Security

Vulnerability Mitigation

CVE-2025-47736: libsql-sqlite3-parser UTF-8 Crash

Status: MITIGATED Severity: Low Affected Component: libsql-sqlite3-parser ≤ 0.13.0 (transitive dependency via libsql)

Vulnerability Description

The libsql-sqlite3-parser crate through version 0.13.0 can crash when processing invalid UTF-8 input in SQL queries. This vulnerability is documented in CVE-2025-47736.

Our Mitigation Strategy

ecto_libsql is NOT vulnerable to this CVE due to multiple layers of defence:

1. Type System Protection (Primary Defence)

• All SQL strings in our Rust NIF code use Rust's &str type
• Rust's type system guarantees that &str contains valid UTF-8
• Any attempt to create invalid UTF-8 in Rust would fail at compile time

2. Rustler Validation (Secondary Defence)

• Rustler (our NIF bridge) validates UTF-8 when converting Elixir binaries to Rust strings
• Invalid UTF-8 from Elixir would cause NIF conversion errors before reaching our code
• These errors are caught and returned to Elixir as error tuples

Why This Vulnerability Doesn't Affect Us

In our case, the vulnerability cannot be triggered because:

1. Elixir strings are UTF-8: Elixir enforces UTF-8 for all string literals and string operations
2. Rustler enforces UTF-8: Converting from Elixir to Rust &str validates UTF-8
3. Type safety: Rust's &str cannot contain invalid UTF-8 by definition

Upstream Fix Status

The vulnerability is fixed in commit 14f422a of libsql-sqlite3-parser, but this fix has not been released to crates.io yet. Once a new version is published, we will:

1. Update our libsql dependency (which will pull in the fixed parser)
2. Update this document with the new version information

Testing

Our test suite includes UTF-8 validation coverage:

• All named parameter tests exercise the validation code paths
• Invalid UTF-8 would be caught by Rustler before reaching our code

Reporting Security Issues

If you discover a security vulnerability in ecto_libsql, please email the maintainers directly rather than opening a public issue.

Security Best Practices

When using ecto_libsql in your applications:

1. Use parameterised queries: Always use Ecto's parameter binding (? or :param) instead of string interpolation
2. Validate input: Validate user input at application boundaries before passing to database queries
3. Keep dependencies updated: Regularly update ecto_libsql and Ecto to get security fixes
4. Use encryption: Enable encryption for sensitive data using the :encryption_key option
5. Secure credentials: Store Turso auth tokens in environment variables, not in source code

Dependency Security

We use the following tools to monitor dependency security:

• Dependabot: Automated vulnerability scanning on GitHub
• cargo audit: Rust dependency vulnerability checking
• mix audit: Elixir dependency vulnerability checking

Run security audits locally:

# Rust dependencies
cd native/ecto_libsql && cargo audit

# Elixir dependencies (requires mix_audit)
mix deps.audit

Changelog

• 2026-01-07: Added explicit UTF-8 validation as defence against CVE-2025-47736
• 2025-12-30: v0.5.0 - Eliminated all .unwrap() calls in production code (CVE-prevention)