EUVD-2026-9995: Critical SQL Injection Vulnerability in Ghostfolio

Executive Summary

This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in Ghostfolio, an open-source wealth management platform. The SQL injection vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands, potentially compromising the entire database containing sensitive financial information for all users.

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1. Vulnerability Assessment and Severity Evaluation

Severity Classification

• CVSS 4.0 Base Score: 9.3 (CRITICAL)
• CVE Identifier: CVE-2026-28785

CVSS 4.0 Vector Analysis

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Vector Breakdown:

• AV:N (Attack Vector: Network): Exploitable remotely over the network
• AC:L (Attack Complexity: Low): No special conditions required for exploitation
• AT:N (Attack Requirements: None): No additional attack requirements
• PR:N (Privileges Required: None): No authentication required
• UI:N (User Interaction: None): Fully automated exploitation possible
• VC:H (Confidentiality Impact: High): Complete disclosure of financial data
• VI:H (Integrity Impact: High): Arbitrary data modification capability
• VA:N (Availability Impact: None): No direct availability impact
• SC/SI/SA:N: No subsequent system impacts

Risk Assessment

This vulnerability represents an extreme risk due to:

• Zero authentication requirements
• Low exploitation complexity
• Direct access to financial data
• Potential for complete database compromise
• Affects wealth management data (highly sensitive)

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2. Potential Attack Vectors and Exploitation Methods

Primary Attack Vector

The vulnerability exists in the getHistorical() method, which fails to properly validate the symbol parameter before incorporating it into SQL queries.

Exploitation Methodology

Step 1: Symbol Parameter Bypass

The attacker identifies that the symbol validation can be bypassed through:
- Special character injection
- Encoding manipulation
- Parameter pollution
- Input sanitization bypass

Step 2: SQL Injection Payload Delivery

Example attack pattern:
symbol=' OR '1'='1' UNION SELECT username, password, account_balance FROM users--

Step 3: Data Exfiltration/Manipulation Attackers can:

• Extract complete user databases
• Modify account balances
• Access authentication credentials
• Retrieve transaction histories
• Manipulate portfolio data

Attack Scenarios

Scenario A: Mass Data Exfiltration

GET /api/historical?symbol=AAPL' UNION SELECT email,password,balance FROM users--

Result: Complete user database dump

Scenario B: Financial Data Manipulation

POST /api/historical
symbol=AAPL'; UPDATE portfolios SET balance=0 WHERE user_id > 0--

Result: Systematic financial data corruption

Scenario C: Privilege Escalation

symbol=AAPL'; UPDATE users SET role='admin' WHERE email='attacker@example.com'--

Result: Administrative access acquisition

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3. Affected Systems and Software Versions

Affected Products

• Product: Ghostfolio (Open Source Wealth Management Software)
• Vendor: Ghostfolio Project
• Affected Versions: All versions < 2.244.0
• Patched Version: 2.244.0 and later

Deployment Context

Ghostfolio is typically deployed as:

• Self-hosted web applications
• Docker containers
• Cloud-hosted instances (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Personal finance management servers

Infrastructure at Risk

• Primary: Financial institutions using Ghostfolio
• Secondary: Individual wealth management deployments
• Tertiary: Financial advisors and portfolio management services

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4. Recommended Mitigation Strategies

Immediate Actions (Priority 1 - Within 24 Hours)

1. Emergency Patching

# Update to patched version immediately
git pull origin main
git checkout tags/2.244.0
npm install
npm run build
systemctl restart ghostfolio

2. Temporary Workaround (If immediate patching impossible)

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block SQL injection patterns
• Restrict network access to trusted IP addresses only
• Disable the getHistorical() endpoint temporarily

3. Incident Response

-- Check for exploitation indicators in logs
SELECT * FROM access_logs 
WHERE endpoint LIKE '%getHistorical%' 
AND (query_params LIKE '%UNION%' 
     OR query_params LIKE '%---%' 
     OR query_params LIKE '%SELECT%');

Short-term Mitigations (Priority 2 - Within 72 Hours)

1. Database Integrity Verification

• Conduct complete database audit
• Verify data integrity through checksums
• Review user account modifications
• Analyze transaction logs for anomalies

2. Access Control Hardening

# Nginx configuration example
location /api/historical {
    limit_req zone=api burst=5;
    # Add rate limiting
    # Implement request validation
}

3. Security Monitoring Enhancement

• Deploy SQL injection detection rules
• Implement real-time alerting for suspicious queries
• Enable comprehensive audit logging

Long-term Security Measures (Priority 3 - Ongoing)

1. Secure Development Practices

• Implement parameterized queries/prepared statements
• Conduct regular security code reviews
• Deploy static application security testing (SAST)
• Implement dynamic application security testing (DAST)

2. Defense in Depth

Layer 1: Input validation and sanitization
Layer 2: Parameterized queries (ORM usage)
Layer 3: Database user privilege separation
Layer 4: WAF with SQL injection signatures
Layer 5: Network segmentation
Layer 6: Continuous monitoring and alerting

3. Vulnerability Management Program

• Subscribe to Ghostfolio security advisories
• Implement automated vulnerability scanning
• Establish patch management procedures
• Conduct regular penetration testing

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5. Impact on European Cybersecurity Landscape

Regulatory Implications

GDPR Compliance (Regulation EU 2016/679)

• Article 32: Security of processing requirements violated
• Article 33: Breach notification required within 72 hours
• Article 34: Individual notification if high risk to rights and freedoms
• Potential Fines: Up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover

NIS2 Directive (Directive EU 2022/2555)

• Financial entities using Ghostfolio must report significant incidents
• 24-hour early warning for severe incidents
• Enhanced security requirements for essential entities

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)

• Financial institutions must ensure ICT risk management
• Third-party risk management implications
• Incident reporting obligations

Sector-Specific Concerns

Financial Services

• PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) compliance issues
• MiFID II data protection requirements
• EBA Guidelines on ICT and security risk management

Data Protection Authorities Affected organizations must notify:

• National DPA in their jurisdiction
• EDPB for cross-border processing
• Affected data subjects

European Threat Landscape Context

Alignment with ENISA Threat Landscape

• Categorized as: Data-related threats
• Attack vector: Web application attacks
• Threat actor profile: Financially motivated cybercriminals

EU Cybersecurity Certification

• Organizations using Ghostfolio may face certification challenges
• EUCS (EU Cybersecurity Certification Scheme) implications
• Cloud service providers hosting Ghostfolio affected

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6. Technical Details for Security Professionals

Vulnerability Technical Analysis

Root Cause

// VULNERABLE CODE PATTERN (Hypothetical)
async getHistorical(symbol) {
    // Insufficient input validation
    const query = `SELECT * FROM historical_data WHERE symbol