Hot Chocolate's Utf8GraphQLParser has Stack Overflow via Deeply Nested GraphQL Documents

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API Print: PDF PDF

Summary

CVECVE-2026-40324
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-04-18 00:16:36 UTC
Updated2026-04-18 00:16:36 UTC
DescriptionHot Chocolate is an open-source GraphQL server. Prior to versions 12.22.7, 13.9.16, 14.3.1, and 15.1.14, Hot Chocolate's recursive descent parser `Utf8GraphQLParser` has no recursion depth limit. A crafted GraphQL document with deeply nested selection sets, object values, list values, or list types can trigger a `StackOverflowException` on payloads as small as 40 KB. Because `StackOverflowException` is uncatchable in .NET (since .NET 2.0), the entire worker process is terminated immediately. All in-flight HTTP requests, background `IHostedService` tasks, and open WebSocket subscriptions on that worker are dropped. The orchestrator (Kubernetes, IIS, etc.) must restart the process. This occurs before any validation rules run — `MaxExecutionDepth`, complexity analyzers, persisted query allow-lists, and custom `IDocumentValidatorRule` implementations cannot intercept the crash because `Utf8GraphQLParser.Parse` is invoked before validation. The `MaxAllowedFields=2048` limit does not help because the crashing payloads contain very few fields. The fix in versions 12.22.7, 13.9.16, 14.3.1, and 15.1.14 adds a `MaxAllowedRecursionDepth` option to `ParserOptions` with a safe default, and enforces it across all recursive parser methods (`ParseSelectionSet`, `ParseValueLiteral`, `ParseObject`, `ParseList`, `ParseTypeReference`, etc.). When the limit is exceeded, a catchable `SyntaxException` is thrown instead of overflowing the stack. There is no application-level workaround. `StackOverflowException` cannot be caught in .NET. The only mitigation is to upgrade to a patched version. Operators can reduce (but not eliminate) risk by limiting HTTP request body size at the reverse proxy or load balancer layer, though the smallest crashing payload (40 KB) is well below most default body size limits and is highly compressible (~few hundred bytes via gzip).

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.1 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Problem Types: CWE-674 | CWE-674 CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary9.1CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED9.1CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA ChilliCream Graphql-platform affected < 12.22.7 Not specified
CNA ChilliCream Graphql-platform affected >= 13.0.0, < 13.9.16 Not specified
CNA ChilliCream Graphql-platform affected >= 14.0.0, < 14.3.1 Not specified
CNA ChilliCream Graphql-platform affected >= 15.0.0, < 15.1.14 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/commit/b185eb276c9ee227bd44616ff... [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/commit/b9271e6a500484c002fd528dc... [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/pull/9531 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/pull/9528 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/releases/tag/15.1.14 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/commit/4cbaf67d366f800fc1e484bc5... [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/releases/tag/14.3.1 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/releases/tag/12.22.7 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/commit/08c0caa42ca33c121bbed49d2... [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/pull/9530 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/releases/tag/13.9.16 [email protected] github.com
github.com/ChilliCream/graphql-platform/security/advisories/GHSA-qr3m-xw... [email protected] github.com
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