GHSA-p2x3-8689-cwpg
Parse Server's GraphQL WebSocket endpoint bypasses security middleware
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.
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
parse-servernpmDescription
Impact
Any Parse Server deployment that uses the GraphQL API is affected. The GraphQL WebSocket endpoint for subscriptions does not pass requests through the Express middleware chain that enforces authentication, introspection control, and query complexity limits. An attacker can connect to the WebSocket endpoint and execute GraphQL operations without providing a valid application or API key, access the GraphQL schema via introspection even when public introspection is disabled, and send arbitrarily complex queries that bypass configured complexity limits.
Patches
The unfinished GraphQL WebSocket subscription feature has been removed, including the createSubscriptions method and the subscriptions-transport-ws dependency. GraphQL subscriptions were never functional in Parse Server as the schema did not define any subscription types.
Workarounds
Block WebSocket upgrade requests to the GraphQL subscriptions path (by default /subscriptions) at the network level, for example using a reverse proxy or load balancer rule.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | parse-server | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.6.0-alpha.14 | 9.6.0-alpha.14 |
| 📦npm | parse-server | all versions | 8.6.40 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for parse-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 parse-server to 9.6.0-alpha.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-p2x3-8689-cwpg 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-p2x3-8689-cwpg 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-p2x3-8689-cwpg. 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-p2x3-8689-cwpg in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-p2x3-8689-cwpg across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.