CVE-2026-33505
Published: 26 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-33505 is a high-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Ory Keto. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 6.5th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
Ory Keto, an open source authorization server for managing permissions at scale, contains a SQL injection vulnerability (CWE-89) in its GetRelationships API prior to version 26.2.0. The flaw stems from improper handling of pagination tokens, which are encrypted using a secret configured in `secrets.pagination`. If this value is unset, Keto defaults to a publicly known hard-coded secret, enabling attackers to craft malicious tokens that inject arbitrary SQL.
A privileged attacker (PR:H per CVSS 3.1 score of 7.2) with network access to the GetRelationships API, either directly or indirectly, can exploit this by passing a forged pagination token. Success requires knowledge of the pagination secret—either the default or a custom one if compromised—allowing execution of arbitrary SQL queries with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts (C:H/I:H/A:H).
The Ory Keto security advisory (GHSA-c38g-mx2c-9wf2) recommends immediately configuring a cryptographically secure random secret for `secrets.pagination` as a first defense. Administrators should then upgrade to version 26.2.0 or later, where the pagination implementation is fixed.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-20067
Vulnerability details
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…
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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.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
SQL injection in network-accessible GetRelationships API of authorization server enables direct exploitation of public-facing application for arbitrary query execution.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly mitigates SQL injection in the GetRelationships API by requiring validation of untrusted inputs such as pagination tokens before use in database queries.
Addresses the root cause of the vulnerability by requiring timely flaw remediation, including patching to Ory Keto version 26.2.0 or later.
Ensures configuration of a custom cryptographically secure secret for pagination token encryption, preventing attackers from forging malicious tokens using the default or known secret.