GHSA-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr
SurrealDB vulnerable to memory exhaustion via nested functions and scripts
Blast Radius
surrealdb🦀surrealdb🦀surrealdbReal-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
In order to prevent DoS situations due to infinite recursions, SurrealDB implements a limit of nested calls for both native functions and embedded JavaScript functions.
However, in SurrealDB instances with embedded scripting functions enabled, it was found that this limit can be circumvented by utilizing both at the same time. If a native function contains JavaScript which issues a new query that calls that function, the recursion limit is not triggered.
Once executed, SurrealDB will follow the path of infinite recursions until the system runs out of memory, prior to the recursion limit being triggered.
This vulnerability can only affect SurrealDB servers explicitly enabling the scripting capability with --allow-scripting or
--allow-all and equivalent environment variables SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_SCRIPT=true and SURREAL_CAPS_ALLOW_ALL=true.
This issue was discovered and patched during an code audit and penetration test of SurrealDB by cure53, the severity defined within cure53's preliminary finding is Medium, matched by our CVSS v4 assessment.
Impact
For SurrealDB instances with embedded scripting functions enabled, this attack could be used to perform a DoS attack on the server by an authenticated user.
Patches
A patch has been created that further limits scripting function call limit recursion depth and disallows multiple calls to surreadb.query() to run in parallel in a scripting function.
- Versions 2.0.5, 2.1.5, 2.2.2 and later are not affected by this issue.
Workarounds
Deny execution of embedded scripting functions through the configuration of capabilities by starting SurrealDB with the --deny-scripting flag or the equivalent environment variable SURREAL_CAPS_DENY_SCRIPT=true. This has a usability implication, although scripting functions are disabled by default.
References
SurrealDB Documentation - Capabilities SurrealQL Documentation - Scripting Functions
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | ≥ 2.2.0&&< 2.2.2 | 2.2.2 |
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | ≥ 2.1.0&&< 2.1.5 | 2.1.5 |
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | all versions | 2.0.5 |
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 2.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr 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-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr 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-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr. 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-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-m7rc-8w7m-r9qr 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.