Understanding SQL Injection: Vulnerabilities And Countermeasures

What is SQL Injection?

Discuss about the Different Techniques Used To Deploy Sqli Attacks As A Way Of Exploiting The Database And The Website Vulnerabilities.

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The SQL injection is the programming code which is used for exploiting the database by making use of web hacking technologies. The SQL statement is get incorporated with the malicious code which is given as input to exploit the functionality of the database. The functionality of the database server can be controlled by the SQL injection. The vulnerabilities and the malicious code which get associated with the SQL query is used for changing the operational programming of the database to get accurate information. The attacker can retrieve the text and the information from the database by getting bypassing through the authentication and authorization technique of the web by making use of SQL injection technique (Tajpour, Ibrahim, and Masrom, 2011). The integrity of the database can be gets affected through the SQLI because it is capable of doing modification and deletion of the tuples from the RDBMS. The confidential information of the personal get hacked through the unauthenticated accessing of the records which contains information relevant to secrets of the business, confidential information of the customers, bank details, CVC number, password, and others. The SQL injection malicious code can be identified during the time of compilation. It helps in analysing the malicious code at the byte code level of SQL program. The algorithm based on automation prepared statement is used for removing the malicious code which is added to the SQL statement. The payload is added in the SQL query for developing SQLI for the attack on the database. In this paper, we are looking forward to research on the different types of vulnerabilities and SQL attacks which can retrieve and manipulate the information of the records stored in the database. We will also undertake the research study on the countermeasures which should be taken to resolve the issues of SQLI. The following figure shows the example of the SQL injection on the database. It can be predicted from the figure below that the malicious code get inserted by the hacker through the SQL statement for manipulating the information stored in the database.

SQLI is the hacking technology which is used for retrieving the information from the database. The malicious code and vulnerabilities are sent by the attacker in the SQL statement which exploits and manipulate the information of the database. The accuracy and integrity of the data stored in the database can be exploited with the SQLI query posted on the database. The consequences of the SQL injection on the databases are problem of authorization, authentication, and loss of confidentiality and integrity of the data stored in the database.

Types of SQL Injection attacks

The aim of the research study is to analyse the research on the different types of vulnerabilities and SQL attacks which can retrieve and manipulate the information of the records stored in the database. We will also undertake the research study on the countermeasures which should be taken to resolve the issues of SQLI.

The objective of the research is to find out:

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  • Type of SQL injection
  • Prevention techniques from the SQL injection
  • Countermeasures and associated results to resolve the SQL injection problem
  • Evaluation of the countermeasures attack

What is SQL injection?

What are the Different Techniques used to deploy SQLi attacks as a way of exploiting the database and the website vulnerabilities?

Vulnerabilities and malicious codes get associated with the SQL statement to retrieve data from the database which affects the accuracy of the information stored in the records. This is due to the SQL injection. It directly affects the confidentiality, accuracy, and integrity of the data stored on the database.

Key Concepts

SQL injection is the type of malicious code which is attached with the SQL query and sent to the SQL interpreter for getting the relevant data from the SQL database. The SQL interpreter does not predict the malicious code of the SQL statement. The SQL command drafted by the hacker is used for retrieving the information from the database. The vulnerabilities exploits the orientation and the integrity of the data stored on the database. The confidential data of the personal is hacked from the account even though it has authorised and authenticated prevention method.

Classification of SQLI on the basis of Intent:

  • Process of data extraction:

This type of attack is used for extracting data from the records of the database. The confidential information of the user such as bank details and password can be hacked.

  • Manipulation of the data:

The SQL query is designed for changing and manipulating the information of the database according to the choice hacker without any notification to the user.

  • Finger printing process on the database:

The malicious code is added to the SQL query for developing a protocol for getting authorization and authentication to retrieve the information from the database.

  • By passing Attack:

The SQL query is designed for bypassing the authorisation and authentication information of the database. The user directly use the information of the database.

  • Identification of the Vulnerable parameter:

It is used for accessing the information by SQL query by making a vulnerability scanner automation tool.

  • Identification of the database schema:

The SQL query is designed for retrieving the information of the database schema like table name, data types, and other attributes

Classification of SQL on the basis of type:

  • Tautology:

The Tautology is the attack in which conditional query is generated by the attacker for accessing the required data. The conditional statement used in the SQL query always answered true which helps in accessing the data and information (Kindy, and Pathan, 2012).

Countermeasures to prevent SQL Injection attacks

Example:

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNT WHERE Customer=” or 1=1

When the above query is executed by the database server than the result true will be generated every time. The rejection of the SQL query processed result in the generation of debugging information which is useful for the hacker to access the required information of the database (Morgenroth, 2018).

  • Incorrect Logical Queries:

The rejection of the SQL query due to incorrect logic design processed result in the generation of debugging information which is useful for the hacker to access the required information of the database. The vulnerability parameters are used for accessing the information (Sajjadi, and Pour, 2013).

Example:

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNTS WHERE Customer=” or 1=1 AND pass =”  AND FAIL

The error message is generated by typing SQL query for accessing the database.

The UNION clause is used for adding unauthorized SQL  statement with the authorized SQL statement. On typing the query given below the statement will return no result while on the execution of the second query all the details from the customer’s account get retrieved.

Example:

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNTS WHERE Consumer=” UNION SELECT * FROM Customer AND FAIL=” AND eid =

The information from the customer Table will be provided to the hacker on the execution of the statement attached to the UNION SQL operation

  • Piggy Backed Query:

This query is added to the original statement of SQL query. It make use of “.” Delimeter from destroying and manipulating the information stored on the database.

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNT Where CUSTOMER =”; drop table BANKACCOUNTS-‘ AND FAIL=” AND eid =’

This query retrieves all the confidential information of the customer related to their bank account.

  • Blind Injection Queries:

In this query, the error information is hide related to the retrieval of information from the database. The error message of the query is hide by the attacker and he provide only the general page of the SQL query statement.

Example:

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNTS WHERE Customer=’ Customer1’ AND pass =”  AND eid=

The security parameters can be passed by making use of the above query statement.

  • Alternate encoding query:

This query is used for converting the data into ASCII code and Hexadecimal code.

Example:

SELECT * FROM BANKACCOUNTS WHERE Customer=’ Customer1’; exec (char(0x87654dd77865u345e) AND pass =”  AND eid=

The result of the above query is the generation of character presented in the bracket into the ASCII code and the hexadecimal.

Consequences of the SQL query injection

The exploitation of the SQL query can result in damaging the accuracy of the database because the attacker can manipulate the information by applying the operation like adding of information, deletion of information, deletion of information, reading of information and others. The database server gives the authorisation and authentication to read the content of the database due to the SQL injection query to the hacker (VarunKumar, Prabakaran, Kaurav, Chakkarvarthy, Thiyagarajan, and Venkatesh, 2014). The hacker can retrieve the authorisation by drafting a SQL query program for manipulating the information stored on the database with the use of WRITE operation. The hacker can exploit the accuracy and the integrity of the data stored at the database. The confidentiality of the personal information of the user will get hacked by the attacker by generating a select query whose result is always “YES” after accessing it. The database server will provide the relevant information on demand by the attacker through the SQL injection in the SELECT and the UNION query.

Conclusion

The SQL injection is the most serious problem because it can exploits the orientation and the integrity of the data stored in the database (Zhu, 2015). There are various techniques are proposed by the researchers to overcome the problem of SQL injection which can be categorised as penetration testing, filtering method, analysis of the information flow, and coding and programming of defensive measures. The technique of static analysis and processing of monitoring program is used for analysing the queries of the database (Gosnik, 2015). The analysis of the SQL program can be effectively done with the deployment of legitimate processing model. The dynamic runtime of the legitimate model helps in predicting the effective execution of the database. The SQL injection malicious code can be identified during the time of compilation. It helps in analysing the malicious code at the byte code level of SQL program. The algorithm based on automation prepared statement is used for removing the malicious code which is added to the SQL statement. The most acceptable SQL injection prevention method is the development of the Hash Function algorithm. The hash value helps in generating the layer of protection to the user ID and password for authentication. The hash value is used for testing the authentication of the user ID and password for approving the authorization to the database (Halde, 2008). The development of the hash value is the most acceptable model of eliminating the malicious code from the SQL query drafted for accessing the data from the database. The hash value helps in generating the layer of protection to the user ID ad password for authentication. The hash value is used for testing the authentication of the user ID and password for approving the authorization to the database. The web database makes use of fine grained access control to give access control to the manipulation of the database. The traceability program should be arranged for analysing the vulnerability and malicious code attached with the SQL command. The stored procedures are used for developing the subroutines used for making call of the information from the database (Halfond, Viegas, and Orso, 2015). The algorithm procedures are developed for removing the SQL injection from the SQL query which are based on Prepared Statement Replacement procedures. The source code are analysed for removing the association of the malicious code. The PSR algorithm is used for analysing the attacks through by By-passing the authorisation and authentication procedures from the Web portal, finger printing attack of the database, use of UNION query though injection procedure, and many others.  The SQL checker is used for tracing the SQL query for identifying the SQL command drafted for retrieving data from the database (Johari and Sharma, 2012). The JAVA SERVER PAGEs are created for analysing the malicious codes attached with the drafted query by making use of SELECT and UNION function (Namdev, Hasan, and Shrivastav, 2012). The following figure shows the detection of the SQL injected Query and according accessing to the database.

There are various methods proposed for countermeasures for the SQL injection query on the SQL statement for accessing the information from the database account of the user.

Code Based SQL injection query detection techniques: This technique is used for testing the vulnerabilities associated with the SQL query drafted for accessing the database information. The procedures are developed for finding the program code free from vulnerabilities. The prototyping tool which is generally used for static analysis in the access point of the database is SQL UNIT GEN protocol (Janot, and Zavarsky, 2015).

Generating procedures for concrete attack process: This technique is used for automatically analysing the test input which is provided in the SQL Query. The execution of the program code which are accused of SQL vulnerabilities can be detected through performing numeric operations. The numerical operations are performed on the string operation to detect the vulnerabilities associated with the program code.

Prevention procedures based on learning: The monitoring of the SQL server and the database server helps in analysing the occurrence of the vulnerabilities associated with the SQL queries. The legitimate procedures are used for sending the SQL queries for accessing the data from the database. The syntactic structure is developed of queries for retrieving and accessing of the information.

Algorithm procedures for Elimination of SQL injection from the SQL query:

The algorithm procedures are developed for removing the SQL injection from the SQL query which are based on Prepared Statement Replacement procedures. The source code are analysed for removing the association of the malicious code. The PSR algorithm is used for analysing the attacks through by By-passing the authorisation and authentication procedures from the Web portal, finger printing attack of the database, use of UNION query though injection procedure, and many others. The integrity of the program code is used for eliminating the SQL injection malicious code from the SQL program.

Checking of the SQL injection malicious code through the process of mutation:

The malicious code associated with the SQL statement can be checked through the process of mutation. The mutation programs are written on JAVA server pages for checking and analysis of the SQL query. The fault based testing procedures are used for analysing the presence of vulnerabilities in the drafted SQL query with the use of SELECT and UNION query procedures. The mutant programming makes use of mutation operator to check the source code for anomalies.

Syntatic testing for SQL injection procedures:

This technique is used for debugging of the SQL query during the request and response sending procedures between database and web application server. The interpretation of the SQL query helps in analysing that the right information should be provided to the authorised user. The parse trees values are used for comparing the values of the SQL query drafted for retrieving the information. The PINPOINT is generated for analysing the request of attack send by the hacker.

Adaptive intelligent intrusion detection SQL:

Case Based reasoning system is used for artificial neural network and support vector machine. The clustering mechanisms are used for developing support vector machine for detecting the presence of anomalies. The clustering mechanisms are used for the virtualization network to predict the SQL injection in the SQL query.

Token query based approach:

This procedure is used for preventing the SQL injection attacks in the SQL query drafted for accessing the confidential information of the customers from the database. Tokens are generated for analysing the behavioural pattern used for posting the query of the accessing the required information (DB Networks, 2015).

There are different techniques used for preventing the database from the SQL injection attack proactively before its occurrence. JDBC checker is used for detecting the occurrence of anomalies in the SQL query. The mismatching in the statement can result in the occurrence of anomalies procedures. The Tautology checker is placed for resolving the issue associated with the Tautology security structure in the SQL injected query. The static analysing framework is developed for identifying the presence of vulnerabilities in the SQL query (Clarke, 2015). The dynamic algorithms are designed for checking the SQL query during the runtime procedures.

During the course program, we have analysed various countermeasures and prevention technique for resolving the problems associated with thee SQL injection program designed by the hacker for accessing the information from the database. Different mechanisms are applied for predicting the presence of SQL injection in the query (Rua, Thiyap, Musab and Abdulqader, 2017). There are various types of SQL injection used for hacking such as Tautology, incorrect logic of SQL query, piggy backing SQL injection, and others. Each type of SQL injection can be resolved by more than one countermeasure. The most appropriate mode for overcoming the SQL injection problem is the HASH model and Algorithm procedures. The automated programs are generated by implementing the countermeasure technique. The table below shows the percentage of resolving the complexity of the SQL injection through the countermeasures techniques:

Type of Attack

Capability of the technique in preventing the SQL injection attack

Capability of the technique used for addressing the type of SQL injection attack

Capability of the technique in preventing the SQL injection attack

Tautology Attack

62%

43%

4%

Incorrect SQL query

55%

34%

8%

Piggy Back SQL query

59%

34%

3%

Union Query

59%

34%

5%

Interference

35%

34%

4%

Alternate Encoding query

49%

34%

13%

The most acceptable SQL injection prevention method is the development of the Hash Function algorithm. The hash value helps in generating the layer of protection to the user ID and password for authentication. The hash value is used for testing the authentication of the user ID and password for approving the authorization to the database. The extra column is required for storing the hash value for preventing the SQL injection. The hash value related to user login credential i.e. login ID and password get stored in the database (Angel and Chandrasekhar, 2017).

The authentication protocol is used for developing SQL injection protector for the database. The first column represent the hash value for the user name or ID and the second column represent the hash value  for password (Singh and Kaur, 2012). The verification and validation of the user login and password by comparing it with hash value stored in the column information of the database (Adhyary, 2016). The calculation of the hash value at run time helps in providing SQL injection protector for the database. The following diagram shows the System protection mechanism for the detection and prevention of SQL injection.

The hash values are compared for giving authentication to access the database. The modification in the query is easily predicted through the comparison with the hash value stored in the database. The rejection of the hash value helps in detecting the anomalies associated with the SQL query used for getting authentication of the user database and account. The rejection of the hash value helps in protecting the database from the manipulation of the information stored on it. The hacker cannot be able to bypass the process of authorization and authentication. The analysis of the User ID and password through the generated hash value of the login credential and those which are stored in the database helps in predicting the occurrence on the anomalies. The programming code drafted for the SQL query to inject the SQL attack by designing the SELECT query for the attack can be predicted by the hash value during the dynamic run time of the query. The following diagram shows the schematic procedures used for detecting and preventing the database by making use of hash value.

The procedure of developing the hash value for the login credential of the user at the backend query with the use of SQL statement and UNION statement helps in analyzing the anomalies of the SQL query. The unique hash value is generated for the particular information of the user ID and Password which get stored in the database at the backend. The SQL injection is done through the SQL query by adding malicious statement in the SELECT query to get the output “YES” whenever processed. The authentication to the user will be provided by comparing the HASH value and matching it for generating the message of NOT SQL INJECTION.

Conclusion

The research study proposed on determining the type of attacks and their associated countermeasures helps in analyzing the best suitable model which can be opted for securing the database premises through the attack on SQL injection. The exploitation of the SQL query can result in damaging the accuracy of the database because the attacker can manipulate the information by applying the operation like adding of information, deletion of information, deletion of information, reading of information and others. The malicious code and vulnerabilities are sent by the attacker in the SQL statement which exploits and manipulate the information of the database. The accuracy and integrity of the data stored in the database can be exploited with the SQLI query posted on the database.  During the course program, we have analysed various countermeasures and prevention technique for resolving the problems associated with thee SQL injection program designed by the hacker for accessing the information from the database. Different mechanisms are applied for predicting the presence of SQL injection in the query. There are various types of SQL injection used for hacking such as Tautology, incorrect logic of SQL query, piggy backing SQL injection, and others. Each type of SQL injection can be resolved by more than one countermeasure. The most appropriate mode for overcoming the SQL injection problem is the HASH model and Algorithm procedures. The modification in the query is easily predicted through the comparison with the hash value stored in the database. The rejection of the hash value helps in detecting the anomalies associated with the SQL query used for getting authentication of the user database and account. The algorithm procedures are developed for removing the SQL injection from the SQL query which is based on Prepared Statement Replacement procedures. The source code are analysed for removing the association of the malicious code. The PSR algorithm is used for analysing the attacks through by By-passing the authorisation and authentication procedures from the Web portal, finger printing attack of the database, use of UNION query though injection procedure, and many others.

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