Part 4: Data Exfiltration Playbook – Azure WAF Security Lab

Introduction

Welcome to our comprehensive series on Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) security! In this final installment, we’ll be diving deep into protecting against data exfiltration attempts. This hands-on tutorial is part of a four-part series designed to demonstrate Azure WAF’s capabilities in identifying and mitigating various cyber threats.

Series Overview

1. Part 1: Lab Setup – Building Your Azure WAF Testing Environment
2. Part 2: Reconnaissance Playbook – Testing Azure WAF Protection
3. Part 3: Vulnerability Exploitation Playbook – Azure WAF vs XSS
4. Part 4: Data Disclosure and Exfiltration Playbook (This post)

What You’ll Learn

In this tutorial, you’ll:

• Simulate a SQL Injection (SQLi) attack against an OWASP Juice Shop application
• Compare application behavior with and without Azure WAF protection
• Analyze WAF logs using Azure Monitor Workbooks

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, ensure you have:

• Completed the Azure WAF security lab setup
• Finished the previous tutorials in this series
• Familiarity with Burp Suite and Firefox (setup instructions provided)

Lab Scenario: Protecting Against SQL Injection

We’ll explore two scenarios:

1. Direct attack on the vulnerable application
2. Attack attempt through Azure WAF protection

Scenario 1: Direct SQLi Attack

1. Access the Kali VM
2. 
3. Launch Burp Suite
4. 
5. Ensure you have Burp Suite configured and running as described in the Configuring Burp Suite and Firefox section of the Vulnerability Exploitation Playbook
6. Browse to the Juice Shop application (http://owaspdirect-<deployment guid>.azurewebsites.net)
7. In the search bar on the Juice Shop website, type “apple”    
8. In Burp Suite, check the Proxy –> HTTP history tab for the request and response data for this website
9. Identify the vulnerable /rest/products/search endpoint
10. 
    • The /rest/products/search endpoint of the OWASP Juice Shop application is vulnerable to SQL injection, we will be exploiting the SQLi vulnerability in this endpoint
11. Examine the request and response in Burp Suite
12. Use Burp Suite’s Repeater to inject a malicious SQL query
13. Right-click one of the GET requests to the /rest/products/search endpoint and then click Send to Repeater
14. 
15. In the Burp Repeater window. In the Request URI, locate the parameter /rest/products/search?q=. After the “=” sign, paste your encoded SQL query. This appends the query to the existing search parameter.

    • %71%77%65%72%74%27%29%29%20%55%4e%49%4f%4e%20%53%45%4c%45%43%54%20%69%64%2c%20%65%6d%61%69%6c%2c%20%70%61%73%73%77%6f%72%64%2c%20%27%34%27%2c%20%27%35%27%2c%20%27%36%27%2c%20%27%37%27%2c%20%27%38%27%2c%20%27%39%27%20%46%52%4f%4d%20%55%73%65%72%73%2d%2d 

16. 
17. After pasting your encoded SQL query into the search parameter, click the “Send” button to submit the request.
18. Observe the successful data exfiltration
19. 

Scenario 2: SQLi Attack Through Azure WAF

1. Launch a new Burp Suite instance
2. Browse to the protected application (http://juiceshopthruazwaf.com)
3. 
4. Attempt the same SQL injection
5. 
6. Observe Azure WAF blocking the malicious request

Analyzing WAF Logs

We’ll use the Azure Monitor Workbook for WAF to gain insights:

1. Access the WAF workbook in Azure Portal
2. Set appropriate filters (time range, WAF type)
3. Examine key sections:
   • WAF actions   
   • Blocked Request URIs
   • 
   • Top event triggers
   • 
   • Detailed messages
   • 
   • 

Key Takeaways

• SQL Injection remains a critical web application vulnerability
• Azure WAF provides robust protection against SQLi attacks
• WAF can detect and block suspicious queries at the network edge
• Proper log analysis is crucial for understanding attack patterns

Next Steps

1. Practice identifying other types of attacks in your lab
2. Explore additional WAF configuration options for your specific use cases

By completing this series, you’ll have gained valuable hands-on experience in setting up, testing, and analyzing Azure WAF protection against various cyber threats.

Stay tuned for more in-depth Azure security tutorials and happy securing!