CVE-2026-31856
Published: 11 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-31856 is a critical-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Parseplatform Parse-Server. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 12.3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Requires validation of the increment amount input to prevent direct SQL interpolation and injection of arbitrary subqueries in PostgreSQL queries.
Directly mitigates the vulnerability by requiring timely installation of patches for Parse Server versions 9.6.0-alpha.3 or 8.6.29 that fix the SQL injection flaw.
Scans for SQL injection vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-31856 in Parse Server and remediates them within defined timeframes.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
SQL injection in public Parse Server REST API (PostgreSQL adapter) directly enables remote exploitation of a public-facing application (T1190) and arbitrary database data access bypassing ACLs/CLPs (T1213.006).
NVD Description
Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. A SQL injection vulnerability exists in the PostgreSQL storage adapter when processing Increment operations on nested object fields using dot notation (e.g.,…
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stats.counter). The amount value is interpolated directly into the SQL query without parameterization or type validation. An attacker who can send write requests to the Parse Server REST API can inject arbitrary SQL subqueries to read any data from the database, bypassing CLPs and ACLs. MongoDB deployments are not affected. This vulnerability is fixed in 9.6.0-alpha.3 and 8.6.29.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-31856 is a SQL injection vulnerability in Parse Server, an open source backend deployable on any Node.js-compatible infrastructure. The issue affects the PostgreSQL storage adapter specifically during Increment operations on nested object fields using dot notation, such as "stats.counter." In these cases, the amount value is directly interpolated into the SQL query without parameterization or type validation, enabling injection of arbitrary SQL subqueries. MongoDB deployments are unaffected. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-89.
An unauthenticated attacker with the ability to send write requests to the Parse Server REST API can exploit this flaw. By crafting a malicious Increment request, the attacker can inject SQL subqueries that allow reading arbitrary data from the PostgreSQL database, circumventing Class-Level Permissions (CLPs) and Access Control Lists (ACLs). This grants high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts remotely with low complexity.
Parse Server has addressed the vulnerability in versions 9.6.0-alpha.3 and 8.6.29, as detailed in the project's GitHub security advisory (GHSA-q3vj-96h2-gwvg) and corresponding release notes. Security practitioners should upgrade to these patched versions to mitigate the risk.
Details
- CWE(s)