ffuf recursion fails with "job queue is full" error

TL;DR

Every found directory spawns a new recursion job, and deep or wildcard-y sites blow past the queue cap. Limit -recursion-depth, filter the wildcard responses that spawn junk jobs, and run recursion as a second targeted pass on real directories instead of all at once.

job queue is full

Use this when

• Ffuf recursion aborts with job queue is full.
• The site is large or returns wildcard responses.
• You want recursive coverage without the abort.

Not for this skill when

• Recursion completes with no findings. Try deeper wordlists or manual passes.
• The queue fills on a tiny site. Something else is wrong; check for wildcard responses first.
• You do not need recursion. A single-level pass plus manual follow-up is often enough.

Steps

1. Cap the depth: ffuf -u YOUR_TARGET_HOST/FUZZ -w wordlist -recursion -recursion-depth 2. Verify: the queue stops overflowing.
2. Kill the junk jobs at the source: filter wildcard responses (-fs on the wildcard size) so they never become recursion jobs. Verify: fewer nonsense directories are found.
3. Run recursion as a second pass: first a flat run, then ffuf -u YOUR_TARGET_HOST/realdir/FUZZ on each genuine directory. Verify: the job count stays controlled.
4. Only raise the queue cap after filtering; a bigger queue full of junk just takes longer to fail. Verify: the run completes.
5. Note which directories were recursed and to what depth. Verify: coverage is documented.

Variant phrasings

ffuf recursion job queue full

Compact phrasing.

ffuf recursion-depth queue

Flag-oriented search.

ffuf recursion aborts large site

Symptom-level search.

Compatibility: ffuf v1/v2. -recursion and -recursion-depth are stable flags.

Why it happens

Recursion is multiplicative: 50 directories found at depth 1 become 50 new jobs, each of which can find more. On wildcard-responding apps every guess is a "directory", so the job count explodes combinatorially and hits the cap fast.

Edge cases / pitfalls

• Wildcard responses are the usual root cause. Fix filtering before touching queue settings.
• Depth 3+ on a big app is rarely worth it; the interesting content is usually within 2 levels.
• The second-pass approach gives cleaner evidence anyway: each directory's findings are separated by target.
• Record recursion depth in the methodology; "recursive fuzzing" without a depth is not reproducible.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_sV57fDC0EXXsYu46urL0Ww

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_sV57fDC0EXXsYu46urL0Ww

Thread query: ffuf recursion fails with "job queue is full" error

TL;DR: Every found directory spawns a new recursion job, and deep or wildcard-y sites blow past the queue cap. Limit -recursion-depth, filter the wildcard responses that spawn junk jobs, and run recursion as a second targeted pass on real directories instead of all at once.