CVE-2023-22727 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) SQL Injection vulnerability in cakephp/cakephp. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-22727 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Database Query::offset() and limit() vulnerable to SQL injection in cakephp
Real-World Exposure
cakephp/cakephp🐘cakephp/cakephp🐘cakephp/cakephp🐘cakephp/database🐘cakephp/database🐘cakephp/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
CakePHP is a development framework for PHP web apps. In affected versions the Cake\Database\Query::limit() and Cake\Database\Query::offset() methods are vulnerable to SQL injection if passed un-sanitized user request data. This issue has been fixed in 4.2.12, 4.3.11, 4.4.10. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade may mitigate this issue by using CakePHP's Pagination library. Manually validating or casting parameters to these methods will also mitigate the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/cakephp | ≥ 4.2.0&&< 4.2.12 | 4.2.12 |
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/cakephp | ≥ 4.3.0&&< 4.3.11 | 4.3.11 |
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/cakephp | ≥ 4.4.0&&< 4.4.10 | 4.4.10 |
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/database | ≥ 4.2.0&&< 4.2.12 | 4.2.12 |
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/database | ≥ 4.3.0&&< 4.3.11 | 4.3.11 |
| 🐘Packagist | cakephp/database | ≥ 4.4.0&&< 4.4.10 | 4.4.10 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for cakephp/cakephp. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update cakephp/cakephp to 4.2.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-22727 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-22727 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2023-22727. 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-2023-22727 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-22727 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.