{"id":"CVE-2020-4038","aliases":["EUVD-2020-0456","GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf"],"status":"published","title":"Reflected XSS in GraphQL Playground","description":"GraphQL Playground (graphql-playground-html NPM package) before version 1.6.22 have a severe XSS Reflection attack vulnerability. All unsanitized user input passed into renderPlaygroundPage() method could trigger this vulnerability. This has been patched in graphql-playground-html version 1.6.22. Note that some of the associated dependent middleware packages are also affected including but not limited to graphql-playground-middleware-express before version 1.7.16, graphql-playground-middleware-koa before version 1.6.15, graphql-playground-middleware-lambda before version 1.7.17, and graphql-playground-middleware-hapi before 1.6.13.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.07243,"percentile":0.94382,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":true},"cwes":["CWE-79"],"published":"2020-06-08T20:40:12Z","modified":"2026-10-20T10:54:21Z","fixes":[{"ecosystem":"npm","package":"graphql-playground-html","fixed_in":["1.6.22"],"sources":["ghsa","osv"]}],"affected":[{"source":"ghsa","ecosystem":"npm","package":"graphql-playground-html","ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.6.22"}]}]},{"source":"osv","ecosystem":"npm","package":"graphql-playground-html","ranges":[{"type":"SEMVER","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"fixed":"1.6.22"}]}]}],"products":[{"vendor":"graphql","product":"graphql-playground"},{"vendor":"prisma","product":"graphql-playground-html"},{"vendor":"prisma","product":"graphql-playground-middleware-express"},{"vendor":"prisma","product":"graphql-playground-middleware-hapi"},{"vendor":"prisma","product":"graphql-playground-middleware-koa"},{"vendor":"prisma","product":"graphql-playground-middleware-lambda"},{"vendor":"prisma-labs","product":"graphql-playground"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/prisma-labs/graphql-playground/security/advisories/GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","x_transferred","Mitigation","Third Party Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/prisma-labs/graphql-playground/commit/bf1883db538c97b076801a60677733816cb3cfb7","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Patch","Third Party Advisory","fix","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/prisma-labs/graphql-playground#security-details","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Third Party Advisory","advisory","web"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-4038","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/graphql/graphql-playground/security/advisories/GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf"}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2020-4038","title":"Reflected XSS in GraphQL Playground","description":"GraphQL Playground (graphql-playground-html NPM package) before version 1.6.22 have a severe XSS Reflection attack vulnerability. All unsanitized user input passed into renderPlaygroundPage() method could trigger this vulnerability. This has been patched in graphql-playground-html version 1.6.22. Note that some of the associated dependent middleware packages are also affected including but not limited to graphql-playground-middleware-express before version 1.7.16, graphql-playground-middleware-koa before version 1.6.15, graphql-playground-middleware-lambda before version 1.7.17, and graphql-playground-middleware-hapi before 1.6.13.","status":"published","published":"2020-06-08T20:40:12Z","modified":"2024-08-04T07:52:20.823Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-79"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:55.797746Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2020-0456","description":"GraphQL Playground (graphql-playground-html NPM package) before version 1.6.22 have a severe XSS Reflection attack vulnerability. All unsanitized user input passed into renderPlaygroundPage() method could trigger this vulnerability. This has been patched in graphql-playground-html version 1.6.22. Note that some of the associated dependent middleware packages are also affected including but not limited to graphql-playground-middleware-express before version 1.7.16, graphql-playground-middleware-koa before version 1.6.15, graphql-playground-middleware-lambda before version 1.7.17, and graphql-playground-middleware-hapi before 1.6.13.","status":"published","published":"2020-06-08T20:40:12Z","modified":"2024-08-04T07:52:20Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T03:08:08.458165Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf","title":"Reflected XSS in GraphQL Playground","description":"### Impact\n\n**directly impacted:**\n\n- `graphql-playground-html@\u003c1.6.22` - all unsanitized user input for `renderPlaygroundPage()`\n\n**all of our consuming packages** of `graphql-playground-html` are impacted:\n\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-express@\u003c1.7.16` - unsanitized user input to `expressPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-koa@\u003c1.6.15` - unsanitized user input to `koaPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-lambda@\u003c1.7.17` - unsanitized user input to `lambdaPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-hapi@\u003c1.6.13` - unsanitized user input to `hapiPlayground()`\n\nas well as ***any other packages*** that use these methods with unsanitized user input.\n\n**not impacted:**\n\n- `graphql-playground-electron` - uses `renderPlaygroundPage()` statically for a webpack build for electron bundle, no dynamic user input\n- `graphql-playground-react` - usage of the component directly in a react application does not expose reflected XSS vulnerabilities. only the demo in `public/` contains the vulnerability, because it uses an old version of the html pacakge.\n\n### Patches\n\nupgrading to the above mentioned versions will solve the issue.\n\nIf you're using `graphql-playground-html` directly, then:\n\n```\nyarn add graphql-playground-html@^1.6.22\n```\n\nor\n\n```\nnpm install --save graphql-playground-html@^1.6.22\n```\n\nThen, similar steps need to be taken for each middleware:\n\n- [Upgrade Express Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-express#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Koa Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-koa#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Lambda Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-lambda#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Hapi Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-hapi#security-upgrade-steps)\n\n### Workarounds\n\nEnsure you properly sanitize *all* user input for options you use for whatever function to initialize GraphQLPlayground:\n\nfor example, with `graphql-playground-html` and express:\n\n```js\nconst { sanitizeUrl } = require('@braintree/sanitize-url');\n\nconst qs = require('querystringify');\n\nconst { renderPlaygroundPage } = require('graphql-playground-html');\n\nmodule.exports = (req, res, next) =\u003e {\n\tconst { endpoint } = qs.parse(req.url)\n\tres.html(renderPlaygroundPage({endpoint: sanitizeUrl(endpoint) })).status(200)\n\tnext()\n}\n```\n\nor, with `graphql-playground-express`:\n\n```js\nconst { expressPlayground } = require('graphql-playground-middleware-express');\nconst { sanitizeUrl } = require('@braintree/sanitize-url');\n\nconst qs = require('querystringify');\n\nconst { renderPlaygroundPage } = require('graphql-playground-html');\n\nmodule.exports = (req, res, next) =\u003e {\n\tconst { endpoint } = qs.parse(req.url)\n\tres.html(expressPlayground({endpoint: sanitizeUrl(endpoint) })).status(200)\n\tnext()\n}\n```\n\n### References\n\n- [OWASP: How to Test for CSS Reflection Attacks](https://github.com/OWASP/wstg/blob/master/document/4-Web_Application_Security_Testing/07-Input_Validation_Testing/01-Testing_for_Reflected_Cross_Site_Scripting.md)\n- [Original Report from Cure53](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1368727/84191028-dfb7b980-aa65-11ea-8e18-4b8706f538e2.jpg) (jpg)\n\n\n### Credits\n\nMasato Kinugawa of Cure53\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [graphql-playground](https://github.com/prisma-labs/graphql-playground/issues/new/choose)\n* Email us at [rikki.schulte@gmail.com](mailto:rikki.schulte@gmail.com)\n","status":"published","published":"2020-06-09T00:24:57Z","modified":"2023-01-09T05:02:21Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-79"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:36:03.040255Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2020-4038","description":"GraphQL Playground (graphql-playground-html NPM package) before version 1.6.22 have a severe XSS Reflection attack vulnerability. All unsanitized user input passed into renderPlaygroundPage() method could trigger this vulnerability. This has been patched in graphql-playground-html version 1.6.22. Note that some of the associated dependent middleware packages are also affected including but not limited to graphql-playground-middleware-express before version 1.7.16, graphql-playground-middleware-koa before version 1.6.15, graphql-playground-middleware-lambda before version 1.7.17, and graphql-playground-middleware-hapi before 1.6.13.","status":"published","published":"2020-06-08T21:15:09.923Z","modified":"2026-06-17T03:19:27.847Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high","assessor":"primary"},{"version":"2.0","score":4.3,"vector":"AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-79"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:06:05.962132Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2020-4038","description":"GraphQL Playground (graphql-playground-html NPM package) before version 1.6.22 have a severe XSS Reflection attack vulnerability. All unsanitized user input passed into renderPlaygroundPage() method could trigger this vulnerability. This has been patched in graphql-playground-html version 1.6.22. Note that some of the associated dependent middleware packages are also affected including but not limited to graphql-playground-middleware-express before version 1.7.16, graphql-playground-middleware-koa before version 1.6.15, graphql-playground-middleware-lambda before version 1.7.17, and graphql-playground-middleware-hapi before 1.6.13.","status":"published","published":"2020-06-08T21:15:09.923Z","modified":"2026-10-20T10:54:21.782660893Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:44:16.936975Z"},{"id":"GHSA-4852-vrh7-28rf","title":"Reflected XSS in GraphQL Playground","description":"### Impact\n\n**directly impacted:**\n\n- `graphql-playground-html@\u003c1.6.22` - all unsanitized user input for `renderPlaygroundPage()`\n\n**all of our consuming packages** of `graphql-playground-html` are impacted:\n\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-express@\u003c1.7.16` - unsanitized user input to `expressPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-koa@\u003c1.6.15` - unsanitized user input to `koaPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-lambda@\u003c1.7.17` - unsanitized user input to `lambdaPlayground()`\n- `graphql-playground-middleware-hapi@\u003c1.6.13` - unsanitized user input to `hapiPlayground()`\n\nas well as ***any other packages*** that use these methods with unsanitized user input.\n\n**not impacted:**\n\n- `graphql-playground-electron` - uses `renderPlaygroundPage()` statically for a webpack build for electron bundle, no dynamic user input\n- `graphql-playground-react` - usage of the component directly in a react application does not expose reflected XSS vulnerabilities. only the demo in `public/` contains the vulnerability, because it uses an old version of the html pacakge.\n\n### Patches\n\nupgrading to the above mentioned versions will solve the issue.\n\nIf you're using `graphql-playground-html` directly, then:\n\n```\nyarn add graphql-playground-html@^1.6.22\n```\n\nor\n\n```\nnpm install --save graphql-playground-html@^1.6.22\n```\n\nThen, similar steps need to be taken for each middleware:\n\n- [Upgrade Express Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-express#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Koa Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-koa#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Lambda Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-lambda#security-upgrade-steps)\n- [Upgrade Hapi Middleware](https://www.npmjs.com/package/graphql-playground-middleware-hapi#security-upgrade-steps)\n\n### Workarounds\n\nEnsure you properly sanitize *all* user input for options you use for whatever function to initialize GraphQLPlayground:\n\nfor example, with `graphql-playground-html` and express:\n\n```js\nconst { sanitizeUrl } = require('@braintree/sanitize-url');\n\nconst qs = require('querystringify');\n\nconst { renderPlaygroundPage } = require('graphql-playground-html');\n\nmodule.exports = (req, res, next) =\u003e {\n\tconst { endpoint } = qs.parse(req.url)\n\tres.html(renderPlaygroundPage({endpoint: sanitizeUrl(endpoint) })).status(200)\n\tnext()\n}\n```\n\nor, with `graphql-playground-express`:\n\n```js\nconst { expressPlayground } = require('graphql-playground-middleware-express');\nconst { sanitizeUrl } = require('@braintree/sanitize-url');\n\nconst qs = require('querystringify');\n\nconst { renderPlaygroundPage } = require('graphql-playground-html');\n\nmodule.exports = (req, res, next) =\u003e {\n\tconst { endpoint } = qs.parse(req.url)\n\tres.html(expressPlayground({endpoint: sanitizeUrl(endpoint) })).status(200)\n\tnext()\n}\n```\n\n### References\n\n- [OWASP: How to Test for CSS Reflection Attacks](https://github.com/OWASP/wstg/blob/master/document/4-Web_Application_Security_Testing/07-Input_Validation_Testing/01-Testing_for_Reflected_Cross_Site_Scripting.md)\n- [Original Report from Cure53](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1368727/84191028-dfb7b980-aa65-11ea-8e18-4b8706f538e2.jpg) (jpg)\n\n\n### Credits\n\nMasato Kinugawa of Cure53\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [graphql-playground](https://github.com/prisma-labs/graphql-playground/issues/new/choose)\n* Email us at [rikki.schulte@gmail.com](mailto:rikki.schulte@gmail.com)\n","status":"published","published":"2020-06-09T00:24:57Z","modified":"2026-07-08T05:59:49.227442073Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.4,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-79"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:46:36.782754Z"}]}}