{"id":"DEBIAN-CVE-2026-110816","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.","modified":"2026-10-16T07:00:07.399900282Z","published":"2026-10-14T22:17:23.230Z","upstream":["CVE-2026-110816"],"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-110816"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"node-qs","ecosystem":"Debian:12","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/node-qs?arch=source&distro=bookworm"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["6.11.0+ds+~6.9.7-3","6.11.0+ds+~6.9.7-4","6.13.0+ds+~6.9.16-1","6.14.1+ds+~6.14.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-2","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-3","6.15.2+ds+~6.15.1-1","6.16.0+ds+~6.15.1-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-110816.json"}},{"package":{"name":"node-qs","ecosystem":"Debian:13","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/node-qs?arch=source&distro=trixie"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["6.13.0+ds+~6.9.16-1","6.14.1+ds+~6.14.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-2","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-3","6.15.2+ds+~6.15.1-1","6.16.0+ds+~6.15.1-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-110816.json"}},{"package":{"name":"node-qs","ecosystem":"Debian:14","purl":"pkg:deb/debian/node-qs?arch=source&distro=forky"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["6.13.0+ds+~6.9.16-1","6.14.1+ds+~6.14.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-1","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-2","6.15.0+ds+~6.15.0-3","6.15.2+ds+~6.15.1-1","6.16.0+ds+~6.15.1-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"urgency":"not yet assigned"},"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2026-110816.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V4","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"}]}