CVE-2025-32380

A vulnerability in Apollo Router's usage of Apollo Compiler allowed queries with deeply nested and reused named fragments to be prohibitively expensive to validate. This could lead to excessive resource consumption and denial of service.

Details

Named fragments were being processed once per fragment spread in some cases during query validation, leading to exponential resource usage when deeply nested and reused fragments were involved.

Fix/Mitigation

Apollo Router's usage of Apollo Compiler has been updated so that validation logic processes each named fragment only once, preventing redundant traversal.

Workarounds

The only known workaround is "Safelisting with IDs only" per Safelisting with Persisted Queries - Apollo GraphQL Docs. The "Safelisting" security level is not sufficient, since that level allows freeform GraphQL queries to be sent to Apollo Router.

References

Query Planning Documentation

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the efforts of the security community in identifying and improving the performance and security of query validation 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-2025-32380 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-2025-32380? CVE-2025-32380 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-2025-32380? CVE-2025-32380 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-2025-32380? apollo-router (rust) versions < 1.61.2 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2025-32380? Yes. CVE-2025-32380 is fixed in 1.61.2, 2.1.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2025-32380 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2025-32380 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-2025-32380 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-2025-32380?
   • Upgrade apollo-router to 1.61.2 or later
   • Upgrade apollo-router to 2.1.1 or later