sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapValueException

invalid value used for option '--timeout

Error message

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

What it means

_setHTTPTimeout casts --timeout to float, clamps values below 3 seconds up to 3.0 with a warning, and finally applies it globally via socket.setdefaulttimeout. If that call raises OverflowError (the float is too large for the C-level timeout, e.g. an astronomically large --timeout value, with the original error text embedded via getSafeExString), it is converted into this SqlmapValueException.

Solutions

1. Use a sane numeric timeout, e.g. `--timeout=10` (seconds); avoid huge values like 1e308.
2. Ensure the value is numeric — no unit suffixes ('10s') or extra characters.
3. Values below 3 are auto-raised to 3 seconds with a warning, so only abnormally large values trigger this error.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/core/option.py:1718 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Timeouts: ETIMEDOUT, deadlines, and hung requests — what actually expires when a request times out.

AI-assisted analysis of sqlmapproject/sqlmap@0a35b20e39 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/daa7490b40b7d2ec. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/core/option.py:1718

    if conf.timeout:
        debugMsg = "setting the HTTP timeout"
        logger.debug(debugMsg)

        conf.timeout = float(conf.timeout)

        if conf.timeout < 3.0:
            warnMsg = "the minimum HTTP timeout is 3 seconds, sqlmap "
            warnMsg += "will going to reset it"
            logger.warning(warnMsg)

            conf.timeout = 3.0
    else:
        conf.timeout = 30.0

    try:
        socket.setdefaulttimeout(conf.timeout)
    except OverflowError as ex:
        raise SqlmapValueException("invalid value used for option '--timeout' ('%s')" % getSafeExString(ex))

def _checkDependencies():
    """
    Checks for missing dependencies.
    """

    if conf.dependencies:
        checkDependencies()

def _createHomeDirectories():
    """
    Creates directories inside sqlmap's home directory
    """

    if conf.get("purge"):
        return

    for context in ("output", "history"):

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