HUNT-NODEJS — Node.js Specific Vulnerabilities

Crown Jewel Targets

Prototype Pollution reaching a sink in Node.js backend = Critical RCE.

Highest-value chains:

• Prototype Pollution → RCE — __proto__ injection via lodash.merge / Object.assign → polluted prototype reaches child_process.exec or vm.runInNewContext sink
• Express trust proxy — app.set('trust proxy', true) without validation → attacker sets X-Forwarded-For to bypass IP allowlists or rate limits
• EJS/Pug SSTI — template engine receives user input → {{= process.mainModule.require('child_process').execSync('id') }}
• child_process injection — user input interpolated into shell command string → OS command injection
• require() path traversal — attacker-controlled module path → load arbitrary file as JS

Attack Surface Signals