An authenticated user could bypass permission rules that gated access on parts of a record's id — most commonly tenant-isolation rules of the form PERMISSIONS FOR select WHERE id.tenant = $auth.id.tenant. The same defect also let UNIQUE constraints defined on parts of an id admit duplicate entries.
When a query referenced part of a composite record id (id.tenant, id.uid, …), SurrealDB read the value from the record's editable body fields instead of from the immutable id key. Because the body is editable but the id is fixed at creation, an attacker with write access could set the body field to any value and have permission checks read that spoofed value.
Impact
What an attacker can do:
- Read records hidden by permission rules of the form
id.<field> = $auth.<...> (typically tenant- or scope-isolation boundaries) by writing the same-named field on a record they control to the spoofed value.
- Cause UNIQUE constraints defined on
id.<field> to silently admit duplicate entries, leaving the database with rows that violate the constraint.
What it can't do:
- Cross namespace or database isolation boundaries.
-Bypass field-level PERMISSIONS FOR update clauses that don't reference id.<field> paths.
- Affect availability or crash the server.
Patches
The value-path resolver now special-cases Part::Field and Part::Value against RecordIdKey::Object, reading the named component directly from the id key without ever entering select_document. The Array-keyed special case (id[0], id[1], …) is unchanged.
- Versions 3.1.0 and later are not affected.
Workarounds
Users unable to patch are advised to consider the following workarounds:
- Avoid permission expressions that read
id.<field> on Object-keyed record ids; gate on the full record id (id = $auth.id) or on a server-derived session value instead.
- Avoid UNIQUE indexes on
id.<field> until 3.1.0; use DEFINE INDEX ... ON FIELDS id UNIQUE (the full id) where possible.
References
An authenticated user could bypass permission rules that gated access on parts of a record's id — most commonly tenant-isolation rules of the form
PERMISSIONS FOR select WHERE id.tenant = $auth.id.tenant. The same defect also let UNIQUE constraints defined on parts of an id admit duplicate entries.When a query referenced part of a composite record id (
id.tenant,id.uid, …), SurrealDB read the value from the record's editable body fields instead of from the immutable id key. Because the body is editable but the id is fixed at creation, an attacker with write access could set the body field to any value and have permission checks read that spoofed value.Impact
What an attacker can do:
id.<field> = $auth.<...>(typically tenant- or scope-isolation boundaries) by writing the same-named field on a record they control to the spoofed value.id.<field>to silently admit duplicate entries, leaving the database with rows that violate the constraint.What it can't do:
-Bypass field-level
PERMISSIONS FORupdate clauses that don't referenceid.<field>paths.Patches
The value-path resolver now special-cases
Part::FieldandPart::ValueagainstRecordIdKey::Object, reading the named component directly from the id key without ever enteringselect_document. The Array-keyed special case (id[0],id[1], …) is unchanged.Workarounds
Users unable to patch are advised to consider the following workarounds:
id.<field>on Object-keyed record ids; gate on the full record id (id = $auth.id) or on a server-derived session value instead.id.<field>until 3.1.0; useDEFINE INDEX ... ON FIELDS id UNIQUE(the full id) where possible.References