CVE-2026-110816
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TypeError in qs.stringify with arrayFormat comma in qs library
Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-110816, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.
Publication date: 2026-10-14
Last updated on: 2026-10-16
Assigner: harborist
Description
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.
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| ljharb | qs | 6.7.0 |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
KEV
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-704 | The product does not correctly convert an object, resource, or structure from one type to a different type. |
| CWE-248 | An exception is thrown from a function, but it is not caught. |
