When it comes to maintaining applications, developers must be constantly aware of potential security vulnerabilities. One such vulnerability is SQL Injection, which is when an attacker can insert malicious SQL code into an input field to manipulate the application's database queries. Developers must be aware of the proper ways to neutralize these attacks to maintain robust application security.
In this post, we will discuss a recently discovered vulnerability in Apache Software Foundation's Apache InLong, which can allow an attacker to execute SQL injection attacks by manipulating certain parameters. We will also provide details on how to exploit this vulnerability and how to mitigate it.
Vulnerability Details
This vulnerability, given the identifier CVE-2023-30465, affects Apache InLong versions 1.4. through 1.5.. The issue lies in the improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command, allowing an attacker to extract user information from the "user" table. Specifically, by manipulating the "orderType" parameter and the ordering of the returned content using an SQL injection attack, an attacker can extract the username of the user with ID 1, one character at a time.
Here is an example of the code snipplet
// Example of vulnerable SQL query generation
String orderType = getParameterValue("orderType");
String query = "SELECT * FROM user WHERE id=1 ORDER BY " + orderType;
From the example above, an attacker can manipulate the orderType parameter to include SQL code, causing unintended behavior such as extracting information from the database.
Exploit Details
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker can craft specific SQL code and inject it into the orderType parameter to extract the username of the user with ID 1. The potential SQL injection payload could look something like this:
CASE
WHEN ASCII(SUBSTRING(username,1,1))>110 THEN name
END
This payload checks if the ASCII value of the first character of the username is greater than 110. If it is, the name column will be returned in the result set. This technique can be applied iteratively to retrieve the username one character at a time.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, users are strongly advised to upgrade Apache InLong to version 1.6. or cherry-pick the patch from the following link: [1]
https://github.com/apache/inlong/issues/7529
By applying this patch or upgrading to the latest version, developers can better protect their applications against SQL injection attacks.
Conclusion
This vulnerability highlights the importance of properly handling user input and neutralizing special elements used in SQL commands. Always ensure that your applications are using the latest software versions and patches.
For further information on this vulnerability and how to prevent similar issues from happening in the future, please refer to the original references:
https://programmer.help/blogs/jdbc-deserialization-vulnerability-learning.html
https://github.com/apache/inlong/issues/7529
Together, we can all contribute to making the software ecosystem more robust and secure.
Timeline
Published on: 04/11/2023 15:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 04/18/2023 19:30:00 UTC