Pterodactyl has a database resource limit bypass via race condition in Client API
Impact
The Pterodactyl Client API has a logic flaw that lets users bypass their assigned limits for database allocations. This happens because the database locking mechanism used in the controllers is totally broken and doesn't actually lock anything.
Source excerpt · OSVAffected packages
Start with the recorded fix for your release branch. Check your installed version and test compatibility before upgrading. Fixing this advisory does not rule out other vulnerabilities in the release.
| Affected range | Recorded fix |
|---|---|
| Earlier releases before 1.12.3Ecosystem versions | 1.12.3 |
Version evidence: OSV · GHSA-fgmm-w5cx-vrfw
View original version evidence (121 explicit versions)
Original source description
Summary
The Pterodactyl Client API has a logic flaw that lets users bypass their assigned limits for database allocations. This happens because the database locking mechanism used in the controllers is totally broken and doesn't actually lock anything.
Details
Inside DatabaseController.php, the code tries to prevent multiple databases from being created at once by calling $server->databases()->lockForUpdate(). In Laravel, this just configures a query builder but never actually sends a command to the database because it’s missing a terminal method like count() or get(). It’s basically a no-op that does nothing.
Since there’s no real lock, multiple requests hitting the endpoint at the exact same time will all see that the database count is under the limit. They all move forward to the DeployServerDatabaseService and successfully create extra resources on the physical host.
Impact
Users are able to create more databases than they are supposed to, potentially also breaking the web interface.