CVE-2025-64173: Apollo router Apollo Router Affected By An Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-x33c-7c2v-mrj9
CVSS 7.5
CWE-288
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2025-64173 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) apollo router affected by an vulnerability (CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel) affecting Apollo router libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves apollo router affected by an access control bypass on polymorphic types. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.61.12, 2.8.1.

CVE-2025-64173 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2025-64173
GHSA Identifier GHSA-x33c-7c2v-mrj9
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
Affected Product Apollo router
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2025-64173

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Apollo router dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

apollo-router fixed: 1.61.12
Upgrade apollo-router to 1.61.12
apollo-router fixed: 2.8.1
Upgrade apollo-router to 2.8.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for apollo-router

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2025-64173, inspect your project dependencies for Apollo router:

inspect dependencies for apollo-router

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Apollo router in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.61.12), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel, where the product requires authentication, but the product has an alternate path or channel that does not require authentication. In Apollo router, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

# Summary A vulnerability in Apollo Router allowed for unauthenticated queries to access data that required additional access controls. Router incorrectly handled access control directives on interface types/fields and their implementing object types/fields, applying them to interface types/fields while ignoring directives on their implementing object types/fields when all implementations had the same requirements. ## Details Apollo Federation allows users to specify access control directives ([`@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, and `@policy`](https://www.apollographql.com/docs/graphos/routing/security/authorization#authorization-directives)) to protect object and interface types and fields. However, the GraphQL specification does not define inheritance rules for directives from interfaces to their implementations. Apollo Router will enforce any directives on the interface types/fields but ignore any directives on the implementation object types/fields (as long as all implementations have the same requirements). This inconsistent enforcement behavior leads to unexpected runtime security gaps. ## Who is impacted This vulnerability impacts Apollo Router customers defining `@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, or `@policy` directives inconsistently on polymorphic types (i.e., object types that implement interface types). Specifically, if the same access control directives are applied to all implementing types/fields but not on their implemented interface types/fields, they could be impacted. ### Scope of Impact This vulnerability could allow a malicious actor to craft a query that can bypass access control requirements on the object types/fields by instead querying them via implemented interface types/fields that don't have the same access control requirements. ## Patches This vulnerability has been fixed at runtime in Apollo Router. You may update Router to one of the following versions: - 1.61.12+ - 2.8.1+ ## Workarounds - If you are not immediately updating Router to a patched version, you should apply any included access control requirements to *both* the appropriate interface types/fields and their implementations. - Customers not using Apollo Router access control features (`@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, or `@policy` directives) or not specifying inconsistent access control requirements on polymorphic types/fields are not affected and do not need to take action.

CVE-2025-64173 Affected Apollo router Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.61.122.8.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
apollo-router
crates.io
< 1.61.12
1.61.12
apollo-router
crates.io
≥ 2.0.0-alpha.0
< 2.8.1
2.8.1

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-64173?
CVE-2025-64173 is a security vulnerability in Apollo router involving Apollo Router Affected by an Access Control Bypass on Polymorphic Types under CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel.
Which Apollo router versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.61.12, 2.8.1 across affected packages: apollo-router.
What version fixes CVE-2025-64173?
Upgrading to 1.61.12, 2.8.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is apollo-router affected?
Yes, apollo-router is affected in releases prior to 1.61.12, 2.8.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.61.12, 2.8.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-64173?
CVE-2025-64173 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2025-64173?
CVE-2025-64173 is classified under CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (The product requires authentication, but the product has an alternate path or channel that does not require authentication.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2025-64173?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for apollo-router'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-x33c-7c2v-mrj9",
  "modified" : "2025-11-06T23:13:08Z",
  "published" : "2025-11-06T15:47:05Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-64173" ],
  "summary" : "Apollo Router Affected by an Access Control Bypass on Polymorphic Types",
  "details" : "# Summary\n\nA vulnerability in Apollo Router allowed for unauthenticated queries to access data that required additional access controls. Router incorrectly handled access control directives on interface types/fields and their implementing object types/fields, applying them to interface types/fields while ignoring directives on their implementing object types/fields when all implementations had the same requirements.\n\n## Details\n\nApollo Federation allows users to specify access control directives ([`@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, and `@policy`](https://www.apollographql.com/docs/graphos/routing/security/authorization#authorization-directives)) to protect object and interface types and fields. However, the GraphQL specification does not define inheritance rules for directives from interfaces to their implementations. Apollo Router will enforce any directives on the interface types/fields but ignore any directives on the implementation object types/fields (as long as all implementations have the same requirements). This inconsistent enforcement behavior leads to unexpected runtime security gaps.\n\n## Who is impacted\n\nThis vulnerability impacts Apollo Router customers defining `@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, or `@policy` directives inconsistently on polymorphic types (i.e., object types that implement interface types).  Specifically, if the same access control directives are applied to all implementing types/fields but not on their implemented interface types/fields, they could be impacted.\n\n### Scope of Impact\n\nThis vulnerability could allow a malicious actor to craft a query that can bypass access control requirements on the object types/fields by instead querying them via implemented interface types/fields that don't have the same access control requirements.\n\n## Patches\n\nThis vulnerability has been fixed at runtime in Apollo Router. You may update Router to one of the following versions:\n\n- 1.61.12+\n- 2.8.1+\n\n## Workarounds\n\n- If you are not immediately updating Router to a patched version, you should apply any included access control requirements to *both* the appropriate interface types/fields and their implementations.\n- Customers not using Apollo Router access control features (`@authenticated`, `@requiresScopes`, or `@policy` directives) or not specifying inconsistent access control requirements on polymorphic types/fields are not affected and do not need to take action.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "apollo-router"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.61.12"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "apollo-router"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.0.0-alpha.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.8.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apollographql/router/security/advisories/GHSA-x33c-7c2v-mrj9"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-64173"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apollographql/router/commit/75ca43ecb9d38423b63d09896702f9da425cc754"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apollographql/router"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apollographql/router/releases/tag/v2.8.1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.apollographql.com/docs/graphos/routing/security/authorization#authorization-directives"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-288" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-11-06T15:47:05Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-11-06T21:15:43Z"
  }
}