Attack Chain

1. The attacker gains collection management permissions, possibly through compromised credentials or exploiting another vulnerability.
2. The attacker crafts a request to the collections:create endpoint to create a new SQL collection with a benign SQL query, such as "SELECT 1 as id".
3. The NocoBase server processes the request, and the checkSQL() function validates the SQL query and allows the collection creation.
4. The attacker crafts a malicious request to the sqlCollection:update endpoint, targeting the newly created collection. The request contains a SQL payload designed to extract sensitive data, such as "SELECT * FROM users", or execute malicious functions.
5. The NocoBase server processes the update request, but crucially, the checkSQL() function is not called, allowing the malicious SQL payload to be saved to the collection configuration.
6. The attacker crafts a request to the <collection_name>:list endpoint to query the updated collection.
7. The NocoBase server executes the stored malicious SQL query against the database.
8. The database returns the results of the malicious query, potentially containing sensitive data (e.g., user credentials), which is then returned to the attacker.

Impact

Successful exploitation of this SQL injection vulnerability can have severe consequences. Attackers can exfiltrate sensitive data, including user credentials and password hashes, leading to confidentiality breaches. Furthermore, by using database-specific functions such as pg_read_file or LOAD_FILE, attackers can potentially read arbitrary files from the database server’s filesystem. The vulnerability can also be exploited for privilege escalation, allowing attackers to gain unauthorized access to other databases or execute arbitrary code on the database server. While the number of victims is unknown, any NocoBase instance running a vulnerable version of the @nocobase/plugin-collection-sql plugin is susceptible to this attack.

Recommendation

• Apply the fix suggested in the advisory by adding checkSQL() to the update action within the @nocobase/plugin-collection-sql plugin.
• Deploy the Sigma rule Detect NocoBase SQL Injection via Update Endpoint to detect attempts to exploit this vulnerability by monitoring HTTP requests to the sqlCollection:update endpoint.
• Upgrade to a patched version of @nocobase/plugin-collection-sql that includes the necessary validation on the update action, mitigating the risk of SQL injection.
• Implement the more comprehensive defense measures recommended in the advisory, such as centralizing validation and strengthening the blocklist of dangerous SQL keywords to prevent future vulnerabilities.