CVE-2026-33505

Description

The GetRelationships API in Ory Keto is vulnerable to SQL injection due to flaws in its pagination implementation.

Pagination tokens are encrypted using 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.

Preconditions

This issue can be exploited when all of the following conditions are met:

• GetRelationships API is directly or indirectly accessible to the attacker
• The attacker can pass a raw pagination token to the affected API
• The configuration value secrets.pagination is not set or known to the attacker

Mitigation

As a first line of defense, immediately configure a custom value for secrets.pagination by generating a cryptographically secure random secret, for example:

openssl rand -base64 32

Next, upgrade Keto to a fixed version as soon as possible.

An attacker can execute arbitrary SQL queries through forged pagination tokens.

Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access. Typical impact: data disclosure or modification.

CVE-2026-33505 has a CVSS score of 7.2 (High). The vector is network-reachable, high privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2026-33505? CVE-2026-33505 is a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability in github.com/ory/keto (go), affecting versions < 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e. It is fixed in 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e. Untrusted input alters a database query, allowing the attacker to read or modify data the query was not intended to access.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-33505? CVE-2026-33505 has a CVSS score of 7.2 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of github.com/ory/keto are affected by CVE-2026-33505? github.com/ory/keto (go) versions < 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-33505? Yes. CVE-2026-33505 is fixed in 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-33505 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-33505 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-33505 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-33505? Upgrade github.com/ory/keto to 0.14.1-0.20260320140104-e4393662cd2e or later.