CVE-2008-7229 in GreenSQL Firewall
Summary
by MITRE
GreenSQL Firewall (greensql-fw) before 0.9.2 allows remote attackers to bypass SQL injection protection via a crafted string, possibly involving an encoded space character (%20).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/22/2017
The GreenSQL Firewall vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-7229 represents a critical weakness in database security protection mechanisms that affected versions prior to 0.9.2. This vulnerability resides within the GreenSQL Firewall software, which is designed to protect database servers from SQL injection attacks by filtering and monitoring incoming SQL queries. The flaw specifically targets the firewall's ability to properly parse and validate input strings, creating a pathway for malicious actors to circumvent the intended security controls. The vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in the application's input sanitization and validation processes, particularly when handling encoded characters within SQL query strings.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of encoded space characters, specifically the %20 encoding commonly used in web applications to represent space characters in URLs and form data. Attackers can craft malicious SQL injection payloads that include these encoded spaces in ways that bypass the firewall's detection mechanisms. This allows the malicious SQL code to pass through the security layer undetected, potentially enabling unauthorized database access, data manipulation, or information disclosure. The flaw suggests that the firewall's regular expression matching or string parsing functions do not adequately account for URL-encoded characters, creating a bypass condition that renders the protection ineffective.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple bypass of security controls, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model that database administrators place in the GreenSQL Firewall. Organizations relying on this protection mechanism for their database security would have been unknowingly exposing their systems to SQL injection attacks, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive information, and compliance violations. The vulnerability affects the core security posture of database environments, as it allows attackers to exploit the very protections that were meant to prevent such attacks. This creates a dangerous situation where the security tool becomes a vector for compromise rather than a protective barrier.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching to version 0.9.2 or later, which presumably includes fixes for the encoded character handling logic. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring and logging to detect unusual patterns in database queries that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and additional database security controls such as database activity monitoring, query auditing, and proper input validation at multiple layers should be implemented as defensive measures. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-119, which addresses weaknesses in the representation of data, and relates to ATT&CK technique T1071.004 for application layer protocol manipulation. The incident underscores the importance of comprehensive testing of security controls against various encoding schemes and the need for robust input validation that accounts for all possible representations of malicious data.