CVE-2026-23897: Apollo Server is vulnerable to denial of service with `startStandaloneServer`
Description
Apollo Server is an open-source, spec-compliant GraphQL server that's compatible with any GraphQL client, including Apollo Client. In versions from 2.0.0 to 3.13.0, 4.2.0 to before 4.13.0, and 5.0.0 to before 5.4.0, the default configuration of startStandaloneServer from @apollo/server/standalone is vulnerable to denial of service (DoS) attacks through specially crafted request bodies with exotic character set encodings. This issue does not affect users that use @apollo/server as a dependency for integration packages, like @as-integrations/express5 or @as-integrations/next, only direct usage of startStandaloneServer.
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H · CWE-1333
Tracked companies
Mapped from the CVE’s affected-product data, NVD CPE matches, vendor advisories or package feeds. A mapping means the vendor’s software is named, not that its hosted service was exposed.
Status incidents that name it
No tracked status incident names this CVE.
Affected vendors and products
apollographql: apollo-server
References
- CVE record on cve.org (opens in new tab)
- NVD entry (opens in new tab)
- github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/commit/d25a5bdc377826ad424fcf7f8d1d062055… (opens in new tab)
- github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/commit/e9d49d163a86b8a33be56ed27c494b9acd… (opens in new tab)
- github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/security/advisories/GHSA-mp6q-xf9x-fwf7 (opens in new tab)
- CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (opens in new tab)
- This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (opens in new tab)
- Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (opens in new tab)
- EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (opens in new tab)