CVE-2016-15020 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) SQL Injection vulnerability in liftkit/database. A fix is available for liftkit/database — see the affected versions and patch details below.
SQL Injection in liftkit/database
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2016-15020.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-15020 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
liftkit/databaseReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A vulnerability was found in liftkit database up to 2.13.1. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function processOrderBy of the file src/Query/Query.php. The manipulation leads to sql injection. Upgrading to version 2.13.2 is able to address this issue. The patch is named 42ec8f2b22e0b0b98fb5b4444ed451c1b21d125a. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The associated identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-218391.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | liftkit/database | all versions | 2.13.2composer require liftkit/database:^2.13.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for liftkit/database, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update liftkit/database to 2.13.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-15020 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2016-15020 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2016-15020. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-15020 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2016-15020 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.