CVE-2023-50730 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13. A fix is available for org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Grackle has StackOverflowError in GraphQL query processing
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-50730 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13☕org.typelevel:grackle-core_3☕org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_2.13☕org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_3☕org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_2.13☕org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_3☕edu.gemini:gsp-graphql-core_2.13☕edu.gemini:gsp-graphql-core_3+4 moreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Grackle is a GraphQL server written in functional Scala, built on the Typelevel stack. The GraphQL specification requires that GraphQL fragments must not form cycles, either directly or indirectly. Prior to Grackle version 0.18.0, that requirement wasn't checked, and queries with cyclic fragments would have been accepted for type checking and compilation. The attempted compilation of such fragments would result in a JVM StackOverflowError being thrown. Some knowledge of an applications GraphQL schema would be required to construct such a query, however no knowledge of any application-specific performance or other behavioural characteristics would be needed.
Grackle uses the cats-parse library for parsing GraphQL queries. Prior to version 0.18.0, Grackle made use of the cats-parse recursive operator. However, recursive is not currently stack safe. recursive was used in three places in the parser: nested selection sets, nested input values (lists and objects), and nested list type declarations. Consequently, queries with deeply nested selection sets, input values or list types could be constructed which exploited this, causing a JVM StackOverflowException to be thrown during parsing. Because this happens very early in query processing, no specific knowledge of an applications GraphQL schema would be required to construct such a query.
The possibility of small queries resulting in stack overflow is a potential denial of service vulnerability. This potentially affects all applications using Grackle which have untrusted users. Both stack overflow issues have been resolved in the v0.18.0 release of Grackle. As a workaround, users could interpose a sanitizing layer in between untrusted input and Grackle query processing.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13:0.18.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_3 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_3:0.18.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_2.13 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_2.13:0.18.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_3 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_sjs1_3:0.18.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_2.13 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_2.13:0.18.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_3 | all versions | 0.18.0org.typelevel:grackle-core_native0.4_3:0.18.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.typelevel:grackle-core_2.13 to 0.18.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-50730 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-50730 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-50730. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-50730 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-50730 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.