Vulnerabilities in pkg:npm/@nozbe/watermelondb

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-38f9-m297-6q9g
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-4035 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.9) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')) affecting @nozbe/watermelondb libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves dos via malicious record ids in watermelondb. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.15.1, 0.16.2.

1 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:npm/@nozbe/watermelondb

1 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:npm/@nozbe/watermelondb. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-38f9-m297-6q9g CVE-2020-4035 MODERATE DoS via malicious record IDs in WatermelonDB

CVE-2020-4035 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-4035
GHSA Identifier GHSA-38f9-m297-6q9g
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.9
CWE Classification CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
Affected Product @nozbe/watermelondb
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.9

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2020-4035

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected @nozbe/watermelondb dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

@nozbe/watermelondb fixed: 0.15.1
npm install @nozbe/watermelondb@0.15.1
@nozbe/watermelondb fixed: 0.16.2
npm install @nozbe/watermelondb@0.16.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

npm ls @nozbe/watermelondb

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2020-4035, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls @nozbe/watermelondb

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of @nozbe/watermelondb in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.15.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls @nozbe/watermelondb command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of an sql command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended sql command when it is sent to a downstream component. without sufficient removal or quoting of sql syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated sql query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as sql instead of ordinary user data. In @nozbe/watermelondb, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

## Impact Medium severity 5.9 https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H A maliciously crafted record ID can exploit a SQL Injection vulnerability in iOS adapter implementation and cause the app to delete all or selected records from the database, generally causing the app to become unusable. This may happen in apps that don't validate IDs (valid IDs are `/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+$/`) and use Watermelon Sync or low-level `database.adapter.destroyDeletedRecords` method. The integrity risk is low due to the fact that maliciously deleted records won't synchronize, so logout-login will restore all data, although some local changes may be lost if the malicious deletion causes the sync process to fail to proceed to push stage. No way to breach confidentiality with this vulnerability is known. Full exploitation of SQL Injection is mitigated, because it's not possible to nest an insert/update query inside a delete query in SQLite, and it's not possible to pass a semicolon-separated second query. There's also no known practicable way to breach confidentiality by selectively deleting records, because those records will not be synchronized. It's theoretically possible that selective record deletion could cause an app to behave insecurely if lack of a record is used to make security decisions by the app. ## Patches Patched versions include: - 0.15.1 - 0.16.2 - 0.16.1-fix - this is actually the same as 0.16.0, but with the patch applied - as 0.16.1 is causing issues for some users - `924c7ae2a8d` commit id contains the patch ## Workarounds 1. Ensure that your backend service sanitizes record IDs sent in the `pull sync` endpoint, such that only IDs matching `/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+$/` are returned. This could also be done in JavaScript `pullChanges` function passed to `synchronize()` 2. If you use `destroyDeletedRecords` directly, validate all IDs passed the same way ## For more information If you have any questions about this advisory, contact @radex.

CVE-2020-4035 Affected @nozbe/watermelondb Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.15.10.16.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
@nozbe/watermelondb
npm
< 0.15.1
0.15.1
@nozbe/watermelondb
npm
≥ 0.16.0
< 0.16.2
0.16.2

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-4035?
CVE-2020-4035 is a security vulnerability in @nozbe/watermelondb involving DoS via malicious record IDs in WatermelonDB under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection').
Which @nozbe/watermelondb versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.15.1, 0.16.2 across affected packages: @nozbe/watermelondb.
What version fixes CVE-2020-4035?
Upgrading to 0.15.1, 0.16.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is @nozbe/watermelondb affected?
Yes, @nozbe/watermelondb is affected in releases prior to 0.15.1, 0.16.2. Upgrade your dependency to 0.15.1, 0.16.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-4035?
CVE-2020-4035 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-4035?
CVE-2020-4035 is classified under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2020-4035?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls @nozbe/watermelondb'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-38f9-m297-6q9g",
  "modified" : "2021-01-08T20:15:00Z",
  "published" : "2020-06-03T21:57:53Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-4035" ],
  "summary" : "DoS via malicious record IDs in WatermelonDB",
  "details" : "## Impact\n\nMedium severity 5.9 https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.0#CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H\n\nA maliciously crafted record ID can exploit a SQL Injection vulnerability in iOS adapter implementation and cause the app to delete all or selected records from the database, generally causing the app to become unusable.\n\nThis may happen in apps that don't validate IDs (valid IDs are `/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+$/`) and use Watermelon Sync or low-level `database.adapter.destroyDeletedRecords` method.\n\nThe integrity risk is low due to the fact that maliciously deleted records won't synchronize, so logout-login will restore all data, although some local changes may be lost if the malicious deletion causes the sync process to fail to proceed to push stage.\n\nNo way to breach confidentiality with this vulnerability is known. Full exploitation of SQL Injection is mitigated, because it's not possible to nest an insert/update query inside a delete query in SQLite, and it's not possible to pass a semicolon-separated second query. There's also no known practicable way to breach confidentiality by selectively deleting records, because those records will not be synchronized.\n\nIt's theoretically possible that selective record deletion could cause an app to behave insecurely if lack of a record is used to make security decisions by the app. \n\n## Patches\n\nPatched versions include:\n\n- 0.15.1\n- 0.16.2\n- 0.16.1-fix\n\t- this is actually the same as 0.16.0, but with the patch applied - as 0.16.1 is causing issues for some users\n- `924c7ae2a8d` commit id contains the patch\n\n## Workarounds\n\n1. Ensure that your backend service sanitizes record IDs sent in the `pull sync` endpoint, such that only IDs matching `/^[a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+$/` are returned. This could also be done in JavaScript `pullChanges` function passed to `synchronize()`\n2. If you use `destroyDeletedRecords` directly, validate all IDs passed the same way\n\n## For more information\n\nIf you have any questions about this advisory, contact @radex.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@nozbe/watermelondb"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.15.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "@nozbe/watermelondb"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.16.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.16.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Nozbe/WatermelonDB/security/advisories/GHSA-38f9-m297-6q9g"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-4035"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Nozbe/WatermelonDB/commit/924c7ae2a8d7d6459656751e5b9b1bf91a218025"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-89" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-03T16:41:43Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}