Currently I learning the asp.net in c#,
I found that if I allow users to input some value in Textbox field,
the (') simbol will cause the sql statement throw error
the good practices to avoid this kind of error is to block the symbol using javascript like "event.keyCode!=222" or replace it by other symbol?
If you are using an ORM (such as entity framework) the (') symbol should not be an issue.
In any case you should handle special characters on the server side (C#) and not the client side (JS) , otherwise your code will be vulnerable to SQL injection and other nasty pests.
It's not only the ' character, there can be more. Check this Which characters are actually capable of causing SQL injection in mysql for better understanding.
And you should do the filtering on server side, do not rely on client side JavaScript as that can be skipped.
Better option is to use a stored procedure, and pass the value submitted by user through a parameter, instead of dynamically constructing SQL strings. That could reduce the risk of SQL injection.
If you want to prevent SQL injection by escaping query string, either use methods which convert apostrophes and special symbols into plain text on server-side, or use parameterized queries with stored procedures.
You can perform Regex.Replace to escape all apostrophes and double minus (comment sign) to plain query string on server side similar to this:
String yourEscapePattern = "[escaped patterns]";
String replacementString = "[replacement here]";
Regex reg = new Regex(yourEscapePattern);
String query = Regex.Replace(input, replacementString);
Parameterized query example:
using (var command = new SqlCommand("[stored procedure name]", connection))
{
command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
command.Parameters.Add("#Parameter1", SqlDbType).Value = Value1;
// other parameters here
command.ExecuteNonQuery(); // or ExecuteReader
}
you can use
HttpUtility.UrlEncode("some Text'(");
befor saving your text to datebase
Related
Trying to Insert into database from textboxes, but it will only accept integers and not characters - what could the problem be?
string sCMD = string.Format("INSERT INTO [Table] ([Item], [Des1],[Des2], [Prodline], [ANR], [STime]) VALUES({0},{1},'0',{2},{3},{4})"
,txtText1.Text, txtText2.Text, txText3.Text, txtText4.Text, txtText5.Text);
The name "" is not permitted in this context. Valid expressions are constants, constant expressions, and (in some contexts) variables. Column names are not permitted.
Here's something to consider:
using (SqlConnection c = new SqlConnection(connString))
{
c.Open();
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("INSERT INTO [Table] ([Item], [Des1],[Des2], [Prodline], [ANR], [STime]) VALUES(#Item,#Des1,'0',#ProdLine,#ANR,#STime)", c))
{
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#Item", txtText1.Text);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#Des1", txtText2.Text);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#ProdLine", txText3.Text);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#ANR", txtText4.Text);
cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("#STime", txtText5.Text);
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
}
}
If you were to send the SQL statement you're building to the server it might look something like this:
INSERT INTO [Table] ([Item], [Des1],[Des2], [Prodline], [ANR], [STime])
VALUES(Item Name,Here is my description.,'0',Prod line,ANR value,some time)
Clearly that's going to fail. It's not even surrounding the values with single quotes. Now, all of them may not be character, I get that, but you get my point.
But to add insult to injury it's wide open to SQL Injection the way you have it written. With the parameterized approach it's not.
This is a very dangerous line of code.
For starters, you are creating a string with no delimiters whatsoever for the values, which means that the only values that could pass withour issue are integers. Anything else needs to be delimited, which you don't do in this String.Format statement.
Worse, you are trying to create a sql statement from direct user input. Any weird value can cause your code to fail, or worse, cause execution of unwanted code. Imagine what would happen in a user entered eg 'sdf','sdfs',sdf' as the FIRST value. The resulting string would have 3 correct values for the first three columns that came from the first textboxt.
Now image what would happen if the user entered something like 'blablabla';DROP TABLE sometable;--. This would cause the Delete command to execute. This is a standard SQL injection attack scenario.
There are many more problems, eg when you try to pass numbers with floats, dates or any type whose conversion to string depends on your locale.
Instead of trying to construct a SQL query by string concatenation, you should use parameterized queries, as described in Give me parameterized SQL or give me death. The resulting code is easier to write, performs much faster, has no conversion errors and is not subject to SQL injection attacks,
I am using mysql with asp.net to save data in DB . When I save data in DB after using server.HTMLEncode(), the data is saved after removing \ . This is how I am saving data
INSERT INTO Users(ID,Name) Values(1,Server.HTMLEncode(User.Identity.Name))
In this case if name is XXX\ABC , it is being saved as XXXABC. Slashes are removed while saving in DB.
Next time when I read the same , I need to check if logged in user is the one against whom I saved data so I do following
if ( existingRowEditor == Server.HtmlEncode(User.Identity.Name))
{
}
but the issue is that the above condition is always false because I have following values
existingRowEditor="XXXABC" and Server.HtmlEncode(User.Identity.Name) =XXX\\ABC.
So how can I check if the above condition is true?
HTML encoding is not suitable for encoding data for storage in the database.
The reason that the backslashes disappears is that you are pasting together SQL code, and encoding the text for display in the web page instead of escaping it for being text in an SQL query. The backslash is used as escape character in MySQL, so any bacslashes in the string will escape the next character.
Preferrably you should use parameterised queries instead of concatenating the data into the SQL query. If that is not possible, you must escape the text properly to be in a string literal in SQL code, so you have to replace every backslash with double backsashes, and prepend every apostrophe with a backslash. If you fail to escape it properly, you application will be wide open for SQL injection attacks.
HTML encoding values should be done when you display it in a web page, not before you put it in the datbase.
You could use the following:
var sqlQueryString = "INSERT INTO Users(ID,Name) Values(#Id,#Name)";
var sqlCommand = new SqlCommand(sqlQueryString, sqlConnection);
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("Id", 1);
sqlCommand.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("Name", User.Identity.Name);
sqlCommand.ExecuteNonQuery();
Currently I simply don't allow apostrophe's at all (along with other character's as you can see) with this, reiterated for each field:
foreach(char c in Comments)
{
if(c=='\'' || c=='$' || c=='\"' || c=='&' || c=='%' || c=='#' || c=='-' || c=='<' || c=='>')
{
errorMessage = "You have entered at least one invalid character in the \"Comments\" field. Invalid characters are: [\'], [\"], [&], [$], [#], [-], [<], [>], and [%]";
}
}
I've been coding this for a while, and I am getting better, but the real problem is that, while I am sure there is a way to effectively "strip-out" or otherwise validate the user input, I am not sure which approach is best and probably wouldn't until a security crisis was imminent.
If I have to, I will settle on simply never allowing single quotes into the form at all (as it is now), however this may aggravate anyone named say... Bill O'Reilly for the name field, etc., etc.
There are probably other (well I don't know what to call them, 'plug-ins?' 'outside programs?') that would do the job for me, but that is virtually useless since not only do I have no idea how to integrate that, I would have no idea how to tailor it specifically to my web interface/database.
Is there any code that could help me detect a sql injection apostrophe (by the characters surrounding it maybe?) from a normal apostrophe? Keep in mind some of my fields can hold up to 500 characters (textareas) and one up to 1,000.
Thanks for any ideas or help!
No amount of input encoding/cleanup will be as safe as parametrized queries.
See SqlCommand.Parameters for details on parametrized queries.
string commandText = "SELECT * FROM Sales WHERE CustomerID = #ID;";
using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(commandText, connection);
command.Parameters.Add("#ID", SqlDbType.Int);
command.Parameters["#ID"].Value = customerID;
var reader = command.ExecuteReader();
//.....
}
SQL Injections is not a problem with the input containing specific characters, it's a problem with how you handle the input.
By disallowing certain characters you can stop the obvious ways to cause SQL injections, but it's virtually impossible to use that to stop all possible ways.
If encoded correctly, there are no character that causes problems. The best way of doing that for database calls is to use parameterised queries, so that the database driver takes care of encoding the correct characters according to the data type and the specific database.
Also, you need to encode the values correctly when you use them later on, like HTML encoding strings that are put in HTML code, URL encoding strings that are used in an URL (and both for strings that are put in an URL in the HTML code.)
You should use parameterised queries to prevent SQL Injection as other people have already said.
Alexei Levenkov provides a good example of using ADO.NET parameters, but more commonly, you will use the Database Helper when working with WebMatrix Razor pages (ASP.NET Web Pages Framework) where parameter handling is slightly different. The Database.Query method (Query(string commandText, params object[] parameters) takes a string representing the SQL to be executed, and an array of objects, representing the parameter values to be passed to the SQL. The Database helper expects parameter markers to start at #0, and increment by 1 each time e.g.
var sql = "SELECT * From MyTable WHERE TheDate > #0 AND ID > #1";
Then you pass actual values in the following manner:
var data = Database.Open("MyDb").Query(sql, Request["date"], Request["id"]);
Internally, the Database class takes care of matching values to placeholders and creating ADO.NET parameters for you.
So throughout my program I have probably 50 or so text boxes in various places. I know how to replace a single quote with something (in this case ' -> \'), but I am thinking there must be a better way to do this than go through and add specific code for every single text box. I have to do this because when this stuff is getting sent to the database, if there is a single quote, it gives an error. Is there a way to change the default TextBox control behavior so that all textboxes in the program automatically replace all single quotes with \'?
EDIT:
string statement = "select count(*) from users where username='#username'";
MySqlCommand command = new MySqlCommand(statement, conn);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("#username", username);
if (Convert.ToInt32(command.ExecuteScalar()) == 1)
I have been playing with the paramerterized code and this is what I have right now. From how I understand it, the statement string is basically the same as before, but where I used to have the variable "username" I know use a parameter (which I called #username), then the command is created. Then in the parameters.addwithvalue, it replaces the parameter username, with whatever is in the variable username. Unfortunately, this is not working for me, and I don't really see how it helps because username is still just getting stuck in the command?
EDIT: Found the problem, in the statement you don't need to put single quotes around '#username'
so it should be:
string statement = "select count(*) from users where username=#username";
Don't use concatenation to build SQL queries. Use proper parametrized queries. This will make repeated queries a bit faster and will also eliminate input sanitizing code (replacing ' with \' for example) and SQL injection attacks.
You should be using parameterized queries, not only to resolve the problem you have, but also to reduce your exposure to SQL injection. When you use string concatenation to build SQL queries you are suseptable to SQL injection attackes.
U can use onKeyUp javascript function or asp.net OnTextChanged event to create function that will change quotes.
I'm working on my first database application. It is a WinForms application written in C# using a SQLite database.
I've come across some problems, when a apostrophe is used, my SQLite query fails. Here is the structure of my queries.
string SQL = "UPDATE SUBCONTRACTOR SET JobSite = NULL WHERE JobSite = '" + jobSite + "'";
For instance, if an apostrophe is used in the jobSite var, it offsets the other apostrophes in the command, and fails.
So my questions are:
1. How do I escape characters like the apostrophe and semicolon in the above query example?
2. What characters do I need to escape? I know I should escape the apostrophe, what else is dangerous?
Thanks for your help!
Rather use Parameters
There is a previous stack-overflow question about it
Adding parameters in SQLite with C#
if you need more functionality you can also use Entity Framework
http://sqlite.phxsoftware.com/
Sorry not to familiar with the Syntax but the concept should same.
Something like :
SQLiteCommand Command = "UPDATE SUBCONTRACTOR SET JobSite = NULL WHERE JobSite = #JobSite";
Command.Parameters.Add(new SQLiteParameter("#JobSite", JobSiteVariable));
command.ExecuteNonQuery();
to escape an apostrophe add another apostrophe...
so a string like it's should be inserted as it''s
You may also need to escape quotation marks. The way to do this is to use a backslash as an escape charater...
like so... 'and he said\"escape all those quotes\"'
You should also beware of SQL injections... depending on the type of programming language you are using there exist different functions that can help clean out any malicious code.
C# tutorial on SQL Injections for example
You should never concatenate strings to build SQL queries for SQLite - or for any other SQL DB if possible. It makes your code fragile and opens up potential entry points for injection attacks.
The proper way to do it is to use hosted parameters. This approach removes the need for cumbersome string filtering. I am not sure how to do that in C# for SQLite but any decent language binding for SQLite should allow you to use hosted parameters.