CVE-2022-44117 is a critical security vulnerability discovered in Boa .94.14rc21, a popular web server software, which allows an attacker to exploit SQL Injection via the username field. This post aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the exploit, including code snippets, original references, and details about the exploit.

When dealing with cybersecurity, SQL Injection is one of the most well-known attack vectors. It occurs when unsanitized or unchecked user inputs are used in SQL queries, allowing an attacker to manipulate the query structure and potentially gain unauthorized access to the database.

Exploit Details

In Boa .94.14rc21, the vulnerability is found in the authentication mechanism that handles user credentials through the username field. An attacker can craft a malicious input to inject SQL commands, which can lead to unauthorized access to the database, leaking sensitive data, or even executing arbitrary commands on the target system.

The code snippet below highlights the vulnerable part of the authentication mechanism (simplified for clarity):

def authenticate(username, password):
    connection = db.connect()
    cursor = connection.cursor()
    query = f"SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '{username}' AND password = '{password}'"
    cursor.execute(query)
    result = cursor.fetchone()

    if result:
        return True
    else:
        return False

The snippet shows that a SQL query is created using the input values provided by the user (username and password). The user-controlled input (username) is included in the query string without any sanitization or validation. This lack of input validation and sanitization allows an attacker to submit a carefully crafted username containing SQL code, leading to SQL Injection.

To give you a better understanding, let's illustrate how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. A malicious user could send the following input:

Username: ' OR '1'='1
Password: anything

The resulting SQL query becomes

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

This modified SQL query always returns True due to the OR '1'='1' condition, bypassing the authentication mechanism and granting the attacker unauthorized access to the system.

Mitigation

To remediate this vulnerability, user inputs should be sanitized and parameterized queries should be used instead of string concatenation. The following code snippet demonstrates a more secure implementation using parameterized queries:

def authenticate(username, password):
    connection = db.connect()
    cursor = connection.cursor()
    query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = %s AND password = %s"
    cursor.execute(query, (username, password))
    result = cursor.fetchone()

    if result:
        return True
    else:
        return False

The cursor.execute(query, (username, password)) function ensures that user inputs are sanitized, preventing SQL Injection attacks.

Original References

1. CVE-2022-44117 Official Record: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-44117
2. Boa Web Server: http://www.boa.org/

Conclusion

CVE-2022-44117 is a serious SQL Injection vulnerability affecting Boa .94.14rc21. By exploiting this vulnerability, attackers can potentially gain unauthorized access to the target system and leak sensitive data. Developers should always validate and sanitize user inputs to prevent SQL Injection vulnerabilities and other related security issues.

Timeline

Published on: 11/23/2022 21:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/28/2022 19:34:00 UTC