SQLite before 3.54.0 built with FTS3/FTS4 and SQLITE_ENABLE_FTS3_PARENTHESIS contains a use-after-free vulnerability in fts3BestSnippet() caused by dangling cached position-list pointers. Attackers can run a full-text MATCH query combining OR and NEAR operators with snippet() to read freed heap memory and crash the process.
Weakness
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory “belongs” to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sqlite | Sqlite | * | 3.54.0 (excluding) |
| Sqlite | Ubuntu | upstream | * |
Potential Mitigations
References
- https://abraxaslabs.tech/research/sqlite-fts3-snippet
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite/blob/version-3.53.4/ext/fts3/fts3_snippet.c#L561
- https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite/commit/a87bd2471a9c0606e78d3c3678bcd9cecaa0e731
- https://sqlite.org/bugs/info/2026-08-17T09:18:24Z
- https://sqlite.org/releaselog/3_54_0.html
- https://sqlite.org/src/info/e4635c4153
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/sqlite-before-3.54.0-use-after-free-in-fts3-fts3bestsnippet-via-snippet
- https://sqlite.org/bugs/info/2026-08-17T09:18:24Z