• 👉 Overview
• 👀 What ?
• 🧐 Why ?
• ⛏️ How ?
• ⏳ When ?
• ⚙️ Technical Explanations
• 🖇️ References

👉 Overview

👀 What ?

MSSQL Injection refers to a code injection technique that attackers use to exploit a security vulnerability in a Microsoft SQL Server database application. The attacker injects malicious SQL code into a query, which the database then executes, potentially causing unauthorized data access, data corruption, or even data loss.

🧐 Why ?

Understanding MSSQL Injection is crucial because it is a prevalent and damaging form of cyber attack. If exploited, it can lead to severe consequences such as unauthorized access to sensitive data, identity theft, data manipulation, and even system shutdown. Anyone responsible for maintaining or protecting a Microsoft SQL Server application should know about MSSQL Injection to safeguard against it.

⛏️ How ?

To protect against MSSQL Injection, you should implement input validation to reject suspicious or malicious inputs. Use parameterized queries or prepared statements instead of concatenating user inputs into SQL queries. Regularly update and patch your database software to fix any known vulnerabilities. Also, limit the privileges of database accounts to restrict what an attacker can do in the event of a successful injection.

⏳ When ?

MSSQL Injection attacks have been a known threat since the late 1990s, shortly after the introduction of Microsoft SQL Server. These attacks are still common today, particularly on web applications that do not properly validate user inputs.

⚙️ Technical Explanations

MSSQL Injection works by exploiting the way a database application processes SQL queries. When a user input is incorporated directly into an SQL query without proper sanitization, an attacker can manipulate the query to execute arbitrary SQL code. This code can be used to view, modify, or delete data that the attacker should not have access to. The severity of the attack depends on the privileges of the database account that executes the malicious query. If this account has admin privileges, the attacker can potentially control the entire database system.

🖇️ References