CVE-2021-21263
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2021-21263 is a query binding vulnerability in Laravel and illuminate/database packages where unexpected array inputs can manipulate SQL queries. This affects Laravel applications that don't properly validate or cast user input before passing it to query builders. Attackers could potentially cause queries to return unexpected results or no results at all.
💻 Affected Systems
- Laravel
- illuminate/database
📦 What is this software?
Laravel by Laravel
Laravel by Laravel
Laravel by Laravel
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Data manipulation or unauthorized data access through SQL query manipulation, potentially leading to data leakage or integrity issues.
Likely Case
Application errors, unexpected query behavior, or denial of service through malformed queries.
If Mitigated
No impact if proper input validation and type casting are implemented.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires specific application logic and lack of input validation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Laravel 6.20.11, 7.30.2, 8.22.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/laravel/framework/security/advisories/GHSA-3p32-j457-pg5x
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update Laravel via composer: composer update laravel/framework 2. Update illuminate/database if used separately: composer update illuminate/database 3. Verify version matches patched releases
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Validation Workaround
allImplement strict input validation and type casting before passing user input to query builders.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation and type casting for all user inputs passed to database queries
- Use parameterized queries and avoid passing raw user input directly to query builder methods
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Laravel version in composer.json or via php artisan --versionCheck Version:
php artisan --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Laravel version is 6.20.11+, 7.30.2+, or 8.22.1+📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected database query errors
- Queries with unusual number of bindings
- Application errors related to query execution
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with array parameters where scalar values expected
SIEM Query:
web_requests WHERE parameters CONTAINS '[]' OR parameters MATCHES '.*\[.*\].*'🔗 References
- https://blog.laravel.com/security-laravel-62011-7302-8221-released
- https://github.com/laravel/framework/pull/35865
- https://github.com/laravel/framework/security/advisories/GHSA-3p32-j457-pg5x
- https://packagist.org/packages/illuminate/database
- https://packagist.org/packages/laravel/framework
- https://blog.laravel.com/security-laravel-62011-7302-8221-released
- https://github.com/laravel/framework/pull/35865
- https://github.com/laravel/framework/security/advisories/GHSA-3p32-j457-pg5x
- https://packagist.org/packages/illuminate/database
- https://packagist.org/packages/laravel/framework
