sqlmapproject/sqlmap · error · SqlmapSyntaxException

you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration

Error message

you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration file ('%s')

What it means

Error "you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration file ('%s')" thrown in sqlmapproject/sqlmap.

Source

Thrown at lib/parse/configfile.py:77

    """

    global config

    debugMsg = "parsing configuration file"
    logger.debug(debugMsg)

    checkFile(configFile)
    configFP = openFile(configFile, 'r')

    try:
        config = UnicodeRawConfigParser()
        if hasattr(config, "read_file"):
            config.read_file(configFP)
        else:
            config.readfp(configFP)
    except Exception as ex:
        errMsg = "you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration file ('%s')" % getSafeExString(ex)
        raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)
    finally:
        configFP.close()

    if not config.has_section("Target"):
        errMsg = "missing a mandatory section 'Target' in the configuration file"
        raise SqlmapMissingMandatoryOptionException(errMsg)

    mandatory = False

    for option in ("direct", "url", "logFile", "bulkFile", "googleDork", "requestFile", "openApiFile", "wizard"):
        if config.has_option("Target", option) and config.get("Target", option) or cmdLineOptions.get(option):
            mandatory = True
            break

    if not mandatory:
        errMsg = "missing a mandatory option in the configuration file "
        errMsg += "(direct, url, logFile, bulkFile, googleDork, requestFile, openApiFile or wizard)"
        raise SqlmapMissingMandatoryOptionException(errMsg)

View on GitHub (pinned to 0a35b20e39)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/parse/configfile.py:77 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/33e241914edd2d20. Report an issue: GitHub.