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SQL Injection Vulnerability via ActiveRecord comments

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 18, 2023 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Feb 2, 2024

Package

bundler activerecord (RubyGems)

Affected versions

>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.6.1
>= 6.1.0, < 6.1.7.1
>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.4.1

Patched versions

6.0.6.1
6.1.7.1
7.0.4.1

Description

There is a possible vulnerability in ActiveRecord related to the sanitization of comments. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22794.

Versions Affected: >= 6.0.0 Not affected: < 6.0.0 Fixed Versions: 6.0.6.1, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1
Impact

Previously the implementation of escaping for comments was insufficient for

If malicious user input is passed to either the annotate query method, the optimizer_hints query method, or through the QueryLogs interface which automatically adds annotations, it may be sent to the database with insufficient sanitization and be able to inject SQL outside of the comment.

In most cases these interfaces won’t be used with user input and users should avoid doing so.

Example vulnerable code:

Post.where(id: 1).annotate("#{params[:user_input]}")

Post.where(id: 1).optimizer_hints("#{params[:user_input]}")

Example vulnerable QueryLogs configuration (the default configuration is not vulnerable):

config.active_record.query_log_tags = [
  {
    something: -> { <some value including user input> }
  }
]

All users running an affected release should either upgrade or use one of the workarounds immediately.
Releases

The FIXED releases are available at the normal locations.
Workarounds

Avoid passing user input to annotate and avoid using QueryLogs configuration which can include user input.
Patches

To aid users who aren’t able to upgrade immediately we have provided patches for the two supported release series. They are in git-am format and consist of a single changeset.

6-0-Make-sanitize_as_sql_comment-more-strict.patch - Patch for 6.0 series
6-1-Make-sanitize_as_sql_comment-more-strict.patch - Patch for 6.1 series
7-0-Make-sanitize_as_sql_comment-more-strict.patch - Patch for 7.0 series

Please note that only the 7.0.Z and 6.1.Z series are supported at present, and 6.0.Z for severe vulnerabilities. Users of earlier unsupported releases are advised to upgrade as soon as possible as we cannot guarantee the continued availability of security fixes for unsupported releases.

References

Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 18, 2023
Reviewed Jan 18, 2023
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Feb 9, 2023
Last updated Feb 2, 2024

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

0.268%
(67th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2023-22794

GHSA ID

GHSA-hq7p-j377-6v63

Source code

Credits

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