GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999: SurrealDB Authenticated Subscribers Can Read Records Vulnerability

MODERATE
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CVSS 4.3
CWE-863
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.3) authenticated subscribers can read records vulnerability (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) affecting SurrealDB libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves authenticated subscribers can read records hidden by select permissions via live subscriptions. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.1.0.

GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.3
CWE Classification CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization
Affected Product SurrealDB
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality Low (C:L)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected SurrealDB dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

surrealdb fixed: 3.1.0 
Upgrade surrealdb to 3.1.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for surrealdb

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999, inspect your project dependencies for SurrealDB:

inspect dependencies for surrealdb

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of SurrealDB in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.1.0), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization, where the product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. In SurrealDB, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A record user could read records the table's SELECT permission expression should have hidden, when that expression referenced `$value`, `$before`, `$after`, or `$event`. Binding a chosen value to that name before registering a `LIVE SELECT` caused notifications to evaluate the permission against the attacker's input instead of the real document. ### Impact A record user binds a value to `$value`, `$before`, `$after`, or `$event` (e.g. `LET $value = [$auth.id]`) and registers `LIVE SELECT * FROM person`. The captured value shadows the real document at notification time, so a SELECT permission like `WHERE $auth.id.id() IN $value` passes for every record on the table — the subscriber receives notifications for records they should not see. Read-only impact, bounded to one table. Permission expressions that reference only field names, `$auth`, or `$session` are unaffected. ### Patches A patch has been introduced that re-orders the LIVE notification parameter binding so captured user variables are added first and the trusted document-context and session parameters are added last. - Versions 3.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue. ### Workarounds Affected users who are unable to update should avoid table-`PERMISSIONS` and LIVE `WHERE` expressions that read user-named variables (`$value`, `$before`, `$after`, `$event`) without also gating on a system-derived field such as the record id.

GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 Affected SurrealDB Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.1.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
surrealdb
 crates.io
< 3.1.0
3.1.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/security/advisories/GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/commit/6bcc55c9c0494a0d4d36821019b54459f7162af7
SurrealDB Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/orgs/surrealdb/discussions/101
SurrealDB Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999?
GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 is a security vulnerability in SurrealDB involving Authenticated subscribers can read records hidden by SELECT permissions via LIVE subscriptions under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization.
Which SurrealDB versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.1.0 across affected packages: surrealdb.
What version fixes GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999?
Upgrading to 3.1.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is surrealdb affected?
Yes, surrealdb is affected in releases prior to 3.1.0. Upgrade your dependency to 3.1.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999?
GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999?
GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999 is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization (The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for surrealdb'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999",
  "modified" : "2026-07-01T20:20:00Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-01T20:20:00Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "SurrealDB: Authenticated subscribers can read records hidden by SELECT permissions via LIVE subscriptions",
  "details" : "A record user could read records the table's SELECT permission expression should have hidden, when that expression referenced `$value`, `$before`, `$after`, or `$event`. Binding a chosen value to that name before registering a `LIVE SELECT` caused notifications to evaluate the permission against the attacker's input instead of the real document.\n\n### Impact\n\nA record user binds a value to `$value`, `$before`, `$after`, or `$event` (e.g. `LET $value = [$auth.id]`) and registers `LIVE SELECT * FROM person`. The captured value shadows the real document at notification time, so a SELECT permission like `WHERE $auth.id.id() IN $value` passes for every record on the table — the subscriber receives notifications for records they should not see.\n\nRead-only impact, bounded to one table. Permission expressions that reference only field names, `$auth`, or `$session` are unaffected.\n\n### Patches\n\nA patch has been introduced that re-orders the LIVE notification parameter binding so captured user variables are added first and the trusted document-context and session parameters are added last.\n\n- Versions 3.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nAffected users who are unable to update should avoid table-`PERMISSIONS` and LIVE `WHERE` expressions that read user-named variables (`$value`, `$before`, `$after`, `$event`) without also gating on a system-derived field such as the record id.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "surrealdb"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.1.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/security/advisories/GHSA-6wqw-vhfr-9999"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb/commit/6bcc55c9c0494a0d4d36821019b54459f7162af7"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/orgs/surrealdb/discussions/101"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-07-01T20:20:00Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}