We'd like to emphasize that though we chose the "Forgotten password" link to attack in this particular case, it wasn't really because this particular web application feature is dangerous. It was simply one of several available features that might have been vulnerable, and it would be a mistake to focus on the "Forgotten password" aspsect of the presentation.

This Tech Tip has not been intended to provide comprehensive coverage on SQL injection, or even a tutorial: it merely documents the process that evolved over several hours during a contracted engagement. We've seen other papers on SQL injection discuss the technical background, but still only provide the "money shot" that ultimately gained them access.

But that final statement required background knowledge to pull off, and the process of gathering that information has merit too. One doesn't always have access to source code for an application, and the ability to attack a custom application blindly has some value.

Thanks to David Litchfield and Randal Schwartz for their technical input to this paper.