Vulnerability Database

362,557

Total vulnerabilities in the database

SurrealDB no JavaScript script function default timeout could facilitate DoS — surrealdb

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Through enabling the scripting capability. SurrealDB allows for advanced functions with complicated logic, by allowing embedded functions to be written in JavaScript.

These functions are bounded for memory and stack size, but not in time. An attacker could launch a number of long running functions that could potentially facilitate a Denial Of Service attack.

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 Low, matched by our CVSS v4 assessment.

Impact

An attacker can use the scripting capabilities of SurrealDB to run a series of long running functions to facilitate a Denial Of Service attack.

Patches

A default timeout for the scripting functions has been implemented with a configurable SURREAL_SCRIPTING_MAX_TIME_LIMIT environment variable

  • Versions 2.0.5, 2.1.5, 2.2.2 and later are not affected by this issue.

Workarounds

For users that cannot upgrade. 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

5597 SurrealDB Documentation - Capabilities SurrealQL Documentation - Scripting Functions

  • Published: Apr 11, 2025
  • Updated: Apr 30, 2025
  • GHSA: GHSA-3824-qmfq-2qv7
  • Severity: Low
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

No technical information available.

CWEs:

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.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

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.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.