A critical SQL injection vulnerability was discovered in a legacy script verifying ASN API 1.0 and 1.1 API keys. This
script failed to properly sanitise input in the apikey field, potentially allowing an attacker to inject malicious SQL
commands into the database.
What Could Have Happened?
If exploited, this flaw could have enabled attackers to:
Access or Manipulate Sensitive Data: Potentially view, modify, or delete important records.
Disrupt Services: Corrupting or dropping critical tables could have led to outages or service instability.
How Was It Addressed?
Upon identifying the vulnerability, Alpha-Fox immediately:
Updated the script to use secure, parameterised queries and stricter validation of the apikey field.
Performed an API-wide audit to confirm that no additional injection points existed.
Was Any Data Compromised?
A thorough review of server logs and database records revealed no suspicious activity, indicating that this
vulnerability was not exploited. No user data appears to have been compromised.
Detailed Report
Affected Systems and Components
API Key Verification Script (ASN API 1.0 & 1.1)
A single legacy script accepted unsanitised user input for the apikey field, allowing potential SQL injection.
Database Layer
Because of the injection risk, an attacker could have run arbitrary queries, leading to data exposure or
corruption.
Summary of Findings
SQL Injection Vulnerability
A missing sanitisation step allowed hostile SQL code to be injected via the apikey parameter.
The script was separate from the main application, so previous security audits had overlooked it.
No Evidence of Exploitation
Detailed log analysis showed no unauthorised queries or data manipulation before the patch.
The risk level was high, but the actual impact remained nil.
This reflects a high severity issue, requiring urgent remediation.
Detailed Timeline
2025.04.08
Discovery: Kyomuno Tsuki reports a potential SQL injection vulnerability via offline messages
to Ash Qin's account.
2025.04.15
Alert Reviewed: Ash Qin sees the messages upon logging in.
Validation: Confirms the API key script accepts unsanitised queries.
System Audit: Logs are inspected; no suspicious activity or data compromise is found.
Patch Deployed: The vulnerable script is updated to use parameterised queries, closing the injection risk.
Impact
Data Integrity
Attackers could have altered or deleted essential records, harming user trust.
Data Confidentiality
There was the potential for leaked private information if malicious SQL queries had run successfully.
Service Availability
Malicious queries could have locked tables, corrupted data or otherwise disrupted normal operations.
Remediation Actions
Immediate Code Fix
Replaced the legacy input handling with robust parameterised queries.
Comprehensive Audit
Investigated all API endpoints to confirm no other scripts had similar weaknesses.
Enhanced Logging & Monitoring
Implemented real-time alerts on unusual query patterns to rapidly identify any future anomalies.
Summary
Alpha-Fox identified a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability in its API key verification process but contained the
issue before any damage occurred. No further exploit paths or compromised data were found after immediate patching, code
refactoring, and a security audit.
