# CVE-2023-32680: Missing SQL permissions check in metabase

> Attackers can edit SQL snippets without proper permissions, potentially bypassing data access restrictions and escalating privileges in Metabase.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 May 2023
- **Updated:** 12 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mw6j-f894-4qxv

## What is CVE-2023-32680?

CVE-2023-32680 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in metabase, published on 18 May 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Metabase is an open source business analytics engine. To edit SQL Snippets, Metabase should have required people to be in at least one group with native query editing permissions to a database–but affected versions of Metabase didn't enforce that requirement. This lack of enforcement meant that: Anyone–including people in sandboxed groups–could edit SQL snippets. They could edit snippets via the API or, in the application UI, when editing the metadata for a model based on a SQL question, and people in sandboxed groups could edit a SQL snippet used in a query that creates their sandbox. If the snippet contained logic that restricted which data that person could see, they could potentially edit that snippet and change their level of data access. The permissions model for SQL snippets has been fixed in Metabase versions 0.46.3, 0.45.4, 0.44.7, 1.46.3, 1.45.4, and 1.44.7. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should ensure that SQL queries used to create sandboxes exclude SQL snippets.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-32680?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Metabase Metabase.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-32680?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-32680 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-32680 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-32680 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in metabase

- [CVE-2026-72898](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72898/): Metabase SQL Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-41277](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41277/): Metabase GeoJSON API Local File Inclusion (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-50148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-50148/): Metabase: Remote Code Execution via Snowflake JDBC Driver Arbitrary File Write (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-37470](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-37470/): Metabase vulnerable to remote code execution via POST /api/setup/validate API endpoint (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-59827](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-59827/): Metabase: Unsafe Deserialization of H2 Query Results (critical 9.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-32680 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-32680 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in metabase, published on 18 May 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-32680 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: metabase. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32680/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32680/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-32680
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-32680
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-32680

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-32680/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.