PyAthena SQL Injection via Improper Quote Escaping

PyAthena prior to 3.35.4 contains a sql injection vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary SQL by exploiting improper quote-escaping in DefaultParameterFormatter.format(), which routes DELETE and CTAS statements to the _escape_hive function that backslash-escapes single quotes rather than doubling them. Because Athena and Trino do not treat backslashes as escape characters inside string literals, attacker-supplied input such as a single quote followed by SQL syntax causes the parser to terminate the string literal prematurely, enabling data exfiltration via UNION SELECT, execution of destructive statements, and attacker-controlled CTAS destination and content.

Casky was already ahead

This CVE exploits attack patterns that Casky's 322matched skills already investigate — long before this vulnerability was disclosed. Claude's reasoning model maps these techniques to MITRE ATT&CK, so practitioners who ran these skills have already seen the threat behaviour in their findings.

Analysis

PyAthena versions prior to 3.35.4 contain a critical SQL injection vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in the DefaultParameterFormatter.format() method. The flaw stems from improper quote-escaping in DELETE and CTAS statements, which route to the _escape_hive function that uses backslash-escaping instead of quote-doubling. Since Apache Athena and Trino don't treat backslashes as escape characters within string literals, attackers can inject arbitrary SQL by crafting payloads with single quotes followed by malicious SQL syntax. This vulnerability affects any organization using PyAthena to query Athena or Trino databases, enabling unauthenticated attackers to execute unauthorized queries, exfiltrate sensitive data, modify database records, or escalate privileges depending on the service account's permissions.

Casky's 322 mapped skills leverage Claude AI with extended reasoning to detect the attack patterns behind this vulnerability across MITRE ATT&CK's Initial Access (TA0001) and Reconnaissance (TA0043) phases. Practitioners querying Casky would identify detection opportunities for CWE-89 SQL Injection through multiple angles: behavioral analysis of malformed SQL parameters containing escaped quotes followed by SQL keywords (SELECT, DROP, INSERT), anomalous database query patterns from unexpected sources, and input validation gaps where user-controlled strings bypass proper parameterization. The platform's skill mapping would surface specific detection techniques such as identifying quote-escape bypass attempts in application logs, monitoring for unusual Athena/Trino query structures, and correlating failed authentication attempts with subsequent successful injected queries—enabling security teams to catch exploitation attempts before data compromise occurs.

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Casky Risk Score

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EPSS Probability

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Shodan Exposure

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GreyNoise Signal

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Composite risk scoring from EPSS, CISA KEV, Shodan, and GreyNoise — 21 security APIs correlated into a single Casky Risk Score. Coming in Casky Pro. Join early access →

322 Casky skills cover this attack pattern

These skills use Claude AI's reasoning model to surface findings in the same attack categories as CVE-2026-65321.

Abuse of Public-Facing API: Mobile API Abuse

mobile security · low

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abusing-dpapi-for-credential-access

red teaming · high

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abusing-shadow-credentials-for-privesc

red teaming · high

Run

MITRE ATT&CK Techniques

TA0001 TA0043

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