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
The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sqlite | Sqlite | * | 3.54.0 (excluding) |
| Sqlite | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
Potential Mitigations
Related Attack Patterns
References
- https://abraxaslabs.tech/research/sqlite-cte-nest
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite/blob/version-3.53.4/src/select.c#L5754
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite/commit/e6ff280c839fdfc7418fd5add12e8f32702a17fb
- https://sqlite.org/bugs/info/2026-10-04T04:58:58Z
- https://sqlite.org/releaselog/3_54_0.html
- https://sqlite.org/src/info/f54730871303e655
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/sqlite-before-3.54.0-stack-exhaustion-via-cte-chain-in-selectexpander