Ory Keto has a SQL injection via forged pagination tokens
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- SQL injection
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-89.
Summary
Ory Keto is am open source authorization server for managing permissions at scale. Prior to version 26.2.0, the GetRelationships API in Ory Keto is vulnerable to SQL injection due to flaws in its pagination implementation. Pagination tokens are encrypted using the secret configured in `secrets.pagination`. An attacker who knows this secret can craft their own tokens, including malicious tokens that lead to SQL injection. If this configuration value is not set, Keto falls back to a hard-coded default pagination encryption secret. Because this default value is publicly known, attackers can generate valid and malicious pagination tokens manually for installations where this secret is not set. This issue can be exploited when GetRelationships API is directly or indirectly accessible to the attacker, the attacker can pass a raw pagination token to the affected API, and the configuration value `secrets.pagination` is not set or known to the attacker. An attacker can execute arbitrary SQL queries through forged pagination tokens. As a first line of defense, immediately configure a custom value for `secrets.pagination` by generating a cryptographically secure random secret. Next, upgrade Keto to a fixed version, 26.2.0 or later, as soon as possible.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ory | keto | before 26.2.0 | 26.2.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/ory/keto (Go) | before 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e | 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e | Patch available | GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2 |
- keto Vendorory Affected before 26.2.0 Fixed in 26.2.0 Patch available CNA
- github.com/ory/keto (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e Fixed in 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e Patch available GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2
Remediation
- Fix · CNA keto (ory) Fixed in 26.2.0
- Fix · GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2 github.com/ory/keto (Go) Fixed in 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-33505
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2
References
Sources
- CVE-2026-33505 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-33505 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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