sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapDataException

problem occurred while handling a host name

Error message

problem occurred while handling a host name '%s' ('%s')

What it means

checkConnection caught a socket error while handling the target hostname that is not a name-resolution failure itself — e.g. errors from getaddrinfo setup or local socket operations — and re-raises it with the host name and OS error text. It is the fallback branch of hostname handling after the specific gaierror case.

Solutions

1. Read the embedded OS error message to identify the actual failure.
2. Check local network state (interfaces, firewall, VPN) before retrying.
3. Try an IP-based target to exclude all hostname handling.
4. Report upstream if the error comes from a sqlmap networking bug with the full traceback.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/controller/checks.py:1767 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/b2e66a07900125c3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at lib/controller/checks.py:1767

    threadData = getCurrentThreadData()

    if not re.search(r"\A\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\.\d{1,3}\Z", conf.hostname):
        if not any((conf.proxy, conf.tor, conf.dummy, conf.offline)):
            try:
                debugMsg = "resolving hostname '%s'" % conf.hostname
                logger.debug(debugMsg)
                socket.getaddrinfo(conf.hostname, None)
            except socket.gaierror:
                errMsg = "host '%s' does not exist" % conf.hostname
                raise SqlmapConnectionException(errMsg)
            except socket.error as ex:
                errMsg = "problem occurred while "
                errMsg += "resolving a host name '%s' ('%s')" % (conf.hostname, getSafeExString(ex))
                raise SqlmapConnectionException(errMsg)
            except UnicodeError as ex:
                errMsg = "problem occurred while "
                errMsg += "handling a host name '%s' ('%s')" % (conf.hostname, getSafeExString(ex))
                raise SqlmapDataException(errMsg)

    if not suppressOutput and not conf.dummy and not conf.offline:
        infoMsg = "testing connection to the target URL"
        logger.info(infoMsg)

    try:
        kb.originalPageTime = time.time()
        page, headers, _ = Request.queryPage(content=True, noteResponseTime=False)

        rawResponse = "%s%s" % (listToStrValue(headers.headers if headers else ""), page)

        if conf.string:
            infoMsg = "testing if the provided string is within the "
            infoMsg += "target URL page content"
            logger.info(infoMsg)

            if conf.string not in rawResponse:
                warnMsg = "you provided '%s' as the string to " % conf.string

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