Top GraphQL Security Vulnerabilities: Lessons Learned Analyzing 1,500+ Endpoints

GraphQL offers flexible querying capabilities that enable the integration of data from multiple sources into a single endpoint, making it a valuable tool for building next-generation API platforms. However, this flexibility also introduces security vulnerabilities if not properly managed. At the API Summit 2023, Tristan Kalos and Antoine Carossio highlighted the security risks associated with GraphQL, based on their analysis of over 130,000 public endpoints, culminating in The State of GraphQL Security 2023 report. They discovered nearly 50,000 security alerts, with 10% classified as critical, pointing out that GraphQL's powerful features, such as batching and aliasing requests, can be exploited to bypass rate limiting and facilitate brute-force attacks. Additionally, the graph structure of GraphQL can obscure access control, inadvertently exposing sensitive data through multiple access paths. The research identified common vulnerabilities including brute-force attacks, denial of service from recursive fragments, schema leaks, and injection vulnerabilities. These issues highlight the overlap with classic API vulnerabilities like broken authentication, access control issues, and the exposure of sensitive data, emphasizing the need for rigorous security practices to protect GraphQL services.

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