sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapSyntaxException

invalid value used for option '--crawl

Error message

invalid value used for option '--crawl' ('%s')

What it means

Startup value-validation guard in _basicOptionValidation: the crawl depth from --crawl (conf.crawlDepth) is validated by calling xrange(conf.crawlDepth); an OverflowError there means the value is not a usable small integer (e.g. absurdly large or non-numeric), and the offending value is embedded in the message via getSafeExString(ex).

Solutions

1. Pass a small positive integer to --crawl (e.g. --crawl=3)
2. Quote the value correctly so the shell does not pass garbage characters
3. Remove --crawl if site crawling is not required

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/core/option.py:2898 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of sqlmapproject/sqlmap@0a35b20e39 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f3d66663ae9b1b06. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/core/option.py:2898

    if conf.notString and conf.nullConnection:
        errMsg = "option '--not-string' is incompatible with switch '--null-connection'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.tor and conf.osPwn:
        errMsg = "option '--tor' is incompatible with switch '--os-pwn'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.noCast and conf.hexConvert:
        errMsg = "switch '--no-cast' is incompatible with switch '--hex'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.crawlDepth:
        try:
            xrange(conf.crawlDepth)
        except OverflowError as ex:
            errMsg = "invalid value used for option '--crawl' ('%s')" % getSafeExString(ex)
            raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.dumpAll and conf.search:
        errMsg = "switch '--dump-all' is incompatible with switch '--search'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.string and conf.notString:
        errMsg = "option '--string' is incompatible with switch '--not-string'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.regexp and conf.nullConnection:
        errMsg = "option '--regexp' is incompatible with switch '--null-connection'"
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

    if conf.regexp:
        try:
            re.compile(conf.regexp)
        except Exception as ex:
            errMsg = "invalid regular expression '%s' ('%s')" % (conf.regexp, getSafeExString(ex))

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