Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as query-capable user
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ExploitRun embedded JS reading non-ASCII header value
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ImpactTrigger uncaught exception, abort server process
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Exception handling completeness
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires two concrete prerequisites both drawn from the description: (1) the embedded JavaScript scripting feature must be enabled on the SurrealDB instance (scripting is a security-sensitive, non-default capability), and (2) the attacker must be a query-capable authenticated user (reflected as PR:L). The specific trigger is executing script that reads non-ASCII header values via Headers get(), entries(), values(), or getSetCookie(), or returning non-ASCII headers from a fetch() endpoint. Limiting factors: if scripting is disabled or query access is restricted to fully trusted principals, exploitation is not possible; no victim user interaction is needed (UI:N), and impact is confined to availability (server process abort) with no data exposure or modification. |
| Impact | This is a medium-to-high severity availability-only flaw, not a top-tier emergency. The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N, score 7.1) is internally consistent with the description: network-reachable, low complexity, but requiring low-privilege authentication (PR:L) and yielding only availability impact (VA:H) with no confidentiality or integrity loss (VC:N/VI:N) and no scope change. CWE-248 (uncaught exception) matches the 'aborting the server process' crash behavior. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or POC was provided, so exploitation likelihood cannot be quantified from the input; per the data this is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The key mitigating signals are that the attacker must be a query-capable (authenticated) user AND the embedded-JavaScript scripting feature must be enabled - a non-default, security-sensitive configuration. This substantially narrows the real exploitation population versus a raw AV:N 'network' reading. Bottom line: a legitimate but bounded priority - patch in environments that enable scripting and expose query access to semi-trusted users; lower urgency where scripting is disabled or query access is tightly restricted. No conflicting signals in the data, but EPSS/KEV/POC are simply absent rather than confirmed-negative. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated user with query privileges on a SurrealDB instance that has embedded JavaScript scripting enabled submits a query containing a script that calls Headers.get()/entries()/values()/getSetCookie() or returns a fetch() response whose headers contain non-ASCII values. Reading those non-ASCII header values triggers an uncaught exception that aborts the server process, taking down the database for all users. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data, and no user interaction by a victim is required. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 12, 2026
Denial of service in SurrealDB versions before 3.3.0 lets a query-capable authenticated user with embedded JavaScript scripting enabled abort the database server process by reading a non-ASCII header value through the JavaScript Headers get(), entries(), values(), or getSetCookie() APIs, or by returning such a value from a fetch() endpoint. The flaw is rated 7.1 (CVSS 4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N, availability-only), reflecting that exploitation requires an authenticated query-capable principal plus the non-default scripting capability, and that the impact is limited to a server abort with no data exposure or modification; there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no CISA KEV listing. Vendor patch is 3.3.0.
RemediationAI
Primary fix: upgrade SurrealDB to 3.3.0 or later, per vendor advisory GHSA-84w9-87hm-mxqx (https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/security/advisories/GHSA-84w9-87hm-mxqx) and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/surrealdb-before-3.3.0-denial-of-service-via-headers-non-ascii-values; this is the only measure that removes the trigger while preserving functionality. If immediate upgrade is not possible, apply compensating controls knowing their trade-offs: disable the embedded JavaScript scripting capability on the SurrealDB instance (the capability that gates execution of the affected Headers/fetch APIs) - this fully blocks the trigger path but breaks stored JavaScript functions and any application logic that relies on server-side JS; alternatively, restrict query-capable credentials to fully trusted service principals and rotate or revoke credentials held by less-trusted tenants - this reduces exposure but does not eliminate the flaw for any principal that still has both scripting and query access, and it will not protect against a compromised trusted account. Since the failure aborts the whole process, ensure process supervision/automatic restart and query-level rate limiting are in place to shorten outages, and monitor logs for abrupt terminations following JavaScript header-access or fetch operations as a detection signal. No vendor-released patch version other than 3.3.0 is cited in the provided data.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The issue is rooted in SurrealDB's embedded JavaScript execution environment, which implements the WHATWG Fetch API surface - Headers objects with get(), entries(), values(), and getSetCookie(), plus fetch() responses - inside the database process itself. When such an API call reads or returns a header value containing non-ASCII bytes, the underlying runtime raises an unrecoverable error rather than surfacing a catchable JavaScript exception, triggering CWE-248 (Unrecoverable Error) and terminating the server process. Because the failure occurs inside the embedded runtime, it is not confined to the attacker's statement or transaction; it takes down the shared server instance. The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:surrealdb:surrealdb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* with a 'before 3.3.0' constraint covers every prior release across deployment modes. Two gating conditions limit the attack surface: the embedded scripting capability (security-sensitive and, per assessment, not enabled by default) must be active, and the caller must already hold query-capable credentials, consistent with the CVSS vector's PR:L; conversely, no victim interaction is required (UI:N) and there is no confidentiality or integrity impact (VC:N/VI:N).
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-reachable query interface (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) but requires an authenticated query-capable user (PR:L); impact is availability-only (A:H), no confidentiality or integrity loss.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
SurrealDB before 3.3.0 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows query-capable users to crash the server by reading non-ASCII header values in embedded JavaScript. Attackers with scripting enabled can read such values via Headers get(), entries(), values(), or getSetCookie(), or return them from fetch() endpoints, aborting the server process.
Technical POC Analysis
CWE-248 (Uncaught Exception), with the advisory additionally tagging CWE-617 (Reachable Assertion).
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
A denial-of-service flaw in SurrealDB (versions before 3.3.0) allows an already-authenticated, query-capable user to abort the database server process when embedded JavaScript scripting is enabled, potentially taking dependent applications offline until the service is restarted. The risk is concentrated in environments that have enabled the non-default scripting capability and issue query-level credentials broadly, since exploitation requires valid credentials and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis. Leadership should care because a successful abort is a full availability event for any workload backed by SurrealDB, and the exposure window persists until the platform is upgraded to 3.3.0 or later.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
Privilege escalation via second-order SurrealQL injection in SurrealDB before 2.0.5, 2.1.5, and 2.2.2 lets an authentica
Privilege escalation in SurrealDB before v3.1.0 lets unauthenticated attackers hijack the privileges of concurrently-act
Denial of service in SurrealDB before 3.1.0 lets an unauthenticated remote attacker crash the database with a single Web
Denial of service in SurrealDB before 3.1.0 lets an unauthenticated remote attacker crash the entire database process wi
Session hijacking in SurrealDB before 3.1.0 lets unauthenticated attackers enumerate attached session UUIDs through the
SurrealDB versions before 3.3.0 fail to validate a caller's authorization level when the SurrealQL USE statement switche
Cross-tenant data access in SurrealDB before 3.3.0 allows an authenticated namespace- or database-level SYSTEM user to b
Cross-tenant authorization bypass in SurrealDB before 3.2.0 lets any authenticated user reach custom API endpoints belon
Arbitrary file read in SurrealDB before 3.1.5 lets an authenticated database user holding the EDITOR or OWNER role discl
Confused-deputy privilege escalation in SurrealDB before 2.5.0 and before 3.0.0-beta.3 lets a low-privileged user (e.g.
Denial of service in SurrealDB before 3.1.5 lets an authenticated user with query-execution privileges crash the entire
Authenticated SurrealDB record users can read field values that field-level SELECT permissions are meant to conceal on S
EUVD-2026-97640
GHSA-5834-qg2f-g3j7
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB