SurrealDB vulnerable to Denial of Service due to nested types annotations
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub. Impact type from CWE-674.
Summary
The SurrealDB type/kind parser did not enforce the configured recursion depth limit when parsing nested type annotations. The expression parser already enforced the limit for analogous constructs; the kind parser omitted it. An authenticated attacker could send a query with deeply nested type annotations (e.g., `array<option<array<option<...>>>>`) and exhaust server memory, crashing the process. This is an incomplete fix for [GHSA-6r8p-hpg7-825g](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/security/advisories/GHSA-6r8p-hpg7-825g), which addressed the same class of bug in the expression parser but did not cover the kind/type annotation parser code path. ### Impact An authenticated user with query execution privileges can crash a SurrealDB server with a single WebSocket message containing deeply nested type annotations. ### Patches A patch has been introduced that wraps `parse_concrete_kind` and the `OPTION<...>` arm of `parse_inner_kind` with `enter_object_recursion!`, bounding the recursive cycle `parse_concrete_kind → parse_inner_kind → parse_inner_single_kind → parse_concrete_kind` at the configured `object_recursion_limit` (default 100). Regression tests cover both cast and `DEFINE FIELD` paths. - Versions 3.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue. ### Workarounds Restrict the ability of untrusted users to execute arbitrary queries via the `--deny-arbitrary-query` capability flag for the affected user classes (guest, record, or system). Disabling untrusted access to the WebSocket `/rpc` endpoint also prevents exploitation; the HTTP `/sql` endpoint's 1 MiB body limit constrains nesting to a depth where OOM is not feasible.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | surrealdb (crates.io) | before 3.1.0 | 3.1.0 | Patch available | GHSA-q8qp-67f9-wr3f |
- surrealdb (crates.io) Vendor— Affected before 3.1.0 Fixed in 3.1.0 Patch available GHSA-q8qp-67f9-wr3f
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-q8qp-67f9-wr3f surrealdb (crates.io) Fixed in 3.1.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-q8qp-67f9-wr3f
References
Sources
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