Budibase: MySQL DESCRIBE Backtick Injection via multipleStatements in Database Connector
📋 Description
Summary
This is a related but independently fixable vulnerability to GHSA-qqf5-x7mj-v43p (PostgreSQL SQL injection), reported in the same original disclosure and split per GitHub CNA guidance (rule 4.2.11) since it affects a separate integration, has a distinct attack precondition, and requires a separate patch.
The MySQL integration enables multipleStatements: true on the connection,
permitting semicolon-separated multi-statement execution. During table
introspection, table names retrieved from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES are
interpolated into a DESCRIBE query wrapped in backticks, but embedded
backticks in the table name are never escaped — allowing a malicious table
name to break out and inject a second, attacker-controlled statement.
Details
Vulnerable Code:
File: packages/server/src/integrations/mysql.ts, lines 172, 305
this.config = { ...config, multipleStatements: true, ... } // line 172
...
{ sql: `DESCRIBE \`${tableName}\`;` } // line 305 — backtick NOT escaped
Because multipleStatements is enabled, any statement appended after the
backtick break-out executes as a second query in the same round trip.
Step-by-Step Reproduction
- An attacker with the ability to create tables in the target MySQL
database (e.g. a lower-privileged database user, or a malicious actor in
a multi-tenant database) creates a table named:
foo`; DROP TABLE users; -- - In Budibase, an administrator triggers schema introspection for that database (e.g. opening the datasource or refreshing its table list).
- Budibase reads the malicious table name from
INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLESand interpolates it into theDESCRIBEquery. - The unescaped backtick terminates the identifier early, and the
semicolon-separated payload (enabled by
multipleStatements: true) executes as a second statement.
Impact
Arbitrary SQL execution triggered during routine schema discovery. Unlike the PostgreSQL and MS SQL Server findings, this does not require the attacker to control the Budibase datasource configuration directly — only the ability to create a maliciously named table in the underlying database beforehand, with an administrator's normal use of the introspection feature serving as the trigger.
🎯 Affected products1
- npm/@budibase/server:<= 3.38.1
🔗 References (5)
- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/security/advisories/GHSA-2xgg-r2wc-c5r2
- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/pull/18989
- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/commit/2c61f389c9986c91ddd8ae161c2b5e8ec21c60ac
- https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/releases/tag/3.39.18
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2xgg-r2wc-c5r2