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OpenAdvisories
Medium · 5.3 CVE-2026-82417 EUVD-2026-68140GHSA-4mjr-xmp4-gh2g

qs.stringify throws TypeError on objects with a non-callable constructor.isBuffer property

Published Aug 29, 2026 · Updated Aug 31, 2026 · Assigned by harborist

Description

### Summary

`qs.stringify` throws a `TypeError` when it serializes an object whose own `constructor` property has a truthy, non-callable `isBuffer` member. `utils.isBuffer` duck-types buffers by calling `obj.constructor.isBuffer(obj)` after checking only that the property is truthy, so a value such as `{ constructor: { isBuffer: "x" } }` makes the call throw `TypeError: obj.constructor.isBuffer is not a function`.

### Details

`lib/stringify.js:127` calls `utils.isBuffer` on every non-primitive value it serializes. `utils.isBuffer` (`lib/utils.js:332`) reads `obj.constructor.isBuffer` and invokes it without verifying that it is a function. `constructor` and `isBuffer` are ordinary property names, so any object carrying them as own properties reaches the unchecked call.

Such an object can be built from untrusted input. `qs.parse("x[constructor][isBuffer]=y", { plainObjects: true })` or `{ allowPrototypes: true }` keeps the `constructor` key as an own property (the default parse options drop it), and `JSON.parse("{\"a\":{\"constructor\":{\"isBuffer\":\"x\"}}}")` produces the same shape with no qs option involved. Express 4 with its default `query parser` setting and body-parser with `extended: true` both call `qs.parse` with `allowPrototypes: true`, so on those stacks `req.query` and `req.body` can carry the shape directly.

#### PoC

```js

var qs = require("qs");

qs.stringify(qs.parse("x[constructor][isBuffer]=y", { plainObjects: true }));

qs.stringify(JSON.parse("{\"a\":{\"constructor\":{\"isBuffer\":\"x\"}}}"));

// TypeError: obj.constructor.isBuffer is not a function

// at Object.isBuffer (lib/utils.js:332:78)

// at stringify (lib/stringify.js:127:45)

```

#### Fix

`lib/utils.js`, applied in e83d321 on `main` and released as v6.16.0:

```diff

- return !!(obj.constructor && obj.constructor.isBuffer && obj.constructor.isBuffer(obj));

+ return !!(obj.constructor && typeof obj.constructor.isBuffer === "function" && obj.constructor.isBuffer(obj));

```

Real `Buffer`, `safer-buffer`, and browserify `buffer` polyfill instances serialize exactly as before; only the throw is removed.

### Affected versions

`>=2.2.5 <6.16.0`, fixed in v6.16.0.

The unguarded duck-type was introduced in 3768a75 and first shipped in v2.2.5 (September 2014). v2.2.4 and earlier used `Buffer.isBuffer` and are not affected. Every release from v2.2.5 through v6.15.3 contains the unguarded call.

### Impact

An unauthenticated request can make any code path that re-serializes attacker-influenced data with `qs.stringify` (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 background job, the process exits, so the impact in that case depends on the application error handling rather than on qs.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
ljharb qs 2.2.5 – < 6.16.0 6.16.0

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 6.16.0+ds+~6.15.1-1 —
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 grafana13.1 13.1.3-0.4.hum1 RHSA-2026:62544
Red Hat Hardened Images 1 grafana13.2 13.2.1-0.1.hum1 RHSA-2026:63164

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 js-jquery +2 No fix yet —

Wolfi

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Wolfi rolling argo-workflows-ui-4.0 4.0.11-r0 —
Wolfi rolling code-server 4.135.0-r2 —
Wolfi rolling json-server 0.17.4-r13 —
Wolfi rolling jupyter-base-notebook 7.6.3-r2 —
Wolfi rolling kubeflow-centraldashboard 2.0.0-r2 —
Wolfi rolling langfuse-3 +1 3.225.7-r1 —
Wolfi rolling langfuse-3-compat 3.225.7-r6 —
Wolfi rolling opensearch-dashboards-3 3.8.0-r2 —
Wolfi rolling opensearch-dashboards-3-dashboards-maps +11 3.8.0-r1 —
Wolfi rolling prism 5.16.0-r8 —
Wolfi rolling renovate 44.69.8-r0 —
Wolfi rolling sqlpad 7.5.7-r36 —
Wolfi rolling tileserver-gl 5.6.0-r14 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
npm qs >= 2.2.5, < 6.16.0 6.16.0 GHSA-4mjr-xmp4-gh2g

Advisories 6

References