Vulnerability assessment of IPv6 websites to SQL injection and other application level attacks.

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Network Engineering

Background:

• The Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is proposed to replace IPv4 due to the increasing number of internet-connected devices.
• IPv6's larger address space is suggested to enhance security by making standard IP scanning attacks infeasible.
• However, organizational networks remain vulnerable through visible application layer entry points accessible via web crawling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the security implications of IPv6 adoption concerning application layer vulnerabilities.
• To assess the feasibility of SQL injection attacks in an IPv6 environment.
• To analyze the effectiveness of web crawling techniques in identifying network entry points for attacks.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a web crawler.
• Integration of a benign black box penetration testing system.
• Analysis of SQL injection attack vectors against visible network assets.

Main Results:

• Web crawling techniques can effectively identify initial points of entry onto organizational networks.
• SQL injection attacks remain a viable threat despite the transition to IPv6.
• The study demonstrates the ease with which application layer vulnerabilities can be exploited.

Conclusions:

• The transition to IPv6 does not inherently mitigate application layer attack vectors like SQL injection.
• Network security strategies must address vulnerabilities at the application layer, regardless of the underlying IP protocol.
• Web crawling remains a potent reconnaissance method for identifying exploitable network weaknesses.