SQLMap Brief Introductory and Its Installation Steps

In our previous blog, we set up a lab Environment (SQLi-Labs) on behalf of SQL injection attacks.

Click here to Learn More:

Setting Up Lab Environment for SQL Injection
This tutorial guides you through setting up a lab environment for practicing SQL injection, a common web application vulnerability. It provides step-by-step instructions to configure the necessary software and create a safe environment for learning and testing SQL injection techniques.

In this chapter, we're going to learn different ways to exploit SQL injection attacks, using an Automated SQL injection and database takeover tool, called SQLMap.

SQLMap is a powerful, and versatile open-source tool written by Bernardo, and Miroslav to dynamically detect and exploit SQL injection issues.

It supports many databases and helps us not only to enumerate and extract databases but also to execute system commands.

The tool supports the following list of underlying DBMS software used in various web applications—

MySQL,
Oracle,
PostgreSQL,
Microsoft SQL Server,
Microsoft Access,
IBM DB2,
SQLite,
Firebird,
Sybase,
SAP MaxDB and
HSQLDB.

The main focus will be on the Linux/PHP/MySQL stack as it is still the most common web application stack we see these days.

SQLMap contains a wide array of features some of which are the following:

Support for different kinds of SQL injection techniques like:

Error-based injection
Blind injection
Time-based injection
Stacked queries

Acting as a database client if appropriate credentials are provided
Downloading and uploading files to the database server
Ability to explore databases, tables, and columns individually Exploiting SQL Injection
Built-in support for cracking common hashes such as MD5
Support for the Metasploit framework
Code execution by exploiting DBMS features such as xp_cmdshell

Using SQLMap

Kali Linux

SQL map comes pre-installed with Kali Linux, which is usually penetration testers' favorite operating system.

You can launch the SQLMap Advanced help menu by executing the following command:

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]

└─$ sqlmap -hh

___

__H__

___ ___[.]_____ ___ ___ {1.6.7#stable}

|_ -| . ['] | .'| . |

|___|_ [(]_|_|_|__,| _|

|_|V... |_| https://sqlmap.org

Usage: python3 sqlmap [options]

Options:

-h, --help Show basic help message and exit

-hh Show advanced help message and exit

--version Show program's version number and exit

-v VERBOSE Verbosity level: 0-6 (default 1)

Target:

At least one of these options has to be provided to define the

target(s)

-u URL, --url=URL Target URL (e.g. "http://www.site.com/vuln.php?id=1")

-d DIRECT Connection string for direct database connection

-l LOGFILE Parse target(s) from Burp or WebScarab proxy log file

-m BULKFILE Scan multiple targets given in a textual file

-r REQUESTFILE Load HTTP request from a file

-g GOOGLEDORK Process Google dork results as target URLs

-c CONFIGFILE Load options from a configuration INI file

Request:

These options can be used to specify how to connect to the target URL

-A AGENT, --user.. HTTP User-Agent header value

-H HEADER, --hea.. Extra header (e.g. "X-Forwarded-For: 127.0.0.1")

--method=METHOD Force usage of given HTTP method (e.g. PUT)

--data=DATA Data string to be sent through POST (e.g. "id=1")

--param-del=PARA.. Character used for splitting parameter values (e.g. &)

--cookie=COOKIE HTTP Cookie header value (e.g. "PHPSESSID=a8d127e..")

--cookie-del=COO.. Character used for splitting cookie values (e.g. ;)

--live-cookies=L.. Live cookies file used for loading up-to-date values

--load-cookies=L.. File containing cookies in Netscape/wget format

--drop-set-cookie Ignore Set-Cookie header from response

--mobile Imitate smartphone through HTTP User-Agent header

--random-agent Use randomly selected HTTP User-Agent header value

--host=HOST HTTP Host header value

--referer=REFERER HTTP Referer header value

--headers=HEADERS Extra headers (e.g. "Accept-Language: fr\nETag: 123")

--auth-type=AUTH.. HTTP authentication type (Basic, Digest, Bearer, ...)

--auth-cred=AUTH.. HTTP authentication credentials (name:password)

--auth-file=AUTH.. HTTP authentication PEM cert/private key file

--ignore-code=IG.. Ignore (problematic) HTTP error code (e.g. 401)

--ignore-proxy Ignore system default proxy settings

--ignore-redirects Ignore redirection attempts

--ignore-timeouts Ignore connection timeouts

--proxy=PROXY Use a proxy to connect to the target URL

--proxy-cred=PRO.. Proxy authentication credentials (name:password)

--proxy-file=PRO.. Load proxy list from a file

--proxy-freq=PRO.. Requests between change of proxy from a given list

--tor Use Tor anonymity network

--tor-port=TORPORT Set Tor proxy port other than default

--tor-type=TORTYPE Set Tor proxy type (HTTP, SOCKS4 or SOCKS5 (default))

--check-tor Check to see if Tor is used properly

--delay=DELAY Delay in seconds between each HTTP request

--timeout=TIMEOUT Seconds to wait before timeout connection (default 30)

--retries=RETRIES Retries when the connection timeouts (default 3)

--retry-on=RETRYON Retry request on regexp matching content (e.g. "drop")

--randomize=RPARAM Randomly change value for given parameter(s)

--safe-url=SAFEURL URL address to visit frequently during testing

--safe-post=SAFE.. POST data to send to a safe URL

--safe-req=SAFER.. Load safe HTTP request from a file

--safe-freq=SAFE.. Regular requests between visits to a safe URL

--skip-urlencode Skip URL encoding of payload data

--csrf-token=CSR.. Parameter used to hold anti-CSRF token

--csrf-url=CSRFURL URL address to visit for extraction of anti-CSRF token

--csrf-method=CS.. HTTP method to use during anti-CSRF token page visit

--csrf-retries=C.. Retries for anti-CSRF token retrieval (default 0)

--force-ssl Force usage of SSL/HTTPS

--chunked Use HTTP chunked transfer encoded (POST) requests

--hpp Use HTTP parameter pollution method

--eval=EVALCODE Evaluate provided Python code before the request (e.g.

"import hashlib;id2=hashlib.md5(id).hexdigest()")

Optimization:

These options can be used to optimize the performance of sqlmap

-o Turn on all optimization switches

--predict-output Predict common queries output

--keep-alive Use persistent HTTP(s) connections

--null-connection Retrieve page length without actual HTTP response body

--threads=THREADS Max number of concurrent HTTP(s) requests (default 1)

Injection:

These options can be used to specify which parameters to test for,

provide custom injection payloads and optional tampering scripts

-p TESTPARAMETER Testable parameter(s)

--skip=SKIP Skip testing for given parameter(s)

--skip-static Skip testing parameters that not appear to be dynamic

--param-exclude=.. Regexp to exclude parameters from testing (e.g. "ses")

--param-filter=P.. Select testable parameter(s) by place (e.g. "POST")

--dbms=DBMS Force back-end DBMS to provided value

--dbms-cred=DBMS.. DBMS authentication credentials (user:password)

--os=OS Force back-end DBMS operating system to provided value

--invalid-bignum Use big numbers for invalidating values

--invalid-logical Use logical operations for invalidating values

--invalid-string Use random strings for invalidating values

--no-cast Turn off payload casting mechanism

--no-escape Turn off string escaping mechanism

--prefix=PREFIX Injection payload prefix string

--suffix=SUFFIX Injection payload suffix string

--tamper=TAMPER Use given script(s) for tampering injection data

Detection:

These options can be used to customize the detection phase

--level=LEVEL Level of tests to perform (1-5, default 1)

--risk=RISK Risk of tests to perform (1-3, default 1)

--string=STRING String to match when query is evaluated to True

--not-string=NOT.. String to match when query is evaluated to False

--regexp=REGEXP Regexp to match when query is evaluated to True

--code=CODE HTTP code to match when query is evaluated to True

--smart Perform thorough tests only if positive heuristic(s)

--text-only Compare pages based only on the textual content

--titles Compare pages based only on their titles

Techniques:

These options can be used to tweak testing of specific SQL injection

techniques

--technique=TECH.. SQL injection techniques to use (default "BEUSTQ")

--time-sec=TIMESEC Seconds to delay the DBMS response (default 5)

--union-cols=UCOLS Range of columns to test for UNION query SQL injection

--union-char=UCHAR Character to use for bruteforcing number of columns

--union-from=UFROM Table to use in FROM part of UNION query SQL injection

--dns-domain=DNS.. Domain name used for DNS exfiltration attack

--second-url=SEC.. Resulting page URL searched for second-order response

--second-req=SEC.. Load second-order HTTP request from file

Fingerprint:

-f, --fingerprint Perform an extensive DBMS version fingerprint

Enumeration:

These options can be used to enumerate the back-end database

management system information, structure and data contained in the

tables

-a, --all Retrieve everything

-b, --banner Retrieve DBMS banner

--current-user Retrieve DBMS current user

--current-db Retrieve DBMS current database

--hostname Retrieve DBMS server hostname

--is-dba Detect if the DBMS current user is DBA

--users Enumerate DBMS users

--passwords Enumerate DBMS users password hashes

--privileges Enumerate DBMS users privileges

--roles Enumerate DBMS users roles

--dbs Enumerate DBMS databases

--tables Enumerate DBMS database tables

--columns Enumerate DBMS database table columns

--schema Enumerate DBMS schema

--count Retrieve number of entries for table(s)

--dump Dump DBMS database table entries

--dump-all Dump all DBMS databases tables entries

--search Search column(s), table(s) and/or database name(s)

--comments Check for DBMS comments during enumeration

--statements Retrieve SQL statements being run on DBMS

-D DB DBMS database to enumerate

-T TBL DBMS database table(s) to enumerate

-C COL DBMS database table column(s) to enumerate

-X EXCLUDE DBMS database identifier(s) to not enumerate

-U USER DBMS user to enumerate

--exclude-sysdbs Exclude DBMS system databases when enumerating tables

--pivot-column=P.. Pivot column name

--where=DUMPWHERE Use WHERE condition while table dumping

--start=LIMITSTART First dump table entry to retrieve

--stop=LIMITSTOP Last dump table entry to retrieve

--first=FIRSTCHAR First query output word character to retrieve

--last=LASTCHAR Last query output word character to retrieve

--sql-query=SQLQ.. SQL statement to be executed

--sql-shell Prompt for an interactive SQL shell

--sql-file=SQLFILE Execute SQL statements from given file(s)

Brute force:

These options can be used to run brute force checks

--common-tables Check existence of common tables

--common-columns Check existence of common columns

--common-files Check existence of common files

User-defined function injection:

These options can be used to create custom user-defined functions

--udf-inject Inject custom user-defined functions

--shared-lib=SHLIB Local path of the shared library

File system access:

These options can be used to access the back-end database management

system underlying file system

--file-read=FILE.. Read a file from the back-end DBMS file system

--file-write=FIL.. Write a local file on the back-end DBMS file system

--file-dest=FILE.. Back-end DBMS absolute filepath to write to

Operating system access:

These options can be used to access the back-end database management

system underlying operating system

--os-cmd=OSCMD Execute an operating system command

--os-shell Prompt for an interactive operating system shell

--os-pwn Prompt for an OOB shell, Meterpreter or VNC

--os-smbrelay One click prompt for an OOB shell, Meterpreter or VNC

--os-bof Stored procedure buffer overflow exploitation

--priv-esc Database process user privilege escalation

--msf-path=MSFPATH Local path where Metasploit Framework is installed

--tmp-path=TMPPATH Remote absolute path of temporary files directory

Windows registry access:

These options can be used to access the back-end database management

system Windows registry

--reg-read Read a Windows registry key value

--reg-add Write a Windows registry key value data

--reg-del Delete a Windows registry key value

--reg-key=REGKEY Windows registry key

--reg-value=REGVAL Windows registry key value

--reg-data=REGDATA Windows registry key value data

--reg-type=REGTYPE Windows registry key value type

General:

These options can be used to set some general working parameters

-s SESSIONFILE Load session from a stored (.sqlite) file

-t TRAFFICFILE Log all HTTP traffic into a textual file

--answers=ANSWERS Set predefined answers (e.g. "quit=N,follow=N")

--base64=BASE64P.. Parameter(s) containing Base64 encoded data

--base64-safe Use URL and filename safe Base64 alphabet (RFC 4648)

--batch Never ask for user input, use the default behavior

--binary-fields=.. Result fields having binary values (e.g. "digest")

--check-internet Check Internet connection before assessing the target

--cleanup Clean up the DBMS from sqlmap specific UDF and tables

--crawl=CRAWLDEPTH Crawl the website starting from the target URL

--crawl-exclude=.. Regexp to exclude pages from crawling (e.g. "logout")

--csv-del=CSVDEL Delimiting character used in CSV output (default ",")

--charset=CHARSET Blind SQL injection charset (e.g. "0123456789abcdef")

--dump-format=DU.. Format of dumped data (CSV (default), HTML or SQLITE)

--encoding=ENCOD.. Character encoding used for data retrieval (e.g. GBK)

--eta Display for each output the estimated time of arrival

--flush-session Flush session files for current target

--forms Parse and test forms on target URL

--fresh-queries Ignore query results stored in session file

--gpage=GOOGLEPAGE Use Google dork results from specified page number

--har=HARFILE Log all HTTP traffic into a HAR file

--hex Use hex conversion during data retrieval

--output-dir=OUT.. Custom output directory path

--parse-errors Parse and display DBMS error messages from responses

--preprocess=PRE.. Use given script(s) for preprocessing (request)

--postprocess=PO.. Use given script(s) for postprocessing (response)

--repair Redump entries having unknown character marker (?)

--save=SAVECONFIG Save options to a configuration INI file

--scope=SCOPE Regexp for filtering targets

--skip-heuristics Skip heuristic detection of vulnerabilities

--skip-waf Skip heuristic detection of WAF/IPS protection

--table-prefix=T.. Prefix used for temporary tables (default: "sqlmap")

--test-filter=TE.. Select tests by payloads and/or titles (e.g. ROW)

--test-skip=TEST.. Skip tests by payloads and/or titles (e.g. BENCHMARK)

--web-root=WEBROOT Web server document root directory (e.g. "/var/www")

Miscellaneous:

These options do not fit into any other category

-z MNEMONICS Use short mnemonics (e.g. "flu,bat,ban,tec=EU")

--alert=ALERT Run host OS command(s) when SQL injection is found

--beep Beep on question and/or when vulnerability is found

--dependencies Check for missing (optional) sqlmap dependencies

--disable-coloring Disable console output coloring

--list-tampers Display list of available tamper scripts

--no-logging Disable logging to a file

--offline Work in offline mode (only use session data)

--purge Safely remove all content from sqlmap data directory

--results-file=R.. Location of CSV results file in multiple targets mode

--shell Prompt for an interactive sqlmap shell

--tmp-dir=TMPDIR Local directory for storing temporary files

--unstable Adjust options for unstable connections

--update Update sqlmap

--wizard Simple wizard interface for beginner users

┌──(kali㉿kali)-[~]

└─$

Any Linux Platform

If you want to install it on any other Linux Platform then run the following command:

mrdev@ubuntu:~$ git clone https://github.com/sqlmapproject/sqlmap.git

mrdev@ubuntu:~$ cd sqlmap
mrdev@ubuntu:~$ ./sqlmap.py -h

Windows

If you wish to perform SQLMap command-line interface on your Windows machine, then our first priority is to download and install the python interpreter, as because SQLMap is written in python programming Language.

Download Python Installer

Once you have downloaded then install it.

Check the Add python.exe to PATH and then Click on click on Install Now.

Once set up successfully, you can verify it by running Python on the command prompt.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18363.476]

C:\Users\Windows-PC>pythonPython 3.11.1 (tags/v3.11.1:a7a450f, Dec 6 2022, 19:58:39) [MSC v.1934 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

>>>

Next, download the SQLMap Zip file from the official GitHub page.

Download SQLMap.zip

Extract the Zip file: