Apollo Federation vulnerable to prototype pollution via incomplete key sanitization

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.9 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L

EPSS

• CVE-2026-32621: 0.54% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 45.67 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact A vulnerability exists in query plan execution within the gateway that may allow pollution of Object.prototype in certain scenarios. A malicious client may be able to pollute Object.prototype in gateway directly by crafting operations with field aliases and/or variable names that target prototype-inheritable properties. Alternatively, if a subgraph were to be compromised by a malicious actor, they may be able to pollute Object.prototype in gateway by crafting JSON response payloads that target prototype-inheritable properties. Because Object.prototype is shared across the Node.js process, successful exploitation can affect subsequent requests to the gateway instance. This may result in unexpected application behavior, privilege escalation, data integrity issues, or other security impact depending on how polluted properties are subsequently consumed by the application or its dependencies. As of the date of this advisory, Apollo is not aware of any reported exploitation of this…

Published by the source

13 Mar 2026, 20:51 UTC

Last modified by the source

19 Mar 2026, 21:01 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 12:46 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh

2. Revision 2 · amended · 24 Oct 2026

   Amended from osv record GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh

3. Revision 1 · created · 23 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-32621

Advisory: Apollo Federation vulnerable to prototype pollution via incomplete key sanitization
IDs: CVE-2026-32621, GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-32621 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:46 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: @apollo/federation-internals 2.13.2, 2.12.3, 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6; @apollo/query-planner 2.13.2, 2.12.3, 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6; @apollo/gateway 2.13.2, 2.12.3, 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm @apollo/federation-internals: affected < 2.9.6; >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5; >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6; >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3; >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2; fixed in 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6, 2.12.3, 2.13.2
- npm @apollo/query-planner: affected < 2.9.6; >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5; >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6; >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3; >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2; fixed in 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6, 2.12.3, 2.13.2
- npm @apollo/gateway: affected < 2.9.6; >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5; >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6; >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3; >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2; fixed in 2.11.6, 2.10.5, 2.9.6, 2.12.3, 2.13.2

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls @apollo/federation-internals --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.
- `npm ls @apollo/query-planner --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.
- `npm ls @apollo/gateway --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on @apollo/federation-internals, @apollo/query-planner, @apollo/gateway.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh lists affected ranges: npm @apollo/federation-internals >=0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 =0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 =0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 <2.13.2)
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh (OSV record GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh lists affected ranges: npm @apollo/federation-internals >=0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 =0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 =0 =2.10.0 =2.11.0 =2.12.0 =2.13.0 <2.13.2…)

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