Authors
Rodrigo Pedro, Daniel Castro, Paulo Carreira, Nuno Santos
Publication date
2023/8/3
Journal
arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.01990
Description
Large Language Models (LLMs) have found widespread applications in various domains, including web applications, where they facilitate human interaction via chatbots with natural language interfaces. Internally, aided by an LLM-integration middleware such as Langchain, user prompts are translated into SQL queries used by the LLM to provide meaningful responses to users. However, unsanitized user prompts can lead to SQL injection attacks, potentially compromising the security of the database. Despite the growing interest in prompt injection vulnerabilities targeting LLMs, the specific risks of generating SQL injection attacks through prompt injections have not been extensively studied. In this paper, we present a comprehensive examination of prompt-to-SQL (PSQL) injections targeting web applications based on the Langchain framework. Using Langchain as our case study, we characterize PSQL injections, exploring their variants and impact on application security through multiple concrete examples. Furthermore, we evaluate 7 state-of-the-art LLMs, demonstrating the pervasiveness of PSQL attacks across language models. Our findings indicate that LLM-integrated applications based on Langchain are highly susceptible to PSQL injection attacks, warranting the adoption of robust defenses. To counter these attacks, we propose four effective defense techniques that can be integrated as extensions to the Langchain framework. We validate the defenses through an experimental evaluation with a real-world use case application.
Total citations
Scholar articles