---
title: "CVE-2026-32621: Apollo Federation vulnerable to prototype pollution via incomplete key sanitization"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-32621/
description: "CVE-2026-32621 (@apollo/federation-internals (npm)): Apollo Federation is an architecture for declaratively composing APIs into a unified graph. Prior to…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-03-13
date_modified: 2026-03-19
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-32621"
kev: false
cvss: 9.9
epss: 0.00621
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-32621: Apollo Federation vulnerable to prototype pollution via incomplete key sanitization

**Signal:** Critical, preconditions apply. Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 0.6% , percentile 49: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 49% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes @apollo/federation-internals (npm) < 2.9.6, fixed in 2.9.6 ; @apollo/federation-internals (npm) >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5, fixed in 2.10.5 ; @apollo/federation-internals (npm) >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6, fixed in 2.11.6 ; @apollo/federation-internals (npm) >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3, fixed in 2.12.3 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

Apollo Federation is an architecture for declaratively composing APIs into a unified graph. Prior to 2.9.6, 2.10.5, 2.11.6, 2.12.3, and 2.13.2, a vulnerability exists in query plan execution within the gateway that may allow pollution of Object.prototype in certain scenarios. A malicious client may be able to pollute Object.prototype in gateway directly by crafting operations with field aliases and/or variable names that target prototype-inheritable properties. Alternatively, if a subgraph were to be compromised by a malicious actor, they may be able to pollute Object.prototype in gateway by crafting JSON response payloads that target prototype-inheritable properties. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.9.6, 2.10.5, 2.11.6, 2.12.3, and 2.13.2.

## Affected packages

- npm `@apollo/federation-internals` < 2.9.6 → fixed: 2.9.6
- npm `@apollo/federation-internals` >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5 → fixed: 2.10.5
- npm `@apollo/federation-internals` >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6 → fixed: 2.11.6
- npm `@apollo/federation-internals` >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3 → fixed: 2.12.3
- npm `@apollo/federation-internals` >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2 → fixed: 2.13.2
- npm `@apollo/gateway` < 2.9.6 → fixed: 2.9.6
- npm `@apollo/gateway` >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5 → fixed: 2.10.5
- npm `@apollo/gateway` >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6 → fixed: 2.11.6
- npm `@apollo/gateway` >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3 → fixed: 2.12.3
- npm `@apollo/gateway` >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2 → fixed: 2.13.2
- npm `@apollo/query-planner` < 2.9.6 → fixed: 2.9.6
- npm `@apollo/query-planner` >= 2.10.0, < 2.10.5 → fixed: 2.10.5
- npm `@apollo/query-planner` >= 2.11.0, < 2.11.6 → fixed: 2.11.6
- npm `@apollo/query-planner` >= 2.12.0, < 2.12.3 → fixed: 2.12.3
- npm `@apollo/query-planner` >= 2.13.0, < 2.13.2 → fixed: 2.13.2

## Affected products (CVE record)

- @apollo federation-internals: >= 2.13.0-preview.0, < 2.13.2, >= 2.12.0-preview.0, < 2.12.3, >= 2.11.0-preview.0, < 2.11.6, >= 2.10.0-alpha.0, < 2.10.5, < 2.9.6
- @apollo gateway: >= 2.13.0-preview.0, < 2.13.2, >= 2.12.0-preview.0, < 2.12.3, >= 2.11.0-preview.0, < 2.11.6, >= 2.10.0-alpha.0, < 2.10.5, < 2.9.6
- @apollo query-planner: >= 2.13.0-preview.0, < 2.13.2, >= 2.12.0-preview.0, < 2.12.3, >= 2.11.0-preview.0, < 2.11.6, >= 2.10.0-alpha.0, < 2.10.5, < 2.9.6

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 3.1: 9.9 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L`
- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 9.9 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable no , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.62% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 49.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-32621](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-32621)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-32621](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32621)
- [github.com](https://github.com/apollographql/federation/security/advisories/GHSA-pfjj-6f4p-rvmh)

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Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-32621/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt