Using Hibernate to execute a dynamic SQL statement built with user-controlled input can allow an attacker to modify the statement's meaning or to execute arbitrary SQL commands.
Impact: Read Application Data, Modify Application Data — Notes:
Potential Mitigations
Requirements: A non-SQL style database which is not subject to this flaw may be chosen. (N/A)
Architecture and Design: Follow the principle of least privilege when creating user accounts to a SQL database. Users should only have the minimum privileges necessary to use their account. If the requirements of the system indicate that a user can read and modify their own data, then limit their privileges so they cannot read/write others' data. (N/A)
Architecture and Design: For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server. (N/A)
Implementation: Implement SQL strings using prepared statements that bind variables. Prepared statements that do not bind variables can be vulnerable to attack. (N/A)
Implementation: Use vigorous allowlist style checking on any user input that may be used in a SQL command. Rather than escape meta-characters, it is safest to disallow them entirely. Reason: Later use of data that have been entered in the database may neglect to escape meta-characters before use. Narrowly define the set of safe characters based on the expected value of the parameter in the request. (N/A)
Applicable Platforms
SQL (N/A, Often)
Demonstrative Examples
Intro: The following code excerpt uses Hibernate's HQL syntax to build a dynamic query that's vulnerable to SQL injection.
String street = getStreetFromUser(); Query query = session.createQuery("from Address a where a.street='" + street + "'");