CVE-2026-33505: Ory Keto has a SQL injection via forged pagination tokens

Published Mar 20, 2026
·
Updated

Description

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.

Preconditions

This issue can be exploited when all of the following conditions are met:

- GetRelationships API is directly or indirectly accessible to the attacker - The attacker can pass a raw pagination token to the affected API - The configuration value secrets.pagination is not set or known to the attacker

Impact

An attacker can execute arbitrary SQL queries through forged pagination tokens.

Mitigation

As a first line of defense, immediately configure a custom value for secrets.pagination by generating a cryptographically secure random secret, for example:

openssl rand -base64 32

Next, upgrade Keto to a fixed version as soon as possible.

Other sources

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.

MITRE

Affected Software

2 affected componentsFixes available
go/github.com/ory/keto<0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e
0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e
Ory Keto<26.2.0

Event History

Mar 20, 2026
Advisory Published
via GitHub·08:55 PM
Data Sourced
via GitHub·08:55 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Mar 26, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·06:37 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·06:37 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Data Sourced
via NVD·07:17 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-33505?

CVE-2026-33505 is classified as a high-severity vulnerability due to its potential for SQL injection exploitation.

2

How do I fix CVE-2026-33505?

To mitigate CVE-2026-33505, update the Ory Keto package to a version above 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e.

3

What types of attacks can exploit CVE-2026-33505?

CVE-2026-33505 can be exploited through SQL injection attacks that leverage insecure pagination token handling.

4

Which software versions are affected by CVE-2026-33505?

CVE-2026-33505 affects Ory Keto versions prior to 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e.

5

What is the cause of CVE-2026-33505?

CVE-2026-33505 is caused by vulnerabilities in the GetRelationships API's pagination implementation that enable SQL injection.

Contact

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