CVE-2023-40180
Denial of service vulnerability in silverstripe-graphql via recursive queries
silverstripe-graphql is a package which serves Silverstripe data in GraphQL representations. An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas. If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk. This issue has been addressed in versions 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, and 5.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Denial of service vulnerability in silverstripe-graphql via recursive queries
silverstripe-graphql is a package which serves Silverstripe data in GraphQL representations. An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas. If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk. This issue has been addressed in versions 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, and 5.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-40180- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-2810
silverstripe-graphql is a package which serves Silverstripe data in GraphQL representations. An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas. If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk. This issue has been addressed in versions 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, and 5.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
EUVD-2023-2810- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v23w-pppm-jh66
Silverstripe GraphQL has DDOS Vulnerability due to lack of protection against recursive queries
Impact
An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas.
If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk.
The fix includes some new configuration options which you might want to tweak for your project, based on your own requirements. See the documentation in the references for details.
Patches
Patched in 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, 5.0.3
References
- CVE-2023-40180 on silverstripe.org
- Documentation about protection against recursive or complex queries for silverstripe/graphql 4.x/5.x
- Documentation about protection against recursive or complex queries for silverstripe/graphql 3.x
Reported by
Jason Nguyen from phew (https://phew.co.nz/)
- Record
GHSA-v23w-pppm-jh66- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
silverstripe-graphql is a package which serves Silverstripe data in GraphQL representations. An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas. If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk. This issue has been addressed in versions 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, and 5.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-40180- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
Denial of service vulnerability in silverstripe-graphql via recursive queries
silverstripe-graphql is a package which serves Silverstripe data in GraphQL representations. An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas. If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk. This issue has been addressed in versions 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, and 5.0.3. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- Record
CVE-2023-40180- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-v23w-pppm-jh66
Silverstripe GraphQL has DDOS Vulnerability due to lack of protection against recursive queries
Impact
An attacker could use a recursive graphql query to execute a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS attack) against a website. This mostly affects websites with publicly exposed graphql schemas.
If your Silverstripe CMS project does not expose a public facing graphql schema, a user account is required to trigger the DDOS attack. If your site is hosted behind a content delivery network (CDN), such as Imperva or CloudFlare, this may further mitigate the risk.
The fix includes some new configuration options which you might want to tweak for your project, based on your own requirements. See the documentation in the references for details.
Patches
Patched in 3.8.2, 4.1.3, 4.2.5, 4.3.4, 5.0.3
References
- CVE-2023-40180 on silverstripe.org
- Documentation about protection against recursive or complex queries for silverstripe/graphql 4.x/5.x
- Documentation about protection against recursive or complex queries for silverstripe/graphql 3.x
Reported by
Jason Nguyen from phew (https://phew.co.nz/)
- Record
GHSA-v23w-pppm-jh66- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
3.0.0 up to 3.8.2 | 3.8.2 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.0.0 up to 4.1.3 | 4.1.3 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.2.0 up to 4.2.5 | 4.2.5 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.3.0 up to 4.3.4 | 4.3.4 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
5.0.0 up to 5.0.3 | 5.0.3 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
3.0.0 up to 3.8.2, plus listed versions 3.0.13.0.23.0.33.0.43.1.0 Show 36 moreShow less3.1.0-rc13.1.13.1.23.1.33.1.43.1.53.2.03.2.0-alpha13.2.0-rc13.2.0-rc23.2.13.2.23.2.33.2.43.3.03.3.0-beta13.3.0-rc13.4.03.4.0-beta13.4.0-rc13.4.13.5.03.5.0-beta13.5.0-rc13.5.13.5.23.6.03.6.0-alpha13.6.0-alpha23.6.0-beta13.6.0-rc13.7.03.7.13.7.23.8.03.8.1 |
3.8.2 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.0.0 up to 4.1.3, plus listed versions 4.0.14.0.24.1.04.1.0-beta14.1.0-rc14.1.14.1.2 |
4.1.3 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.2.0 up to 4.2.5, plus listed versions 4.2.14.2.24.2.34.2.4 |
4.2.5 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
4.3.0 up to 4.3.4, plus listed versions 4.3.14.3.24.3.3 |
4.3.4 |
silverstripe/graphqlPackagist |
5.0.0 up to 5.0.3, plus listed versions 5.0.15.0.2 |
5.0.3 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-40180 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Silverstripe Graphql, published October 16, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.13%, the 66th percentile. Fixed in silverstripe/graphql 3.8.2.
References
github.com/silverstripe/silverstripe-graphql/security/advisories/GHSA-v23w-pppm-jh66
docs.silverstripe.org/en/developer_guides/graphql/security_and_best_practices/recursive_or_complex_queries
silverstripe.org/download/security-releases/CVE-2023-40180
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40180