GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M

SurrealDB lets callers modify records using JSON Patch operations via the UPDATE … PATCH statement (and SDK equivalents such as db.patch()). One of those operations is copy, which duplicates one field's value into another field of the same record. A PATCH with an empty from, for example, UPDATE thing:1 PATCH [{ op: 'copy', from: '', path: '/leak' }], was treated as "copy the entire record" and duplicated every field, including fields the caller has no permission to read, into the destination field the caller chose. The permission filter that hides protected field values from the response only knew to hide the original protected field names, not the new destinations, so the protected values were returned to the caller intact under the new field name.

Workarounds

Affected users who are unable to update should restrict UPDATE … PATCH to callers who already hold SELECT permission on every field of the target record, for them, the bug exposes nothing they can't already read. Otherwise, switch the mutation to an explicit SET or MERGE clause, which removes the attack surface since neither form accepts JSON Patch operations.

An authenticated user with permission to issue UPDATE … PATCH against a record could read the values of any field on that record, regardless of field-level PERMISSIONS FOR select restrictions. The leak is confidentiality-only, and bounded to the fields of the single record the caller targets per PATCH request, it does not expose other records on the same table or any data outside that record's scope.

The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions. Typical impact: unauthorized data access or execution of privileged operations.

GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M has a CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (3.1.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

A patch has been introduced that rejects an empty from pointer at parse time for both copy and move operations.

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

1. What is GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M? GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M is a medium-severity incorrect authorization vulnerability in surrealdb (rust), affecting versions < 3.1.0. It is fixed in 3.1.0. The application does not correctly enforce access controls, allowing a principal to access resources or operations beyond their granted permissions.
2. How severe is GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M? GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M has a CVSS score of 4.3 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of surrealdb are affected by GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M? surrealdb (rust) versions < 3.1.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M? Yes. GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M is fixed in 3.1.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix GHSA-FPXG-5XMV-922M? Upgrade surrealdb to 3.1.0 or later.