GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp — surrealdb
Fix: surrealdb/surrealdb#6774GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp is a NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in surrealdb. A fix is available for surrealdb — see the affected versions and patch details below.
SurrealDB vulnerable to Denial of Service through scripting function memory edge case
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
Real-World Exposure
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 SurrealDB instances with the scripting capability enabled (--allow-scripting), users with the ability to run arbitrary queries can trigger a server crash due to a memory-safety bug in the underlying JS engine. The SurrealDB instance terminates instantly, requiring a manual restart.
The query consists of using built-in string functions to construct a large string and passing it to the JavaScript runtime for compilation. The exact string size required to trigger the crash varies between SurrealDB versions.
Whilst exploiting the vulnerability requires users to be able to run arbitrary queries, if guest access (--allow-guests), is enabled, then guests can perform this attack.
Impact
Any user able to execute queries on a SurrealDB instance with scripting enabled (--allow-scripting) can cause complete denial of service. The server process terminates immediately without graceful shutdown.
The underlying cause of the vulnerability is a null pointer dereference in the QuickJS-NG v0.8 JavaScript engine, this vulnerability cannot be exploited to execute arbitrary code, or compromise the integrity or confidentiality of data.
Patches
Versions prior to SurrealDB v2.6.1 and v3.0.0-beta.3 are vulnerable.
The patches for SurrealDB v2.6.1 and v3.0.0-beta.3 update the rquickjs dependency from v0.9.0 to v0.11.0, which in turn uses an updated version of QuickJS-NG.
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.
Administrators can also use --deny-arbitrary-query to deny arbitrary querying by either guest, record or system users, or a combination of those, with impacts to functionality for those users.
Links
SurrealDB Documentation - Capabilities SurrealDB Documentation - Guest Access SurrealQL Documentation - Scripting Functions quickjs-ng v0.9 Release Notes https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/pull/6833 https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/pull/6774
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | all versions | 2.6.1cargo update -p surrealdb --precise 2.6.1 |
| 🦀crates.io | surrealdb | ≥ 3.0.0-alpha.8&&< 3.0.0-beta.3 | 3.0.0-beta.3cargo update -p surrealdb --precise 3.0.0-beta.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for surrealdb, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update surrealdb to 2.6.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp. 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-xx7m-69ff-9crp in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-xx7m-69ff-9crp across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.