SQL Injection is acritical web application vulnerabilitythat allows attackers to manipulate SQL queries executed by a database, making option A the correct answer. This vulnerability occurs when user input is improperly validated or sanitized before being included in SQL statements.
By exploiting SQL Injection, attackers can bypass authentication, retrieve sensitive data, modify or delete database contents, and in some cases execute administrative operations on the database server. Ethical hackers test for SQL Injection during web application penetration testing to identify insecure coding practices.
Option B is incorrect because SQL Injection is not a database system. Option C is incorrect because SQL Injection allows unauthorized users to execute SQL commands, not just administrators.
From a defensive security perspective, SQL Injection highlights the importance of secure coding practices such as parameterized queries, prepared statements, input validation, and least-privilege database access.
SQL Injection remains a top threat due to legacy applications and poor development practices. Ethical hackers use controlled testing to demonstrate the real-world impact of these vulnerabilities and help organizations protect critical data assets.
