SQL Injection

web HIGH

SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.

How It Works

SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements. When developers concatenate untrusted data into queries without proper sanitization, attackers can inject SQL syntax that changes the query's logic. For example, entering ' OR '1'='1 into a login form might transform SELECT * FROM users WHERE username='input' into a query that always returns true, bypassing authentication.

Attackers follow a methodical process: first probing input fields with special characters like quotes or semicolons to trigger database errors, then identifying whether the application is vulnerable. Once confirmed, they escalate by injecting commands to extract data (UNION-based attacks to merge results from other tables), manipulate records, or probe the database structure. Blind SQL injection variants work without visible error messages—boolean-based attacks infer data by observing application behavior changes, while time-based attacks use database sleep functions to confirm successful injection through response delays.

Advanced scenarios include second-order injection, where malicious input is stored in the database and later executed in a different context, and out-of-band attacks that exfiltrate data through DNS queries or HTTP requests when direct data retrieval isn't possible. Some database systems enable attackers to execute operating system commands through built-in functions like MySQL's LOAD_FILE or SQL Server's xp_cmdshell, escalating from database compromise to full server control.

Impact

Complete data breach — extraction of entire database contents including credentials, personal information, and proprietary data
Authentication bypass — logging in as any user without knowing passwords
Data manipulation — unauthorized modification or deletion of critical records
Privilege escalation — granting administrative rights to attacker-controlled accounts
Remote code execution — leveraging database features to run operating system commands and compromise the underlying server
Lateral movement — using compromised database credentials to access other connected systems

Real-World Examples

FreePBX's CVE-2025-66039 demonstrated a complete attack chain where SQL injection across 11 parameters in four different endpoints allowed attackers to write malicious entries into the cron_jobs table. When the system's scheduler executed these entries, the injected SQL transformed into operating system commands, granting full server control. The vulnerability required no authentication, making it immediately exploitable.

E-commerce platforms have suffered massive breaches through shopping cart SQL injection, where attackers inserted skimming code into stored procedures that executed during checkout, harvesting credit card data from thousands of transactions. Healthcare systems have been compromised through patient portal vulnerabilities, exposing millions of medical records when attackers injected UNION queries to merge data from supposedly isolated tables.

Mitigation

Parameterized queries (prepared statements) — separates SQL logic from data, making injection syntactically impossible
Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) frameworks — abstracts database interactions with built-in protections when used correctly
Strict input validation — whitelist acceptable characters and formats, reject suspicious patterns
Least privilege database accounts — applications should use credentials with minimal necessary permissions
Web Application Firewall (WAF) — detects and blocks common injection patterns as a secondary defense layer
Database activity monitoring — alerts on unusual query patterns or privilege escalation attempts

Recent CVEs (15232)

CVE-2022-30510

EPSS 4% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

School Dormitory Management System 1.0 is vulnerable to SQL Injection via reports/daily_collection_report.php:59. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi School Dormitory Management System

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30496

EPSS 1% CVSS 7.5

HIGH POC This Week

SQL injection in Logon Page of IDCE MV's application, version 1.0, allows an attacker to inject SQL payloads in the user field, connecting to a database to access enterprise's private and sensitive. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

SQLi Idce

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30490

EPSS 1% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

Badminton Center Management System V1.0 is vulnerable to SQL Injection via parameter 'id' in /bcms/admin/court_rentals/update_status.php. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

SQLi PHP Badminton Center Management System

NVD GitHub VulDB

CVE-2022-30481

EPSS 1% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

Food-order-and-table-reservation-system- 1.0 is vulnerable to SQL Injection in categorywise-menu.php via the catid parameters. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi Food Order And Table Reservation System

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30478

EPSS 1% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

Ecommerce-project-with-php-and-mysqli-Fruits-Bazar 1.0 is vulnerable to SQL Injection in \search_product.php via the keyword parameters. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi Ecommerce Project With Php And Mysqli Fruits Bazar

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30352

EPSS 2% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

phpABook 0.9i is vulnerable to SQL Injection due to insufficient sanitization of user-supplied data in the "auth_user" parameter in index.php script. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi Phpabook

NVD Exploit-DB

CVE-2022-29659

EPSS 2% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

Responsive Online Blog v1.0 was discovered to contain a SQL injection vulnerability via the id parameter at single.php. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi Responsive Online Blog

NVD

CVE-2022-24240

EPSS 1% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL Act Now

ACEweb Online Portal 3.5.065 was discovered to contain a SQL injection vulnerability via the criteria parameter in showschedule.awp. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

SQLi Aceweb Online Portal

NVD VulDB

CVE-2022-24848

EPSS 1% CVSS 8.8

HIGH PATCH This Week

DHIS2 is an information system for data capture, management, validation, analytics and visualization. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This SQL Injection vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the database.

SQLi Dhis 2

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-1556

EPSS 20% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC THREAT Act Now

The StaffList WordPress plugin before 3.1.5 does not properly sanitise and escape a parameter before using it in a SQL statement when searching for Staff in the admin dashboard, leading to an SQL. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

SQLi WordPress Stafflist

NVD WPScan

CVE-2022-30516

EPSS 2% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

In Hospital-Management-System v1.0, the editid parameter in the doctor.php page is vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

PHP SQLi Hospital Management System

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30493

EPSS 2% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

In oretnom23 Automotive Shop Management System v1.0, the product id parameter suffers from a blind SQL Injection Vulnerability allowing remote attackers to dump all database credential and gain admin. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

Privilege Escalation SQLi Automotive Shop Management System

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-30500 Maven

EPSS 1% CVSS 9.8

CRITICAL POC Act Now

Jfinal cms 5.1.0 is vulnerable to SQL Injection. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

SQLi Jfinal Cms

NVD GitHub

CVE-2022-29689

EPSS 1% CVSS 7.2

HIGH POC This Week

CSCMS Music Portal System v4.2 was discovered to contain a blind SQL injection vulnerability via the id parameter at /admin.php/singer/admin/singer/del. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.