# CVE-2026-119371: SQLite before 3.54.0 Stack Exhaustion via CTE Chain in selectExpander()


- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 30 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-111763, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-119371, ECHO-b6bb-c49f-2064, GHSA-v8vq-8vgf-h9mg, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-119371

## What is CVE-2026-119371?

CVE-2026-119371 is a medium-severity vulnerability in SQLite, published on 30 Oct 2026. 

### Official description

SQLite before 3.54.0 contains a stack exhaustion vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass the SQLITE_LIMIT_EXPR_DEPTH nesting limit because common table expressions are not counted against it. Attackers can supply a WITH clause chaining tens of thousands of CTEs, via plain SQL or a view in an untrusted database file, causing unbounded selectExpander() recursion that crashes the process.

Weakness: CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-119371?

It affects 1 product.


Products: SQLite.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-119371?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-119371 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-119371 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in SQLite

- [CVE-2015-5895](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5895/): Multiple unspecified vulnerabilities in SQLite before 3.8.10.2, as used in Apple iOS before 9, have unknown impact and attack vectors. (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2020-35527](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35527/): In SQLite 3.31.1, there is an out of bounds access problem through ALTER TABLE for views that have a nested FROM clause. (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-8457](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-8457/): SQLite3 from 3.6.0 to and including 3.27.2 is vulnerable to heap out-of-bound read in the rtreenode() function when handling invalid rtree tables. (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10989](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10989/): The getNodeSize function in ext/rtree/rtree.c in SQLite through 3.19.3, as used in GDAL and other products, mishandles undersized RTree blob (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-119373](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-119373/): SQLite before 3.54.0 FTS5 Heap Buffer Overflow via fts5MergeRowidLists() (high 8.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-119371 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-119371 is a medium-severity vulnerability in SQLite, published on 30 Oct 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-119371 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SQLite. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-119371/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-119371/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-119371
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119371
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-119371

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-119371/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.