Overview
SQL injection remains a top risk for applications that fail to separate data from code. The CVE-2026-46446 example shows how insecure data handling and the storage of cleartext passwords allowed attackers to influence the SQL logic in a login/change-password workflow. While this CVE targets SOGo, the underlying CWE-89 pattern is directly relevant to Go services that construct SQL with untrusted input, including those built with Gin.
Exploitation typically occurs when user-supplied fields (username, password) are embedded into SQL strings without binding parameters. In such a scenario, an attacker could craft input to alter the WHERE clause, bypass authentication, or expose data. The risk is magnified when passwords are stored in plaintext, making it easier to recover or test credentials during an injection attack.
In Go (Gin) code, the remediation is to replace string concatenation with parameter binding, enforce password hashing, and reduce privileges. Use the database/sql package with placeholders ($1, $2 for PostgreSQL or ? for MySQL) and prepared statements, or switch to an ORM that binds parameters. Store only bcrypt hashes (password_hash) and compare using bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword, rather than verifying plaintext passwords in SQL.
Recommended practice includes validating inputs, enabling TLS for DB connections, rotating credentials, and auditing authentication handlers. After adopting these patterns, you can prevent both CWE-89 SQL injection and the cleartext-password exposure demonstrated by the CVE.
Affected Versions
SOGo before 5.12.7 (CVE-2026-46446)
Code Fix Example
Go (Gin) API Security Remediation
package main
import (
"database/sql"
"fmt"
"log"
"net/http"
"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
_ "github.com/lib/pq"
"golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt"
)
func main() {
dsn := "postgres://user:pass@localhost/db?sslmode=disable"
db, err := sql.Open("postgres", dsn)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
defer db.Close()
r := gin.Default()
r.GET("/vuln-login", func(c *gin.Context) {
username := c.Query("username")
password := c.Query("password")
ok, err := loginVulnerable(db, username, password)
if err != nil {
c.String(http.StatusInternalServerError, err.Error())
return
}
if ok {
c.String(http.StatusOK, "vulnerable login success")
} else {
c.String(http.StatusUnauthorized, "unauthorized")
}
})
r.GET("/safe-login", func(c *gin.Context) {
username := c.Query("username")
password := c.Query("password")
ok, err := loginSafe(db, username, password)
if err != nil {
c.String(http.StatusInternalServerError, err.Error())
return
}
if ok {
c.String(http.StatusOK, "safe login success")
} else {
c.String(http.StatusUnauthorized, "unauthorized")
}
})
r.Run(":8080")
}
func loginVulnerable(db *sql.DB, username, password string) (bool, error) {
query := fmt.Sprintf("SELECT id FROM users WHERE username='%s' AND password='%s'", username, password)
var id int
err := db.QueryRow(query).Scan(&id)
if err != nil {
if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
return false, nil
}
return false, err
}
return true, nil
}
func loginSafe(db *sql.DB, username, password string) (bool, error) {
var id int
var hash string
err := db.QueryRow("SELECT id, password_hash FROM users WHERE username = $1", username).Scan(&id, &hash)
if err != nil {
if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
return false, nil
}
return false, err
}
if bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword([]byte(hash), []byte(password)) != nil {
return false, nil
}
return true, nil
}