Yes. Low-code and no-code apps need input sanitizing like any application. They also face a platform-specific variant: user text that is interpreted as the platform's own expression syntax, which can reveal internal data. Validate inputs by type and length, parameterize queries and test with the platform's special characters.
Two kinds of injection
OWASP's Injection Handling Failures (CD-SEC-08) describes both.
- Familiar injection. An app takes user input and uses it in a command or query without sanitizing it. Platforms may not vet input schemas, and neither the builder nor an AI assistant knows which data is dangerous. AI may not parameterize queries, which lets attackers inject code.
- Platform syntax injection. Many platforms use a non-standard syntax to reference variables and platform data. Common sanitizers do not know about it. An attacker enters a string that the platform evaluates as a command and can retrieve internal data, such as an organization identifier, even without signing in. OWASP notes the attack succeeds because of the platform engine, not the builder's own logic.
OWASP's example is a simple form that echoes a user's input back to the screen. The echo uses the platform's reference syntax, and an attacker submits a platform command in the field.
What builders can do
- Treat every form field, URL parameter, uploaded file and incoming message as untrusted.
- Limit field type and length. A phone number field should accept digits only.
- For SQL, use parameterized queries, stored procedures or escaping.
- Avoid echoing raw input into pages, emails or documents.
- Keep platform expression characters out of fields unless needed.
What platform owners and security teams can do
- Account for the platform's own syntax in sanitization rules.
- Provide a vetted validation component and ask makers to use it.
- Educate business users that platforms cannot fix this problem alone.
- Where assistants generate code, instruct them through rules and system prompts to add input validation, then review the result manually.
A short test plan
| Test | Input | Expect |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Very long text | Rejected or truncated |
| Type | Letters in a number field | Rejected |
| Quote characters | A lone single quote | No error leak, no changed query |
| Platform syntax | The platform's expression delimiters | Shown as plain text, not evaluated |
| Markup | Angle brackets in text | Encoded on output |
Run the test as an anonymous user as well as a signed-in one.
Try it yourself
Click through it at your own pace, or open it full screen. Watch how a source to sink path is flagged, the same shape as untrusted input reaching a query.
Where Safeguard fits
For custom code that sits behind or beside these apps, Safeguard's code and dependency scanning help engineering teams find issues early. Try the free scan at https://gold.safeguard.sh/scan. Platform-evaluated expressions need platform-level testing.
Quick check
Does the platform sanitize input for me?
Not reliably. OWASP says platforms cannot make this problem go away on their own, so validate in the app.
Why test as an anonymous user?
Platform syntax injection can work without authentication, so you need to see what an outsider sees.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
