GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-835 vulnerability in github.com/openfga/openfga. A fix is available for github.com/openfga/openfga — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenFGA Vulnerable to DoS from circular relationship definitions
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh.
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
GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh 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 377,166 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
github.com/openfga/openfgaReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Overview
OpenFGA is vulnerable to a DoS attack when certain Check calls are executed against authorization models that contain circular relationship definitions. When the call is made, it's possible for the server to exhaust resources and die.
Am I Affected?
Yes, if your store contains an authorization model that allows circular relationships. For example, with this model:
model
schema 1.1
type user
type group
relations
define memberA: [user] or memberB or memberC or memberD or memberE
define memberB: [user] or memberA or memberC or memberD or memberE
define memberC: [user] or memberA or memberB or memberD or memberE
define memberD: [user] or memberA or memberB or memberC or memberE
define memberE: [user] or memberA or memberB or memberC or memberD
This Check: (user:anne, memberA, group:X) can exhaust memory in the server.
Fix
Upgrade to v1.3.2 and update any offending models.
[BREAKING] If your model contained cycles or a relation definition that has the relation itself in its evaluation path, then Checks and queries that require evaluation will no longer be evaluated on v1.3.2+ and will return errors instead. You will need to update your models to remove the cycles.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/openfga/openfga | all versions | 1.3.2go get github.com/openfga/openfga@v1.3.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/openfga/openfga, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/openfga/openfga to 1.3.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh 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 GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-2hm9-h873-pgqh across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.