CVE-2016-20018 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) SQL Injection vulnerability in knex. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for knex — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Knex.js has a limited SQL injection vulnerability
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
knexnpmDescription
Knex Knex.js through 2.3.0 has a limited SQL injection vulnerability that can be exploited to ignore the WHERE clause of a SQL query. This vulnerability has been fixed in version 2.4.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | knex | all versions | 2.4.0npm install knex@2.4.0 |
Affected Products
knexknexjsResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for knex, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update knex to 2.4.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-20018 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Until you can upgrade, make sure every query built from user input uses parameterised statements or a prepared-statement API rather than string concatenation, and reduce the database account's privileges so an injected query cannot read or alter data beyond what the feature needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-20018 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.