CVE-2025-32032: Apollo Router Query Planner Vulnerable to Excessive Resource Consumption via Optimization Bypass
Impact
Summary
A vulnerability in Apollo Router allowed queries with deeply nested and reused named fragments to be prohibitively expensive to query plan, specifically due to internal optimizations being frequently bypassed. This could lead to excessive resource consumption and denial of service.
Details
The query planner includes an optimization that significantly speeds up planning for applicable GraphQL selections. However, queries with deeply nested and reused named fragments can generate many selections where this optimization does not apply, leading to significantly longer planning times. Because the query planner does not enforce a timeout, a small number of such queries can exhaust router's thread pool, rendering it inoperable.
Fix/Mitigation
- A new Query Optimization Limit metric has been added: - This metric approximates the number of selections that cannot be skipped by the existing optimization. - The metric is checked against a limit to prevent excessive computation.
Given the complexity of query planning optimizations, we will continue refining these solutions based on real-world performance and accuracy tests.
Patches
This has been remediated in apollo-router versions 1.61.2 and 2.1.1.
Workarounds
The only known workaround is "Safelisting" or "Safelisting with IDs only" per Safelisting with Persisted Queries - Apollo GraphQL Docs.
References
Query Planning Documentation
Acknowledgements
We appreciate the efforts of the security community in identifying and improving the performance and security of query planning mechanisms.
Other sources
The Apollo Router Core is a configurable, high-performance graph router written in Rust to run a federated supergraph that uses Apollo Federation 2. A vulnerability in Apollo Router allowed queries with deeply nested and reused named fragments to be prohibitively expensive to query plan, specifically due to internal optimizations being frequently bypassed. The query planner includes an optimization that significantly speeds up planning for applicable GraphQL selections. However, queries with deeply nested and reused named fragments can generate many selections where this optimization does not apply, leading to significantly longer planning times. Because the query planner does not enforce a timeout, a small number of such queries can exhaust router's thread pool, rendering it inoperable. This could lead to excessive resource consumption and denial of service. This has been remediated in apollo-router versions 1.61.2 and 2.1.1.
— MITRE
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2025-32032?
CVE-2025-32032 is considered a moderate severity vulnerability that can lead to performance degradation under specific query conditions.
How do I fix CVE-2025-32032?
To fix CVE-2025-32032, update the Apollo Router to version 1.61.2 or 2.1.1 or later.
What kind of attacks can CVE-2025-32032 lead to?
CVE-2025-32032 can lead to denial of service conditions by allowing excessively complex queries due to deeply nested fragments.
Which versions of Apollo Router are affected by CVE-2025-32032?
CVE-2025-32032 affects Apollo Router versions before 1.61.2 and 2.1.1.
Is CVE-2025-32032 exploitable in all environments?
CVE-2025-32032 is not exploitable in all environments, but it is a concern for systems handling complex queries with deeply nested fragments.