diff --git a/data/txt/sha256sums.txt b/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
index 729c51040..bd298b52a 100644
--- a/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
+++ b/data/txt/sha256sums.txt
@@ -186,10 +186,10 @@ c1a9edb894033f1cef0a15a05cca196f816df3465444134af171870dedbe1538  lib/core/optio
 ccc4a717e887652b1fcce073d9409d9c59a3b28548c703a9e453d15845f90cd7  lib/core/patch.py
 49c0fa7e3814dfda610d665ee02b12df299b28bc0b6773815b4395514ddf8dec  lib/core/profiling.py
 03db48f02c3d07a047ddb8fe33a757b6238867352d8ddda2a83e4fec09a98d04  lib/core/readlineng.py
-48797d6c34dd9bb8a53f7f3794c85f4288d82a9a1d6be7fcf317d388cb20d4b3  lib/core/replication.py
+9bf174058f15d14e24e94f9aaf42df045119d3617c6c54bd2f3af79b462f331d  lib/core/replication.py
 0b8c38a01bb01f843d94a6c5f2075ee47520d0c4aa799cecea9c3e2c5a4a23a6  lib/core/revision.py
 888daba83fd4a34e9503fe21f01fef4cc730e5cde871b1d40e15d4cbc847d56c  lib/core/session.py
-82767887306a66ba4b1b2c254068225196f3adb434bfac2929a123c51fdd45f8  lib/core/settings.py
+3f62e7d98fb47950f6c9ff99386cb9ae346f7d64e2b0ed2c85cf9d394a2c6c69  lib/core/settings.py
 cd5a66deee8963ba8e7e9af3dd36eb5e8127d4d68698811c29e789655f507f82  lib/core/shell.py
 bcb5d8090d5e3e0ef2a586ba09ba80eef0c6d51feb0f611ed25299fbb254f725  lib/core/subprocessng.py
 70ea3768f1b3062b22d20644df41c86238157ec80dd43da40545c620714273c6  lib/core/target.py
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ cde0bea1263ae857561f91ed2bd515e972b716743f017d31b1718a8546c72759  tests/test_pag
 4bac34af2abddce003756d6776e89b2fda220bb7603ef3761f4f37ee29f9c369  tests/test_payload_marking.py
 6bfc8201724078bd9d6d559916ef73c9ff97e19b0f2948f37e588a49b027795f  tests/test_payloads_structure.py
 a6d013104601c0414628aff3d8b5b69bee3e6733781d8f8da880457d8b44bd3a  tests/test_property.py
-5c95e7863190e440234f231864fb1219c35207132762858cc95181c57086bafc  tests/test_replication.py
+2dfefb4bfaee3868152835502ec43da317c4f274b1d55cd2ef21e4f7390c9bea  tests/test_replication.py
 67a5241aeebc20eb1c20cfc490422a59af5179040824e5731bd785db2e6bf750  tests/test_report.py
 cec98d72992c0799229a780fa7f0d7f3fb01ec2d708187ce0e4a05c8612f291b  tests/test_safe2bin.py
 a1c6cda1e5b483f61e6a4f8ddd0b06a15ddaa3fd2119bfb9dbd9cc970d7a751d  tests/test_settings_regex.py
diff --git a/lib/core/replication.py b/lib/core/replication.py
index 2474e72b5..a2cd5e9a3 100644
--- a/lib/core/replication.py
+++ b/lib/core/replication.py
@@ -23,8 +23,11 @@ class Replication(object):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, dbpath):
+        self.dbpath = dbpath
+        self.connection = None
+        self.cursor = None
+
         try:
-            self.dbpath = dbpath
             self.connection = sqlite3.connect(dbpath)
             self.connection.isolation_level = None
             self.cursor = self.connection.cursor()
@@ -120,8 +123,17 @@ class Replication(object):
         return Replication.Table(parent=self, name=tblname, columns=columns, typeless=typeless)
 
     def __del__(self):
-        self.cursor.close()
-        self.connection.close()
+        try:
+            if self.cursor is not None:
+                self.cursor.close()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+        try:
+            if self.connection is not None:
+                self.connection.close()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
 
     # sqlite data types
     NULL = DataType('NULL')
diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index 070ad183e..7314f22b6 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from lib.core.enums import OS
 from thirdparty import six
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.10.6.139"
+VERSION = "1.10.6.140"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
diff --git a/tests/test_replication.py b/tests/test_replication.py
index 22bdab820..7e5d8a0c5 100644
--- a/tests/test_replication.py
+++ b/tests/test_replication.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ from _testutils import bootstrap
 bootstrap()
 
 from lib.core.replication import Replication
+from lib.core.exception import SqlmapConnectionException
+from lib.core.exception import SqlmapValueException
 
 
 class _ReplCase(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -83,5 +85,37 @@ class TestCreateInsertSelect(_ReplCase):
         self.assertEqual(t2.select(), [])
 
 
+class TestInsertColumnMismatch(_ReplCase):
+    def test_wrong_column_count_raises(self):
+        t = self.rep.createTable("c", [("a", self.rep.INTEGER), ("b", self.rep.TEXT)])
+        # too few / too many values must be rejected (not silently mis-inserted)
+        self.assertRaises(SqlmapValueException, t.insert, [1])
+        self.assertRaises(SqlmapValueException, t.insert, [1, "x", "extra"])
+        # the matching count still works
+        t.insert([1, "x"])
+        self.assertEqual(t.select(), [(1, "x")])
+
+
+class TestInitFailure(unittest.TestCase):
+    """A failed open (e.g. unwritable path) must raise cleanly and the partially
+    constructed object must be safe to finalize (no AttributeError in __del__)."""
+
+    def _bad_path(self):
+        # a database file inside a directory that does not exist => connect fails
+        return os.path.join(tempfile.gettempdir(), "sqlmap_no_such_dir_%d" % os.getpid(), "x.sqlite")
+
+    def test_bad_path_raises(self):
+        self.assertRaises(SqlmapConnectionException, Replication, self._bad_path())
+
+    def test_del_safe_after_failed_init(self):
+        obj = Replication.__new__(Replication)
+        self.assertRaises(SqlmapConnectionException, obj.__init__, self._bad_path())
+        # connection/cursor must be initialized even when connect() fails ...
+        self.assertIsNone(obj.connection)
+        self.assertIsNone(obj.cursor)
+        # ... so finalization is a no-op rather than raising
+        obj.__del__()
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main(verbosity=2)