CVE-2025-32032

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.

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.

The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap. Typical impact: resource exhaustion leading to denial of service.

CVE-2025-32032 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.61.2, 2.1.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

This has been remediated in apollo-router versions 1.61.2 and 2.1.1.

1. What is CVE-2025-32032? CVE-2025-32032 is a high-severity allocation of resources without limits or throttling vulnerability in apollo-router (rust), affecting versions < 1.61.2. It is fixed in 1.61.2, 2.1.1. The application allocates resources such as memory, threads, or file descriptors based on untrusted input without enforcing a cap.
2. How severe is CVE-2025-32032? CVE-2025-32032 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of apollo-router are affected by CVE-2025-32032? apollo-router (rust) versions < 1.61.2 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-32032? Yes. CVE-2025-32032 is fixed in 1.61.2, 2.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-32032 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-32032 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2025-32032 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2025-32032?
   • Upgrade apollo-router to 1.61.2 or later
   • Upgrade apollo-router to 2.1.1 or later