Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2026-51300

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click 3 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A use-after-free vulnerability exists in the expression parsing and memory management logic of SQLite 3.41. After invoking sqlite3ExprDelete to release an expression object, the program still retains the dangling pointer and subsequently accesses member fields of the already freed memory. By constructing malicious SQL queries, a remote attacker can trigger invalid memory access, leading to application crash and sensitive memory information leakage.

In the news

Third-party coverage
Trending covered by 1 outlet this week · latest 6d ago

Surfaced from public web coverage — external links open in a new tab.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A use-after-free vulnerability exists in SQLite 3.41's expression parsing and memory management. The sqlite3ExprDelete function releases an expression object but leaves a dangling pointer, which is subsequently accessed to read member fields of freed memory. Attackers can trigger this via malicious SQL queries to cause crashes and leak sensitive heap memory contents.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of SQLite that properly nullifies pointers after sqlite3ExprDelete releases expression objects, or apply the vendor patch if available. Audit SQL query handling paths for potential expression reuse after deletion.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed SQLite version
    Run 'sqlite3 --version' or call sqlite3_libversion() API to get the exact version number
    Affected if Version is exactly 3.41.x (the vulnerable release)
  2. Confirm expression parsing is in use
    SQLite's expression parsing (used by sqlite3ExprDelete) is a core component; verify the library is linked and operational via application logs or library inspection
    Affected if SQLite library is loaded and processing SQL queries (all typical SQLite usage)
  3. Determine if untrusted SQL input is processed
    Audit application code and configuration to identify whether SQL queries originate from untrusted sources (user input, network, external files)
    Affected if The application processes SQL queries from untrusted or external sources without sanitization

User is affected if running SQLite 3.41.x and the application processes SQL queries, especially from untrusted input, enabling triggering of the use-after-free in sqlite3ExprDelete during expression parsing.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of SQLite that properly nullifies pointers after sqlite3ExprDelete releases expression objects, or apply the vendor patch if available. Audit SQL query handling paths for potential expression reuse after deletion.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,040
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,864.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-51300 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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