GHSA-xwqr-rcqg-22mr
Flight vulnerable to SQL Injection via unvalidated identifiers in SimplePdo::insert / update / delete
Quick fix
GHSA-xwqr-rcqg-22mr — flightphp/core: upgrade to the fixed version with the command below.
composer require flightphp/core:^3.18.1Details
### Summary `SimplePdo::insert()`, `SimplePdo::update()`, and `SimplePdo::delete()` build SQL statements by concatenating the `$table` argument and the **keys** of the `$data` array directly into the query, with no identifier quoting and no validation. When an application forwards user-controlled data shapes to these helpers — a common and documented pattern, e.g. `$db->insert('users', $request->data->getData())` — an attacker can inject arbitrary SQL by crafting malicious array keys.
### Affected code `flight/database/SimplePdo.php`:
```php // insert (≈ 320-373) $sql = sprintf( "INSERT INTO %s (%s) VALUES (%s)", $table, // raw concat implode(', ', $columns), // raw array_keys($data) implode(', ', $placeholders) );
// update (≈ 397-409) $sets[] = "$column = ?"; // $column = user-controlled key $sql = sprintf( "UPDATE %s SET %s WHERE %s", $table, // raw implode(', ', $sets), $where );
// delete (≈ 427-429) $sql = "DELETE FROM $table WHERE $where"; ```
No identifier-quoting helper exists; neither `$table` nor the data keys are validated against a safe-identifier pattern.
### Proof of concept A controller does: ```php $db->insert('users', $request->data->getData()); ```
The attacker sends the JSON body: ```json {"name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1);-- ": "attacker_injected"} ```
Generated SQL: ```sql INSERT INTO users (name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1);-- ) VALUES (?) ```
After the `--` comment, the effective statement `INSERT INTO users (name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1)` binds the single placeholder `'attacker_injected'`, yielding a row with `is_admin = 1`.
Reproduced live on an in-memory sqlite database (`testproj/sqli_live2.php`):
``` id=1 name=alice is_admin=0 id=2 name=attacker_injected is_admin=1 <-- injected insert ```
`UPDATE` injection via the `$where` parameter was also reproduced: `$db->update('users', ['is_admin' => 1], "id = 1 OR 1=1")` flips admin on every row.
### Impact - **Privilege escalation** on any signup / register endpoint that forwards request data to `insert()` (attacker creates an administrative account in a single request). - Arbitrary column write through `update()` keys. - Data destruction and exfiltration through the `$where` parameter (`DELETE FROM users WHERE 1=1`, UNION-based exfil, etc.).
### Patch (fixed in `3.18.1`, commit `b8dd23a`) A new `requireSafeIdentifier()` helper validates table names and column names against `^[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*$` before they are interpolated into the SQL string. The `$where` parameter remains raw SQL as documented — parameterized values passed alongside it continue to be bound safely.
### Credit Discovered by **@Rootingg**.
Are you affected?
Enter the version of the package you're using.
Affected packages
References
- https://github.com/flightphp/core/security/advisories/GHSA-xwqr-rcqg-22mr[WEB]
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42550[ADVISORY]
- https://github.com/flightphp/core/commit/b8dd23aaa828cb289fa3c84e75b2a3717cab50b0[WEB]
- https://github.com/flightphp/core[PACKAGE]
- https://github.com/flightphp/core/releases/tag/v3.18.1[WEB]