GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr
HIGHGHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in webonyx/graphql-php. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
graphql-php is affected by a Denial of Service via quadratic complexity in OverlappingFieldsCanBeMerged validation
Blast Radius
webonyx/graphql-phpReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The OverlappingFieldsCanBeMerged validation rule exhibits quadratic time complexity when processing queries with many repeated fields sharing the same response name. An attacker can send a crafted query like { hello hello hello ... } with thousands of repeated fields, causing excessive CPU usage during validation before execution begins.
This is not mitigated by existing QueryDepth or QueryComplexity rules.
Observed impact (tested on v15.31.4):
- 1000 fields: ~0.6s
- 2000 fields: ~2.4s
- 3000 fields: ~5.3s
- 5000 fields: request timeout (>20s)
Root cause: collectConflictsWithin() performs O(n²) pairwise comparisons of all fields with the same response name. For identical repeated fields, every comparison returns "no conflict" but the quadratic iteration count causes resource exhaustion.
Fix: Deduplicate structurally identical fields before pairwise comparison, reducing the complexity from O(n²) to O(u²) where u is the number of unique field signatures (typically 1 for this attack pattern).
Credit: Ashwak N ([email protected])
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | webonyx/graphql-php | all versions | 15.31.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for webonyx/graphql-php. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update webonyx/graphql-php to 15.31.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr. 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-68jq-c3rv-pcrr in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-68jq-c3rv-pcrr across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.