GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f
MEDIUMSurrealDB has an Uncaught Exception Sorting Tables by Random Order
Blast Radius
surrealdb🦀surrealdb-coreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Sorting table records using an ORDER BY clause with the rand() function as sorting mechanism could cause a panic due to relying on a comparison function that did not implement total order. This event resulted in a panic due to a recent change in Rust 1.81.
Impact
A client that is authorized to run queries in a SurrealDB server would be able to query a table with ORDER BY rand() in order to potentially cause a panic in the sorting function. This would crash the server, leading to denial of service.
Patches
The sorting algorithm has been updated to guarantee total order when shuffling records.
- Version 2.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue.
Workarounds
Affected users who are unable to update may want to limit the ability of untrusted clients to run arbitrary SurrealQL queries in the affected versions of SurrealDB. To limit the impact of the denial of service, SurrealDB administrators may also want to ensure that the SurrealDB process is running so that it can be automatically re-started after a crash.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | all versions | 2.1.0 |
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb-core | all versions | 2.1.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for surrealdb. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update surrealdb to 2.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-m52v-24p8-654f across crates.io dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.