sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapSyntaxException

invalid character provided in option '--preprocess'

Error message

invalid character provided in option '--preprocess'

What it means

Error "invalid character provided in option '--preprocess'" thrown in sqlmapproject/sqlmap.

Source

Thrown at lib/core/option.py:995

            found = False
            function = None

            script = safeFilepathEncode(script.strip())

            try:
                if not script:
                    continue

                if not os.path.exists(script):
                    errMsg = "preprocess script '%s' does not exist" % script
                    raise SqlmapFilePathException(errMsg)

                elif not script.endswith(".py"):
                    errMsg = "preprocess script '%s' should have an extension '.py'" % script
                    raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)
            except UnicodeDecodeError:
                errMsg = "invalid character provided in option '--preprocess'"
                raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)

            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]))

View on GitHub (pinned to 0a35b20e39)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/core/option.py:995 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of sqlmapproject/sqlmap@0a35b20e39 (2026-08-26). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ca3ab483830d19b2. Report an issue: GitHub.