sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapDataException

can't use table existence check because of detected invalid…

Error message

can't use table existence check because of detected invalid results (most likely caused by inability of the used injection to distinguish erroneous results)

What it means

Sanity guard in tableExists: a control boolean-expression check returned truthy results that should be impossible, meaning the injection point cannot reliably distinguish erroneous from valid results (common with time-based injections under load), so existence brute force would be garbage.

Solutions

1. Use a boolean/error-based injection point instead of time-based
2. Increase --time-sec to make true/false discrimination reliable
3. Skip brute-force enumeration on this injection

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/utils/brute.py:82 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of sqlmapproject/sqlmap@0a35b20e39 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b67e2081866c9ede. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/utils/brute.py:82

def tableExists(tableFile, regex=None):
    if kb.choices.tableExists is None and not any(_ for _ in kb.injection.data if _ not in (PAYLOAD.TECHNIQUE.TIME, PAYLOAD.TECHNIQUE.STACKED)) and not conf.direct:
        warnMsg = "it's not recommended to use '%s' and/or '%s' " % (PAYLOAD.SQLINJECTION[PAYLOAD.TECHNIQUE.TIME], PAYLOAD.SQLINJECTION[PAYLOAD.TECHNIQUE.STACKED])
        warnMsg += "for common table existence check"
        logger.warning(warnMsg)

        message = "are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] "
        kb.choices.tableExists = readInput(message, default='N', boolean=True)

        if not kb.choices.tableExists:
            return None

    result = inject.checkBooleanExpression("%s" % safeStringFormat(BRUTE_TABLE_EXISTS_TEMPLATE, (randomInt(1), randomStr())))

    if result:
        errMsg = "can't use table existence check because of detected invalid results "
        errMsg += "(most likely caused by inability of the used injection "
        errMsg += "to distinguish erroneous results)"
        raise SqlmapDataException(errMsg)

    pushValue(conf.db)

    if conf.db and Backend.getIdentifiedDbms() in UPPER_CASE_DBMSES:
        conf.db = conf.db.upper()

    message = "which common tables (wordlist) file do you want to use?\n"
    message += "[1] default '%s' (press Enter)\n" % tableFile
    message += "[2] custom"
    choice = readInput(message, default='1')

    if choice == '2':
        message = "what's the custom common tables file location?\n"
        tableFile = readInput(message) or tableFile

    infoMsg = "performing table existence using items from '%s'" % tableFile
    logger.info(infoMsg)

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