CVE-2026-48713: i18next-fs-backend vulnerable to prototype pollution via crafted missing-key string
i18next-fs-backend ≤ 2.6.5, when used to persist missing translation keys (e.g. via i18next-http-middleware’s missingKeyHandler exposed to untrusted input), is vulnerable to prototype pollution via crafted missing-key strings.
Backend.writeFile() splits each queued missing-key string on the configured keySeparator (default .) before calling the internal setPath() walker. The walker (getLastOfPath in lib/utils.js) did not guard against unsafe segments, so a key like "__proto__.polluted" was split into ["__proto__", "polluted"] and walked straight into Object.prototype, allowing an attacker to write arbitrary properties onto the global object prototype.
Depending on the host application, polluted prototype properties may cause crashes, corrupted translation behaviour, configuration poisoning, or bypasses of property-based security checks.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
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