tursodatabase/turso

Foreign Key CASCADE Cycles Cause Stack Overflow

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#5,154 opened on Feb 11, 2026

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foreign keysgood first issuepanic

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Description

Description

Self-referential or circular foreign key CASCADE constraints cause stack overflow.

Reproducer

PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON;

CREATE TABLE T (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
    parent_id INTEGER REFERENCES T(id) ON DELETE CASCADE
);
INSERT INTO T VALUES (1, NULL), (2, 1), (3, 2), (4, 3);
DELETE FROM T WHERE id = 1;

Crash Message

thread 'main' has overflowed its stack
fatal runtime error: stack overflow, aborting

Per SQLite documentation: "SQLite limits the depth of recursion of triggers in order to prevent a statement involving recursive triggers from using an unbounded amount of memory." The default MAX_TRIGGER_DEPTH is 1000. Turso has no depth limit.

core/translate/fkeys.rs:1444-1665 - Recursive subprograms without depth tracking.

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Contributor guide

Research direction
Implement depth tracking in recursive foreign key cascade handling to prevent stack overflow. Add a maximum recursion depth limit (e.g., 1000) and raise an error if exceeded.
Tech stack
rustsql
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
RustSQL
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65