CVE-2026-50636 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) SQL Injection vulnerability in limesurvey/limesurvey. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-50636 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
LimeSurvey has a SQL Injection issue
Real-World Exposure
limesurvey/limesurveyReal-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
The RemoteControl API methods invite_participants and remind_participants pass a caller-supplied token-ID array into TokenDynamic::findUninvited(), which concatenates the values directly into a tid IN ('...') SQL clause without parameterization or input validation. A remote, authenticated attacker holding the tokens/update permission on a survey can inject a crafted array element to perform SQL injection. Because LimeSurvey configures its PDO connection with emulated prepared statements (emulatePrepare = true) and does not disable MySQL multi-statements, the injection supports stacked queries: the attacker can append arbitrary additional statements (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/DROP/CREATE) after the original SELECT. This permits both arbitrary read of any data in the database, such as administrator bcrypt password hashes (lime_users), survey response PII, session records, and global settings, all recoverable via a SLEEP() time-based blind oracle, and arbitrary write/destruction of that data, including directly overwriting the administrator password hash for immediate account takeover or dropping/truncating tables. Reads and writes extend to any schema the application's database user can access. The RemoteControl interface (RPCInterface = json/xml) must be enabled, which is not the default.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | limesurvey/limesurvey | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for limesurvey/limesurvey. 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.
Remediation status
No patched version of limesurvey/limesurvey has shipped for CVE-2026-50636 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-2026-50636 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-2026-50636. 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-2026-50636 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-50636 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.