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Description

### Summary

`qs.stringify` with `arrayFormat: 'comma'` throws `TypeError: Cannot convert object to primitive value` when an array element cannot be coerced to a string, such as an object with an own non-callable `toString` (`{ "toString": "x" }`) or a null-prototype object. The comma format joins array elements with `Array.prototype.join` and, under `encodeValuesOnly`, first passes each element through `String()` in `utils.encode`; neither guards against an element whose string coercion fails.

### Details

In `lib/stringify.js`, the comma branch collapses the array with `obj.join(',')`. For an element whose own `toString` is not callable, `ToPrimitive` skips it, falls through to `Object.prototype.valueOf` (which returns the object itself), and throws. Under `encodeValuesOnly: true`, the same element first reaches `String(str)` in `utils.encode` (`lib/utils.js`) and throws there. Nested arrays (`{ "a": [[{ "toString": "x" }]] }`) throw the same way, through `Array.prototype.toString`. The `indices`, `brackets`, and `repeat` formats walk into object elements instead of coercing them, and are not affected.

Such elements can come from untrusted input. `JSON.parse` produces `{ "a": [{ "toString": "x" }] }` with no qs option involved. `qs.parse("a[0][toString]=x", { allowPrototypes: true })` keeps the `toString` key, and `qs.parse("a[][b]=c", { plainObjects: true })` produces a null-prototype element; the default parse options drop `toString` and produce ordinary objects, which do not throw. Express 4's default `query parser`, Express 5's `extended` query parser, and body-parser's `urlencoded({ extended: true })` all call `qs.parse` with `allowPrototypes: true`.

#### PoC

```js

var qs = require("qs");

qs.stringify(JSON.parse("{\"a\":[{\"toString\":\"x\"}]}"), { arrayFormat: "comma" });

qs.stringify(qs.parse("a[0][toString]=x", { allowPrototypes: true }), { arrayFormat: "comma" });

qs.stringify(qs.parse("a[][b]=c", { plainObjects: true }), { arrayFormat: "comma", encodeValuesOnly: true });

// TypeError: Cannot convert object to primitive value

```

#### Fix

Applied in a952e75 on `main` and released as v6.16.1: an element whose string coercion would fail is coerced to its primitive `valueOf`, if any, or else to `Object.prototype.toString`, so it renders as `[object Object]`, the same as any other object element already does under the comma format. Nested arrays are walked the way `join` walks them. Every input that did not previously throw serializes exactly as before, and a `toString` or `valueOf` that itself throws still propagates.

### Affected versions

`>=6.7.0 <6.16.1`, fixed in v6.16.1.

The `join` path was introduced with the comma format in b84acba and first shipped in v6.7.0; v6.6.x and earlier ignore `arrayFormat: 'comma'` and are not affected. The `encodeValuesOnly` `String()` site was introduced in 4c4b23d (v6.11.1); before that, the same input throws at `join`. Every release from v6.7.0 through v6.16.0 is affected.

### Impact

An unauthenticated request can make any code path that re-serializes attacker-influenced data with `qs.stringify` and `arrayFormat: 'comma'` (for example, rebuilding a query string from `req.query` for a redirect or an upstream request, or serializing a parsed JSON body) throw synchronously. In a typical Node.js HTTP framework the throw is caught by the framework error boundary and the affected request returns a 500; the process survives and other requests are unaffected. Where the call runs outside an error boundary, such as an `async` Express 4 handler (where the throw becomes an unhandled promise rejection) or a bare `http` request handler, the process exits, so the impact in that case depends on the application error handling rather than on qs. The default `arrayFormat` (`indices`) is not affected.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
ljharb qs 6.7.0 – < 6.16.1 6.16.1

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 node-qs No fix yet —
Debian 13 node-qs No fix yet —
Debian 12 node-qs No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS node-qs No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 grafana12.4 12.4.13-0.4.hum1 RHSA-2026:90388
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 grafana13.1 13.1.8-0.3.hum1 RHSA-2026:87077
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 grafana13.2 13.2.3-0.3.hum1 RHSA-2026:85266
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed git-bug 0.11.0-3.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:12261-1

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 js-jquery +1 No fix yet —

Wolfi

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Wolfi rolling json-server 0.17.4-r16 —
Wolfi rolling opensearch-dashboards-3 +3 3.9.0-r6 —
Wolfi rolling prism 5.16.0-r21 —
Wolfi rolling renovate 44.198.3-r1 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
npm qs >= 6.7.0, < 6.16.1 6.16.1 GHSA-6pq8-jhm2-2vcw

Advisories 4

References