Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

SurrealDB: ES512 silently downgraded to ES384 due to jsonwebtoken crate limitation — surrealdb

Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm

When a user configures ALGORITHM ES512 for any JWT access method (DEFINE ACCESS ... TYPE JWT ALGORITHM ES512), SurrealDB silently substitutes ES384 at all four internal algorithm conversion points. This occurs because the underlying jsonwebtoken crate (v10.x) does not include an ES512 algorithm variant, so the mapping defaults to ES384 without raising an error, warning, or log message.

Users who provide the correct P-521 key type for ES512 will experience authentication handshake failures due to the curve mismatch with ES384 (which expects P-384).

Impact

Authentication handshake failures when using ES512 with the correct P-521 key type, and when tokens are verified by external systems expecting real ES512 signatures.

This vulnerability cannot be exploited to forge tokens or compromise the integrity or confidentiality of data handled by SurrealDB, as ES384 remains cryptographically strong.

Patches

Versions prior to SurrealDB v3.1.0 are vulnerable.

The patches for SurrealDB v3.1.0 block new DEFINE ACCESS statements using ALGORITHM ES512 with a clear error message and add deprecation warnings at runtime for existing stored ES512 definitions.

Workarounds

Users should reconfigure affected JWT access methods to use a supported algorithm such as ES384 (with a P-384 key pair) or another supported algorithm. Review any DEFINE ACCESS statements specifying ALGORITHM ES512 and update them accordingly.

  • Published: Jul 1, 2026
  • Updated: Jul 2, 2026
  • GHSA: GHSA-fwg2-gr34-q3w8
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Low
  • Score: 4.3
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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