sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapSyntaxException

cannot import preprocess module '%s' (%s)

Error message

cannot import preprocess module '%s' (%s)

What it means

Error "cannot import preprocess module '%s' (%s)" thrown in sqlmapproject/sqlmap.

Source

Thrown at lib/core/option.py:1015

            dirname, filename = os.path.split(script)
            dirname = os.path.abspath(dirname)

            infoMsg = "loading preprocess module '%s'" % filename[:-3]
            logger.info(infoMsg)

            if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(dirname, "__init__.py")):
                errMsg = "make sure that there is an empty file '__init__.py' "
                errMsg += "inside of preprocess scripts directory '%s'" % dirname
                raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)

            if dirname not in sys.path:
                sys.path.insert(0, dirname)

            try:
                getattr(importlib, "invalidate_caches", lambda: None)()  # Note: py3.3+ only; a script just written into an already-scanned dir is invisible to a cached FileFinder (Windows coarse mtime)
                module = __import__(safeFilepathEncode(filename[:-3]))
            except Exception as ex:
                raise SqlmapSyntaxException("cannot import preprocess module '%s' (%s)" % (getUnicode(filename[:-3]), getSafeExString(ex)))

            for name, function in inspect.getmembers(module, inspect.isfunction):
                try:
                    if name == "preprocess" and inspect.getargspec(function).args and all(_ in inspect.getargspec(function).args for _ in ("req",)):
                        found = True

                        kb.preprocessFunctions.append(function)
                        function.__name__ = module.__name__

                        break
                except ValueError:  # Note: https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap/issues/4357
                    pass

            if not found:
                errMsg = "missing function 'preprocess(req)' "
                errMsg += "in preprocess script '%s'" % script
                raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)
            else:

View on GitHub (pinned to 0a35b20e39)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/core/option.py:1015 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/f1fd22d3743e6e64. Report an issue: GitHub.