Directus GraphQL Field Duplication Denial of Service (DoS)
Date: 2024-07
Affected: npm/@directus/env
Attack vector: dos
Category: vulnerability-disclosure
Severity: High
CVE: CVE-2024-39895
CWE: CWE-400
CVSS: 6.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H)

### Summary A denial of service (DoS) attack by field duplication in GraphQL is a type of attack where an attacker exploits the flexibility of GraphQL to overwhelm a server by requesting the same field multiple times in a single query. This can cause the server to perform redundant computations and consume excessive resources, leading to a denial of service for legitimate users. ### Details Request to the endpoint /graphql are sent when visualizing graphs generated at a dashboard: ![image](https://github.com/directus/directus/assets/114263468/185eb60f-9092-47d4-81f4-add1a53e99c8) ![DoS5](https://github.com/directus/directus/assets/114263468/f43079f5-b9ab-4704-938f-dcb91453d464) By modifying the data sent and duplicating many times the fields a DoS attack is possible. ### PoC The goal is to create a payload that generates a body like this, where the 'max' field is duplicated many times, each with the 'id' field duplicated many times inside it. `{'query': 'query { query_4f4722ea: test_table_aggregated { max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } max {id id id id id id id id id id } } }'}` Although that payload seems harmless, a bigger one leaves the service unresponsive. Th


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Architectural layers (MAESTRO):