# GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9: A `LIVE` query whose `WHERE` clause evaluates to an error caused the source data modifier (the user creating, updating, or deleting a record

> An authenticated user with select permission can cause a denial of service on a table by registering a malicious LIVE query that blocks all write operations.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Jul 2026

## What is GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9?

GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 is a denial of service vulnerability in surrealdb, published on 1 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A `LIVE` query whose `WHERE` clause evaluates to an error caused the source data modifier (the user creating, updating, or deleting a record on the watched table) to fail instead. Calling any arbitrary SurrealQL function with a typed parameter and passing a value of the wrong type — for example `LIVE SELECT * FROM t WHERE string::trim(deny)` — triggered an evaluation error inside the LIVE notification path. That error then propagated through to the triggering write, rolling back the attempted change.

While such a `LIVE` query was registered, all `CREATE`, `UPDATE`, and `DELETE` operations on the watched table failed — including those issued by a root user — for as long as the registration remained active. Registering the `LIVE` required `select` permission on the table; no other permission on the table was needed.

### Impact

An authenticated user with `select` permission on a table can prevent all `CREATE`, `UPDATE`, and `DELETE` operations on that table — by any other user, up to and including root — for the lifetime of a single registered `LIVE` query. Service is restored when the `LIVE` query is killed or the session that registered it ends.

### Patches

A patch has been introduced that:

1. **Decouples LIVE query evaluation errors from the source transaction** — when `lq_check` returns an error during the LIVE notification path, the error is now reported to the LIVE subscriber as an `Action::Error` notification and the LIVE processing path returns `Ok(())`. The triggering write proceeds normally.
2. **Defers the error notification until after the permission check** — the `Action::Error` notification is only delivered after the LIVE subscription's `PERMISSIONS` clause has been evaluated, so unauthorised subscribers do not learn even that an error occurred (closing an information-disclosure side channel introduced by the first part of the fix).

- Versions 3.1.0 and later are not affected by this issue.

### Workarounds

Users unable to upgrade should restrict the ability of untrusted users to register `LIVE` queries by removing the `select` permission on tables they want to keep writeable, or by gating LIVE registration at the application layer.

## Which versions are affected by GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including surrealdb.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `surrealdb` | crates.io | All versions | 3.1.0 |
| `surrealdb` | crates.io | All versions | 3.1.0 |

## How do I fix GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9?

Upgrade surrealdb to 3.1.0 or later.

## Is GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 is a denial of service vulnerability in surrealdb, published on 1 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- surrealdb (crates.io): affected all versions; fixed in 3.1.0
- surrealdb (crates.io): affected all versions; fixed in 3.1.0

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/GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/GHSA-4v76-cw68-4vc9/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.