GHSA-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx
Prevent logging invalid header values
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
@apollo/servernpmapollo-server-corenpmDescription
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it?
Apollo Server can log sensitive information (Studio API keys) if they are passed incorrectly (with leading/trailing whitespace) or if they have any characters that are invalid as part of a header value.
Who is impacted?
Users who (all of the below):
- use either the schema reporting or usage reporting feature
- use an Apollo Studio API key which has invalid header values
- use the default fetcher (
node-fetch) or configured their ownnode-fetchfetcher
The following node snippet can test whether your API key has invalid header values. This code is taken directly from node-fetch@2's header value validation code.
const invalidHeaderCharRegex = /[^\t\x20-\x7e\x80-\xff]/;
if (invalidHeaderCharRegex.test('<YOUR_API_KEY>')) {
console.log('potentially affected');
}
console.log('unaffected');
If the provided API key is not a valid header value, whenever Apollo Server uses that API key in a request (to Studio, for example), node-fetch will throw an error which contains the header value. This error is logged in various ways depending on the user's configuration, but most likely the console or some configured logging service.
Patches
This problem is patched in the latest version of Apollo Server as soon as this advisory is published.
Workarounds
- Try retrieving a new API key from Studio. Note: this may not work if the invalid character is not part of the secret (it may be derived from identifiers like graph name, user name).
- Override the
fetcher - Disable schema reporting and/or usage reporting
Solution
- Apollo Server will now call
.trim()on incoming API keys in order to eliminate leading/trailing whitespace and log a warning when it does so. - Apollo Server will now perform the same validation of API keys as
node-fetch@2performs on header values on startup. Apollo Server will throw an error on startup (i.e., fail to start completely) and notify the user their API key is invalid along with the offending characters.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @apollo/server | all versions | 4.9.3 |
| 📦npm | apollo-server-core | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.12.1 | 3.12.1 |
| 📦npm | apollo-server-core | all versions | 2.26.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @apollo/server. 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 @apollo/server to 4.9.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx 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-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx 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-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx. 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-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-j5g3-5c8r-7qfx across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.