---
id: CVE-2026-81636
title: >-
  Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in
  ash-project ash_graphql allows an unauthenticated client to bypass the
  configured GraphQL query-complexity limit and force an unbounded database
  read.


  AshGraphql.Grap…
summary: >-
  Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in
  ash-project ash_graphql allows an unauthenticated client to bypass the
  configured GraphQL query-complexity limit and force an unbounded database
  read.


  AshGraphql.Grap…
severity: none
cwe:
  - CWE-770
published: '2026-08-30'
updated: '2026-08-30'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81636'
references:
  - url: 'https://cna.erlef.org/cves/CVE-2026-81636.html'
    label: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/ash-project/ash_graphql/commit/c3229f6a65cbabb32fd7ffcac881922d1b3b30ad
    label: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/ash-project/ash_graphql/security/advisories/GHSA-mwc4-r9fc-h6mg
    label: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
  - url: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/EEF-CVE-2026-81636'
    label: 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db
tags:
  - nvd
ingestedAt: '2026-08-31T02:00:58.320Z'
epss: 0.0055
epssPercentile: 0.43632
---

## Overview

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability in ash-project ash_graphql allows an unauthenticated client to bypass the configured GraphQL query-complexity limit and force an unbounded database read.

AshGraphql.Graphql.Resolver.query_complexity/3 multiplies child complexity by the requested page size only when the argument map contains :limit (offset pagination). Relay connections and keyset pagination use first and last, which never match that clause and fall through to the catch-all that returns child_complexity + 1. A nested relay query such as posts(first: 500) { edges { node { comments(first: 500) { ... } } } } therefore scores as trivially cheap while materializing the full fan-out, passing an Absinthe max_complexity cap that rejects the equivalent limit-based query. The fix adds first and last clauses clamped to the action's page size.

This issue affects ash_graphql: from 0.16.23 before 1.11.0.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.