GitHub Advisoryadvisory · PyPI
GHSA-ccg5-9c8w-xh6v SQLAdmin: Unvalidated sortBy parameter in `ModelView` bypasses `column_sortable_list`
MEDIUM
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- Aliases
- CVE-2026-54529
- Ecosystem
- PyPI
- Packages
- sqladmin
- Severity
- Moderate
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
- Weaknesses
- CWE-20, CWE-200, CWE-248, CWE-639
- Reviewed
- 2026-09-09
Affected packages
• PyPI sqladmin: < 0.27.1 → fixed in 0.27.1
Description
Summary
`ModelView.sort_query()` uses the attacker-controlled `sortBy` list-view query parameter without checking it against the configured `column_sortable_list` allow-list. The value is resolved with `getattr(model, ...)` and fed into relationship joins and `order_by()`, so a request can sort by any column of the model — including ones hidden from `column_list` — and, via a dotted path, by columns of related models. Because row order then reflects the value of an unexposed column, this is an information-exposure ordering oracle.
Root cause
`column_sortable_list` is consulted only in the list template to decide which header links to render; the server never enforces it, so removing a column from the UI does not prevent sorting by it.
Exploitation
A single request leaks the relative ordering of an unexposed column; the `asc`↔`desc` reversal confirms rows are ordered by the secret's actual value. Pairing `sortBy` with searchable/filterable columns and pagination can narrow the oracle toward specific values, though value recovery is conditional on having a filterable target column.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-54529 SQLAdmin is a flexible Admin interface for SQLAlchemy models. vulnerability