HTTP Challenge: SQL Injection

Welcome to the HTTP Challenge for SQL Injection! This challenge will test your skills in identifying and exploiting SQL vulnerabilities in web applications.

To get started, you will need to access the following URL:

http://challenge01.root-me.org:58036

When you access this page, you will be presented with a login form that requires a username and password. Your task is to use SQL injection techniques to bypass the login form and gain access to the protected content.

SQL Injection Explained

SQL injection is a type of vulnerability that can be exploited in web applications that use SQL databases. The basic idea behind SQL injection is that an attacker can use malicious input to modify the SQL statement that is executed by the application.

For example, consider the following SQL statement that checks whether a user with a given username and password exists in a database:

SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '$username' AND password = '$password'

If an attacker were to provide the following input:

username: admin'-- 
password: password

The SQL statement would be modified to the following:

SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = 'admin'--' AND password = 'password'

The -- is a comment in SQL, so everything after it is ignored. Therefore, the modified SQL statement will return all records where the username is 'admin', regardless of the password.

Exploiting the Challenge

To exploit the challenge, you will need to use SQL injection techniques to modify the SQL statement that is executed by the server. Try to provide input that will cause the server to return the username and password of the admin account.

For example, you could try the following input:

username: ' OR 1=1 --
password:

This input will modify the SQL statement to the following:

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

The 1=1 part of the statement is always true, so the server will return all records in the users table. The -- comment will prevent the rest of the statement from being executed.

Conclusion

SQL injection vulnerabilities can be very dangerous if they are not properly secured. It is important for web developers to understand how to protect against SQL injection attacks, and for security professionals to be able to identify and exploit these vulnerabilities.

Remember to always use safe coding practices and input validation techniques to prevent SQL injection attacks in your own applications.