Description
Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerability in absinthe-graphql absinthe allows unauthenticated denial of service via quadratic fragment-name uniqueness validation.

'Elixir.Absinthe.Phase.Document.Validation.UniqueFragmentNames':run/2 iterates over all fragments and for each one calls duplicate?/2, which evaluates Enum.count(fragments, &(&1.name == name)) — a full linear scan of the fragment list. The result is O(N²) comparisons per document, where N is the number of fragment definitions supplied by the caller.

Because input.fragments is built directly from the GraphQL query body, N is fully attacker-controlled. A minimum-size fragment definition is roughly 16 bytes, so a ~1 MB document carries ~60,000 fragments and forces ~3.6 × 10⁹ comparisons inside this single validation phase. No authentication, schema knowledge, or special configuration is required.

This issue affects absinthe: from 1.2.0 before 1.10.2.
Published: 2026-05-08
Score: 8.7 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-9mhv-8h52-q7q2 Absinthe: Quadratic fragment-name uniqueness check
History

Fri, 08 May 2026 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Fri, 08 May 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerability in absinthe-graphql absinthe allows unauthenticated denial of service via quadratic fragment-name uniqueness validation. 'Elixir.Absinthe.Phase.Document.Validation.UniqueFragmentNames':run/2 iterates over all fragments and for each one calls duplicate?/2, which evaluates Enum.count(fragments, &(&1.name == name)) — a full linear scan of the fragment list. The result is O(N²) comparisons per document, where N is the number of fragment definitions supplied by the caller. Because input.fragments is built directly from the GraphQL query body, N is fully attacker-controlled. A minimum-size fragment definition is roughly 16 bytes, so a ~1 MB document carries ~60,000 fragments and forces ~3.6 × 10⁹ comparisons inside this single validation phase. No authentication, schema knowledge, or special configuration is required. This issue affects absinthe: from 1.2.0 before 1.10.2.
Title Quadratic fragment-name uniqueness check causes denial of service in absinthe
First Time appeared Absinthe-graphql
Absinthe-graphql absinthe
Weaknesses CWE-407
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:absinthe-graphql:absinthe:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Absinthe-graphql
Absinthe-graphql absinthe
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}


Subscriptions

Absinthe-graphql Absinthe
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: EEF

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-09T04:18:14.810Z

Reserved: 2026-05-04T18:23:25.573Z

Link: CVE-2026-43967

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-05-08T16:07:06.565Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-05-08T16:16:12.910

Modified: 2026-05-13T15:57:03.607

Link: CVE-2026-43967

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-09T02:15:06Z

Weaknesses