{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "urgency": "not yet assigned"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Debian:12",
        "name": "node-qs"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "urgency": "not yet assigned"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Debian:13",
        "name": "node-qs"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "urgency": "not yet assigned"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Debian:14",
        "name": "node-qs"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "details": "### 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    `\u003e=6.7.0 \u003c6.16.1`, 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.",
  "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2026-110816",
  "modified": "2026-10-16T06:47:31.402166428Z",
  "published": "2026-10-14T22:17:23.230Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-110816"
    }
  ],
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2026-110816"
  ]
}