authorization, Cookie, and any caller-declared sensitiveHeaders) before following a redirect that crosses to a different host or downgrades to a less secure protocol. The removal routine iterates the caller's headers container with for...in and matches header names against a filter. This assumes the headers container is a plain object keyed by header names. Node's underlying http.request, which follow-redirects is a drop-in replacement for, also accepts headers as an alternating array of names and values. For an array, for...in yields the numeric indices "0", "1", "2" and so on, which never match a header-name filter, so nothing is removed. An application that sends array-form headers and follows an attacker-controlled cross-origin redirect therefore forwards its Authorization, Cookie, and Proxy-Authorization headers verbatim to the attacker-controlled destination, with no error or warning. The sensitiveHeaders option added to fix CVE-2026-40895 / GHSA-r4q5-vmmm-2653 is equally ineffective, because it relies on the same helper. This is an unauthenticated confidentiality vulnerability: any remote server the victim application contacts can harvest the victim's credential headers by responding with a cross-origin redirect. This issue has been patched in version 1.16.1.
Fix
Nothing published yet: no patch, vendor advisory or mitigation reference on NVD, no vendor advisory in the News for this CVE, not in CISA's KEV, no fixed package version. BaselineWatch does not guess at one.
Change history 6
- StatusAwaiting Analysis → PublishedNVD modified 2026-10-23 01:59
- StatusPublished → Awaiting AnalysisNVD modified 2026-10-23 02:16
- StatusAwaiting Analysis → PublishedNVD modified 2026-10-20 17:58
- StatusPublished → Awaiting AnalysisNVD modified 2026-10-20 20:06
- StatusReceived → PublishedNVD modified 2026-10-20 17:58
- First seenCVSS 8.2NVD modified 2026-10-20 18:17
Affected (CPE criteria) 0
NVD has not attached CPE configurations yet.
References 4
- https://github.com/follow-redirects/follow-redirects/commit/9865ca45490e4d0f7b6944870318408344570aff
- https://github.com/follow-redirects/follow-redirects/releases/tag/v1.16.1
- https://github.com/follow-redirects/follow-redirects/security/advisories/GHSA-q3jh-wrc6-jgq8
- https://github.com/follow-redirects/follow-redirects/security/advisories/GHSA-q3jh-wrc6-jgq8