Not finding SQL Vulnerabilities

[williambeh]

I am running CodeQL on my repo. I have a class named VulnerableClass.cs.

In that class I have purposely included a direct SQL injection statement.
CodeQL is not discovering the vulnerability.

If I can't count on the finding an obvious SQL injection vulnerability, how can I have faith it is finding any?

WorkFlow:

# For most projects, this workflow file will not need changing; you simply need
# to commit it to your repository.
#
# You may wish to alter this file to override the set of languages analyzed,
# or to provide custom queries or build logic.
#
# ******** NOTE ********
# We have attempted to detect the languages in your repository. Please check
# the `language` matrix defined below to confirm you have the correct set of
# supported CodeQL languages.
#
name: "CodeQL Advanced"

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    paths-ignore:
      - '**/*.yml'
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
    paths-ignore:
      - '**/*.yml'
  schedule:
    - cron: '26 17 * * 2'

jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze (${{ matrix.language }})
    # Runner size impacts CodeQL analysis time. To learn more, please see:
    #   - https://gh.io/recommended-hardware-resources-for-running-codeql
    #   - https://gh.io/supported-runners-and-hardware-resources
    #   - https://gh.io/using-larger-runners (GitHub.com only)
    # Consider using larger runners or machines with greater resources for possible analysis time improvements.
    runs-on: ${{ (matrix.language == 'swift' && 'macos-latest') || 'ubuntu-latest' }}
    permissions:
      # required for all workflows
      security-events: write

      # required to fetch internal or private CodeQL packs
      packages: read

      # only required for workflows in private repositories
      actions: read
      contents: read

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        include:
        - language: csharp
          build-mode: none
        # CodeQL supports the following values keywords for 'language': 'c-cpp', 'csharp', 'go', 'java-kotlin', 'javascript-typescript', 'python', 'ruby', 'swift'
        # Use `c-cpp` to analyze code written in C, C++ or both
        # Use 'java-kotlin' to analyze code written in Java, Kotlin or both
        # Use 'javascript-typescript' to analyze code written in JavaScript, TypeScript or both
        # To learn more about changing the languages that are analyzed or customizing the build mode for your analysis,
        # see https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/creating-an-advanced-setup-for-code-scanning/customizing-your-advanced-setup-for-code-scanning.
        # If you are analyzing a compiled language, you can modify the 'build-mode' for that language to customize how
        # your codebase is analyzed, see https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/creating-an-advanced-setup-for-code-scanning/codeql-code-scanning-for-compiled-languages
    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Debug CodeQL Analysis
      run: |
        echo "Running CodeQL analysis with the following configuration:"
        cat .github/workflows/codeql.yml
        git ls-files
        echo "Analyzing for SQL injection vulnerabilities..."
        
    # Initializes the CodeQL tools for scanning.
    - name: Initialize CodeQL
      uses: github/codeql-action/init@v3
      with:
        languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
        build-mode: ${{ matrix.build-mode }}
        queries: +security-extended,security-and-quality
        # If you wish to specify custom queries, you can do so here or in a config file.
        # By default, queries listed here will override any specified in a config file.
        # Prefix the list here with "+" to use these queries and those in the config file.

        # For more details on CodeQL's query packs, refer to: https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/configuring-code-scanning#using-queries-in-ql-packs
        # queries: security-extended,security-and-quality

    # If the analyze step fails for one of the languages you are analyzing with
    # "We were unable to automatically build your code", modify the matrix above
    # to set the build mode to "manual" for that language. Then modify this step
    # to build your code.
    # ℹ️ Command-line programs to run using the OS shell.
    # 📚 See https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idstepsrun
    - if: matrix.build-mode == 'manual'
      shell: bash
      run: |
        echo 'If you are using a "manual" build mode for one or more of the' \
          'languages you are analyzing, replace this with the commands to build' \
          'your code, for example:'
        echo '  make bootstrap'
        echo '  make release'
        exit 1

    - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
      uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v3
      with:
        category: "/language:${{matrix.language}}"
        fail-on-error: true

VulnerableClass:

using System;
using System.Data.SqlClient;

public class VulnerableClass
{
    public VulnerableClass()
    {
        string userInput = "'; DROP TABLE Users; --";
        string connectionString = "your_connection_string_here";
        string query = "SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserId = '" + userInput + "'";

        using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
        {
            SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(query, connection);
            connection.Open();
            SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();
            while (reader.Read())
            {
                Console.WriteLine(reader[0].ToString());
            }
        }
    }

    public void test()
    {
        string userInput = "'; DROP TABLE Users; --";
        string connectionString = "your_connection_string_here";
        string query = "SELECT * FROM Users WHERE UserId = '" + userInput + "'";

        using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
        {
            SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand(query, connection);
            connection.Open();
            SqlDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();
            while (reader.Read())
            {
                Console.WriteLine(reader[0].ToString());
            }
        }

    }
}

[hvitved]

Hi

Our CodeQL analyses aim at only flagging vulnerabilities where a user can actually control the input, which is not the case in your examples. If you instead change it to something like var userInput = ctx.Request.QueryString["input"]; (where ctx has type HttpContext), it should work.

[rvermeulen]

Hi @williambeh,

Thanks again for your question.
Let us know if we answered your question, or whether you need further support.