fast-uri vulnerable to mailto header injection via percent-encoded field-name desynchronization
### Impact `fast-uri`'s `mailto` scheme parser compares each query field name to the reserved names (`to`, `subject`, `body`) while the name is still percent-encoded, and only percent-decodes it when storing it as a generic header. On serialize, the decoded name is re-emitted, so a field name such as `%74o` (percent-encoded `to`) is not recognized as a recipient at parse time (`parse().to` shows only the legitimate recipient) but materializes as a literal `to=` field after `serialize()`, and reparsing then treats it as a recipient. The same technique smuggles `subject` and `body` through `%73ubject` and `%62ody`. An application that parses an untrusted mailto URI, makes a display, allowlist, or logging decision on `parse().to`, then re-serializes the result and passes the serialized string to a mail client or an outbound send path can gain an attacker-chosen recipient, subject, or body that was not visible when the recipient list was checked. A scanner inspecting the raw input for an extra `to=` sees nothing, because the injected field appears only after `fast-uri` serializes. ### Patches Upgrade to `fast-uri` 4.1.5. ### Workarounds Percent-decode and compare mailto field names case-insensitively before trusting `parse().to`, or re-check the recipient list on the serialized output rather than only on the initial parse, until upgrading.
describes (1)
Related CVEs.
| ID | severity | exploitable | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-86818US | — | — | ||
fast-uri is a dependency-free RFC 3986 URI parser for Node.js, used by Fastify and ajv, that added a mailto scheme parser in version 4.1.3. In versions 4.1.3 and 4.1.4, the mailto… | ||||
references
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://cna.openjsf.org/security-advisories.htmlWEB
- https://github.com/fastify/fast-uriPACKAGE
- https://github.com/fastify/fast-uri/commit/f40a88f33e684a46faec3f5b820bcbb1e85add64WEB
- https://github.com/fastify/fast-uri/releases/tag/v4.1.5WEB
- https://github.com/fastify/fast-uri/security/advisories/GHSA-jvvf-x445-j334WEB
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-86818ADVISORY
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