Summary

This module is focused on advanced SQL injection techniques, specifically when working with PostgreSQL. The target for this module is a Java/Spring application which we will decompile, analyze and eventually exploit.

This module is split up into the following sections:

Introduction: These sections serve as a very brief introduction to interacting with PostgreSQL.
Identifying Vulnerabilities: In these sections we cover various white-box techniques for identifying/debugging SQL injection vulnerabilities in Java applications.
Advanced SQL Injection Techniques: Throughout these sections we cover the following advanced SQL injection techniques:
- Common character bypasses
- Error-based SQL injection
- Second-order SQL injection
PostgreSQL-Specific Techniques: These sections teach you the following attacks specific to PostgreSQL:
- Reading and writing files
- Command execution
Defending Against SQL Injection: In this section we discuss how to fix/prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities from the point of view of a developer.
Skills Assessment: Here we put your skills to the test! Identify and exploit multiple SQL injections in a Java application on your own.

After completing this module, you should be comfortable identifying and exploiting advanced SQL injection vulnerabilities, especially against Java applications and PostgreSQL databases.

CREST CCT APP-related Sections:

All sections

This module is broken into sections with accompanying hands-on exercises to practice each of the tactics and techniques we cover. The module ends with a practical hands-on skills assessment to gauge your understanding of the various topic areas.

You can start and stop the module at any time and pick up where you left off. There is no time limit or "grading," but you must complete all of the exercises and the skills assessment to receive the maximum number of cubes and have this module marked as complete in any paths you have chosen.

As you work through the module, you will see example commands and command output for the various topics introduced. It is worth reproducing as many of these examples as possible to reinforce further the concepts presented in each section. You can do this in the PwnBox provided in the interactive sections or your virtual machine.

The module is classified as "hard" and assumes an intermediate knowledge of how web applications function and common attack principles. It is highly recommended to also complete the following modules before starting this one:

SQL Injection Fundamentals
Blind SQL Injection

Introduction to PostgreSQL

Introduction

In this module we will be exploring a few advanced SQL injection techniques as well as some PostgreSQL-specific attacks from a white-box approach. As this is an advanced module, an understanding of SQL syntax, SQL injections and Python3 is expected to fully grasp the concepts explained. Although this module will focus on PostgreSQL, the same techniques can be adapted to work with other SQL variants, as it is a standardized language.

Interacting with PostgreSQL

Before we get into injection vulnerablities, let's take a moment to familiarize ourselves with two of the most common tools for interacting with PostgreSQL databases: psql and pgAdmin4.

psql (PostgreSQL Interactive Terminal)

psql is a command-line tool for interacting with PostgreSQL databases that comes pre-packaged with the PostgreSQL server and works on Linux or Windows.

You can install psql on a Linux distribution with this single command:

[!bash!]$ sudo apt install postgresql-client-15

Note: It's possible that the distribution of Linux you are running does not have version 15. In that case, you can install version 13 and everything will work fine with minimally adapted steps.

To install psql on Windows, you should first download the PostgreSQL installer from postgresql.org and then during the installation process unselect everything except for Command Line Tools.

Once it's done installing, you may use psql.exe from the installation directory (C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\15\bin by default) or you can add the directory to the system PATH variable to be able to use it from anywhere:

Once you've installed psql on your operating system of choice, you can connect to a PostgreSQL database with the following command:

[!bash!]$ psql -h 127.0.0.1 [-p PORT] -U acdbuser acmecorp
Password for user acdbuser: 
psql (15.1 (Debian 15.1-1+b1), server 13.9 (Debian 13.9-0+deb11u1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

acmecorp=>

Once connected, you can list databases with the \l command or \l+ for extended details.

acmecorp=> \l
                                             List of databases
   Name    |  Owner   | Encoding | Collate |  Ctype  | ICU Locale | Locale Provider |   Access privileges   
-----------+----------+----------+---------+---------+------------+-----------------+-----------------------
 acmecorp  | postgres | UTF8     | C.UTF-8 | C.UTF-8 |            | libc            | 
 postgres  | postgres | UTF8     | C.UTF-8 | C.UTF-8 |            | libc            | 
 template0 | postgres | UTF8     | C.UTF-8 | C.UTF-8 |            | libc            | =c/postgres          +
           |          |          |         |         |            |                 | postgres=CTc/postgres
 template1 | postgres | UTF8     | C.UTF-8 | C.UTF-8 |            | libc            | =c/postgres          +
           |          |          |         |         |            |                 | postgres=CTc/postgres
(4 rows)

To switch to a database you can use the \c <DATABASE> command. In this case we are already in the acmecorp database.

To list the tables in a database (after you've switched to it), you can use the \dt command or \dt+ for extended information.

acmecorp=> \dt+
                                        List of relations
 Schema |    Name     | Type  |  Owner   | Persistence | Access method |    Size    | Description 
--------+-------------+-------+----------+-------------+---------------+------------+-------------
 public | departments | table | postgres | permanent   | heap          | 8192 bytes | 
 public | dept_emp    | table | postgres | permanent   | heap          | 72 kB      | 
 public | employees   | table | postgres | permanent   | heap          | 176 kB     | 
 public | salaries    | table | postgres | permanent   | heap          | 72 kB      | 
 public | titles      | table | postgres | permanent   | heap          | 80 kB      | 
(5 rows)

Last, but not least, you can query the database simply by entering the query and making sure it's terminated with a semicolon. Multi-line queries work as well.

acmecorp=> SELECT first_name, last_name, email FROM employees LIMIT 5;
 first_name |  last_name  |           email           
------------+-------------+---------------------------
 Kathleen   | Flint       | [email protected]
 Henry      | Watson      | [email protected]
 Ruth       | Perez       | [email protected]
 Leon       | Tappin      | [email protected]
 Donita     | Fairweather | [email protected]
(5 rows)

pgAdmin4

pgAdmin4 is a GUI application for interacting with PostgreSQL databases that works on Linux and Windows.

To install pgAdmin4 on Linux, run the following commands:

[!bash!]$ curl -fsS https://www.pgadmin.org/static/packages_pgadmin_org.pub | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg
[!bash!]$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/packages-pgadmin-org.gpg] https://ftp.postgresql.org/pub/pgadmin/pgadmin4/apt/$(lsb_release -cs) pgadmin4 main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgadmin4.list && apt update'
[!bash!]$ sudo apt install pgadmin4

Note: If you are using Kali or ParrotOS (like the Pwnbox), you will want to replace $(lsb_release -cs) in the second command with bullseye, otherwise the installation will fail.

To install pgAdmin4 on Windows you can download the installer from pgadmin.org and follow the installation steps, or you can reuse the installer we used to install psql.exe, just make sure the pgAdmin4 option is checked this time in the installation process.

The first time you launch pgAdmin4 you will have to set a master password. This is simply to protect the credentials you will later use to connect to databases.

To connect to a PostgreSQL server, go to Dashboard > Add New Server, fill out the details and press Save.

Once you've done that, you can access the server on the left-hand side under whatever name you chose. Viewing databases and tables is very intuitive with this graphic interface, and running queries is as simple as right-clicking on a database and selecting the Query Tool.

Practice

To finish off this section install psql or pgAdmin4, spawn and connect to the target database (acmecorp) with the credentials acdbuser:AcmeCorp2023!, and then answer the questions below.

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Relevant Paths

This module progresses you towards the following Paths

CREST CCT APP Preparation

This is a skill path to prepare you for CREST's CCT APP exam. The following CCT APP syllabus areas (IDs) are covered: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, B4, B5, B6, B8, B9, B13, B14, C1, C2, C3, C4, D1, D2, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E9, F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, G1, G2, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, G9, H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7, H8, H9, H10, H11, H12, H13, I1, I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, I8, I9, I10, I11, I12, J1, J2, J3. Take your time to complete all related sections and when you are ready you can book your CREST exam through the following link. https://www.crest-approved.org/certification-careers/crest-certifications/crest-certified-web-application-tester/

Medium

724 Sections

Required: 4980

Reward: +1100

44 Modules included

Introduction to Networking

Fundamental

21 Sections

Reward: +10 UPDATED

As an information security professional, a firm grasp of networking fundamentals and the required components is necessary. Without a strong foundation in networking, it will be tough to progress in any area of information security. Understanding how a network is structured and how the communication between the individual hosts and servers takes place using the various protocols allows us to understand the entire network structure and its network traffic in detail and how different communication standards are handled. This knowledge is essential to create our tools and to interact with the protocols.

Web Requests

Fundamental

8 Sections

Reward: +10

This module introduces the topic of HTTP web requests and how different web applications utilize them to communicate with their backends.

Introduction to Web Applications

Fundamental

17 Sections

Reward: +10

In the Introduction to Web Applications module, you will learn all of the basics of how web applications work and begin to look at them from an information security perspective.

Linux Fundamentals

Fundamental

30 Sections

Reward: +10 UPDATED

This module covers the fundamentals required to work comfortably with the Linux operating system and shell.

Windows Fundamentals

Fundamental

14 Sections

Reward: +10

This module covers the fundamentals required to work comfortably with the Windows operating system.

Introduction to Windows Command Line

Easy

23 Sections

Reward: +10

As administrators and Pentesters, we may not always be able to utilize a graphical user interface for the actions we need to perform. Introduction to Windows Command Line aims to introduce students to the wide range of uses for Command Prompt and PowerShell within a Windows environment. We will cover basic usage of both key executables for administration, useful PowerShell cmdlets and modules, and different ways to leverage these tools to our benefit.

Intro to Network Traffic Analysis

Medium

15 Sections

Reward: +10

Network traffic analysis is used by security teams to monitor network activity and look for anomalies that could indicate security and operational issues. Offensive security practitioners can use network traffic analysis to search for sensitive data such as credentials, hidden applications, reachable network segments, or other potentially sensitive information "on the wire." Network traffic analysis has many uses for attackers and defenders alike.

Penetration Testing Process

Fundamental

15 Sections

Reward: +10 UPDATED

This module teaches the penetration testing process broken down into each stage and discussed in detail. We will cover many aspects of the role of a penetration tester during a penetration test, explained and illustrated with detailed examples. The module also covers pre-engagement steps like the criteria for establishing a contract with a client for a penetration testing engagement.

Network Enumeration with Nmap

Easy

12 Sections

Reward: +10

Nmap is one of the most used networking mapping and discovery tools because of its accurate results and efficiency. The tool is widely used by both offensive and defensive security practitioners. This module covers fundamentals that will be needed to use the Nmap tool for performing effective network enumeration.

Footprinting

Medium

21 Sections

Reward: +20 UPDATED

This module covers techniques for footprinting the most commonly used services in almost all enterprise and business IT infrastructures. Footprinting is an essential phase of any penetration test or security audit to identify and prevent information disclosure. Using this process, we examine the individual services and attempt to obtain as much information from them as possible.

Information Gathering - Web Edition

Easy

10 Sections

Reward: +20

This module covers techniques for identifying and analyzing an organization's web application-based attack surface and tech stack. Information gathering is an essential part of any web application penetration test, and it can be performed either passively or actively.

Vulnerability Assessment

Easy

17 Sections

Reward: +10

This module introduces the concept of Vulnerability Assessments. We will review the differences between vulnerability assessments and penetration tests, how to carry out a vulnerability assessment, how to interpret the assessment results, and how to deliver an effective vulnerability assessment report.

File Transfers

Medium

10 Sections

Reward: +10

During an assessment, it is very common for us to transfer files to and from a target system. This module covers file transfer techniques leveraging tools commonly available across all versions of Windows and Linux systems.

Shells & Payloads

Medium

17 Sections

Reward: +10

Gain the knowledge and skills to identify and use shells & payloads to establish a foothold on vulnerable Windows & Linux systems. This module utilizes a fictitious scenario where the learner will place themselves in the perspective of a sysadmin trying out for a position on CAT5 Security's network penetration testing team.

Using the Metasploit Framework

Easy

15 Sections

Reward: +10

The Metasploit Framework is an open-source set of tools used for network enumeration, attacks, testing security vulnerabilities, evading detection, performing privilege escalation attacks, and performing post-exploitation.

Password Attacks

Medium

22 Sections

Reward: +10 UPDATED

Passwords are still the primary method of authentication in corporate networks. If strong password policies are not in place, users will often opt for weak, easy-to-remember passwords that can often be cracked offline and used to further our access. We will encounter passwords in many forms during our assessments. We must understand the various ways they are stored, how they can be retrieved, methods to crack weak passwords, ways to use hashes that cannot be cracked, and hunting for weak/default password usage.

Attacking Common Services

Medium

19 Sections

Reward: +20

Organizations regularly use a standard set of services for different purposes. It is vital to conduct penetration testing activities on each service internally and externally to ensure that they are not introducing security threats. This module will cover how to enumerate each service and test it against known vulnerabilities and exploits with a standard set of tools.

Cracking Passwords with Hashcat

Medium

14 Sections

Reward: +20

This module covers the fundamentals of password cracking using the Hashcat tool.

Introduction to Active Directory

Fundamental

16 Sections

Reward: +10

Active Directory (AD) is present in the majority of corporate environments. Due to its many features and complexity, it presents a vast attack surface. To be successful as penetration testers and information security professionals, we must have a firm understanding of Active Directory fundamentals, AD structures, functionality, common AD flaws, misconfigurations, and defensive measures.

Pivoting, Tunneling, and Port Forwarding

Medium

18 Sections

Reward: +20

Once a foothold is gained during an assessment, it may be in scope to move laterally and vertically within a target network. Using one compromised machine to access another is called pivoting and allows us to access networks and resources that are not directly accessible to us through the compromised host. Port forwarding accepts the traffic on a given IP address and port and redirects it to a different IP address and port combination. Tunneling is a technique that allows us to encapsulate traffic within another protocol so that it looks like a benign traffic stream.

Active Directory Enumeration & Attacks

Medium

36 Sections

Reward: +20

Active Directory (AD) is the leading enterprise domain management suite, providing identity and access management, centralized domain administration, authentication, and much more. Due to the many features and complexity of AD, it presents a large attack surface that is difficult to secure properly. To be successful as infosec professionals, we must understand AD architectures and how to secure our enterprise environments. As Penetration testers, having a firm grasp of what tools, techniques, and procedures are available to us for enumerating and attacking AD environments and commonly seen AD misconfigurations is a must.

Linux Privilege Escalation

Easy

15 Sections

Reward: +20

Privilege escalation is a crucial phase during any security assessment. During this phase, we attempt to gain access to additional users, hosts, and resources to move closer to the assessment's overall goal. There are many ways to escalate privileges. This module aims to cover the most common methods emphasizing real-world misconfigurations and flaws that we may encounter in a client environment. The techniques covered in this module are not an exhaustive list of all possibilities and aim to avoid extreme "edge-case" tactics that may be seen in a Capture the Flag (CTF) exercise.

Windows Privilege Escalation

Medium

31 Sections

Reward: +20 UPDATED

After gaining a foothold, elevating our privileges will provide more options for persistence and may reveal information stored locally that can further our access in the environment. Enumeration is the key to privilege escalation. When you gain initial shell access to the host, it is important to gain situational awareness and uncover details relating to the OS version, patch level, any installed software, our current privileges, group memberships, and more. Windows presents an enormous attack surface and, being that most companies run Windows hosts in some way, we will more often than not find ourselves gaining access to Windows machines during our assessments. This covers common methods while emphasizing real-world misconfigurations and flaws that we may encounter during an assessment. There are many additional "edge-case" possibilities not covered in this module. We will cover both modern and legacy Windows Server and Desktop versions that may be present in a client environment.

Using Web Proxies

Easy

15 Sections

Reward: +20

Web application penetration testing frameworks are an essential part of any web penetration test. This module will teach you two of the best frameworks: Burp Suite and OWASP ZAP.

Attacking Web Applications with Ffuf

Easy

13 Sections

Reward: +10

This module covers the fundamental enumeration skills of web fuzzing and directory brute forcing using the Ffuf tool. The techniques learned in this module will help us in locating hidden pages, directories, and parameters when targeting web applications.

Easy

11 Sections

Reward: +20

Learn how to brute force logins for various types of services and create custom wordlists based on your target.

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Easy

10 Sections

Reward: +20

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities are among the most common web application vulnerabilities. An XSS vulnerability may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the target's browser and result in complete web application compromise if chained together with other vulnerabilities. This module will teach you how to identify XSS vulnerabilities and exploit them.

Session Security

Medium

14 Sections

Reward: +20

Maintaining and keeping track of a user's session is an integral part of web applications. It is an area that requires extensive testing to ensure it is set up robustly and securely. This module covers the most common attacks and vulnerabilities that can affect web application sessions, such as Session Hijacking, Session Fixation, Cross-Site Request Forgery, Cross-Site Scripting, and Open Redirects.

SQL Injection Fundamentals

Medium

17 Sections

Reward: +10

Databases are an important part of web application infrastructure and SQL (Structured Query Language) to store, retrieve, and manipulate information stored in them. SQL injection is a code injection technique used to take advantage of coding vulnerabilities and inject SQL queries via an application to bypass authentication, retrieve data from the back-end database, or achieve code execution on the underlying server.

SQLMap Essentials

Easy

11 Sections

Reward: +20

The SQLMap Essentials module will teach you the basics of using SQLMap to discover various types of SQL Injection vulnerabilities, all the way to the advanced enumeration of databases to retrieve all data of interest.

Blind SQL Injection

Hard

16 Sections

Reward: +100

In this module, we cover blind SQL injection attacks and MSSQL-specific attacks.

Advanced SQL Injections

Hard

12 Sections

Reward: +100

This module covers advanced SQL injection techniques with a focus on white-box testing, Java/Spring and PostgreSQL.

File Inclusion

Medium

11 Sections

Reward: +10

File Inclusion is a common web application vulnerability, which can be easily overlooked as part of a web application's functionality.

File Upload Attacks

Medium

11 Sections

Reward: +20

Arbitrary file uploads are among the most critical web vulnerabilities. These flaws enable attackers to upload malicious files, execute arbitrary commands on the back-end server, and even take control over the entire server and all web applications hosted on it and potentially gain access to sensitive data or cause a service disruption.

Command Injections

Medium

12 Sections

Reward: +20

Command injection vulnerabilities can be leveraged to compromise a hosting server and its entire network. This module will teach you how to identify and exploit command injection vulnerabilities and how to use various filter bypassing techniques to avoid security mitigations.

Broken Authentication

Medium

14 Sections

Reward: +20

Authentication is probably the most straightforward and prevalent measure used to secure access to resources, and it's the first line of defense against unauthorized access. Broken authentication is currently listed as #7 on the 2021 OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks, falling under the broader category of Identification and Authentication failures. A vulnerability or misconfiguration at the authentication stage can devastatingly impact an application's overall security.

Web Attacks

Medium

18 Sections

Reward: +20

This module covers three common web vulnerabilities, HTTP Verb Tampering, IDOR, and XXE, each of which can have a significant impact on a company's systems. We will cover how to identify, exploit, and prevent each of them through various methods.

HTTPs/TLS Attacks

Medium

15 Sections

Reward: +100

This module covers details on Transport Layer Security (TLS) and how it helps to make HTTP secure with the widely used HTTPS. That includes how TLS works, how TLS sessions are established, common TLS misconfigurations, as well as famous attacks on TLS. We will discuss how to identify, exploit, and prevent TLS attacks.

HTTP Attacks

Hard

18 Sections

Reward: +100

This module covers three HTTP vulnerabilities: CRLF Injection, HTTP Request Smuggling, and HTTP/2 Downgrading. These vulnerabilities can arise on the HTTP level in real-world deployment settings utilizing intermediary systems such as reverse proxies in front of the web server. We will cover how to identify, exploit, and prevent each of these vulnerabilities.

Abusing HTTP Misconfigurations

Hard

20 Sections

Reward: +100

This module covers three common HTTP vulnerabilities: Web Cache Poisoning, Host Header Vulnerabilities, and Session Puzzling or Session Variable Overloading. These vulnerabilities can arise on the HTTP level due to web server misconfigurations, other systems that have to be considered during real-world deployment such as web caches, or coding mistakes in the web application. We will cover how to identify, exploit, and prevent each of these vulnerabilities.

Attacking Common Applications

Medium

33 Sections

Reward: +20 UPDATED

Penetration Testers can come across various applications, such as Content Management Systems, custom web applications, internal portals used by developers and sysadmins, and more. It's common to find the same applications across many different environments. While an application may not be vulnerable in one environment, it may be misconfigured or unpatched in the next. It is important as an assessor to have a firm grasp of enumerating and attacking the common applications discussed in this module. This knowledge will help when encountering other types of applications during assessments.

Web Service & API Attacks

Medium

13 Sections

Reward: +20

Web services and APIs are frequently exposed to provide certain functionalities in a programmatic way between heterogeneous devices and software components. Both web services and APIs can assist in integrating different applications or facilitate separation within a given application. This module covers how to identify the functionality a web service or API offers and exploit any security-related inefficiencies.

Hacking WordPress

Easy

16 Sections

Reward: +20

WordPress is an open-source Content Management System (CMS) that can be used for multiple purposes.

Documentation & Reporting

Easy

8 Sections

Reward: +20

Proper documentation is paramount during any engagement. The end goal of a technical assessment is the report deliverable which will often be presented to a broad audience within the target organization. We must take detailed notes and be very organized in our documentation, which will help us in the event of an incident during the assessment. This will also help ensure that our reports contain enough detail to illustrate the impact of our findings properly.