Description

Detects hardcoded passwords in C# SQL Server connection strings that are passed to SqlConnection objects. This represents a security risk since credentials embedded directly in source code can be extracted and used to gain unauthorized database access.

Detection Strategy

• Identifies instantiations of SqlConnection objects in C# code

• Examines the first argument passed to the SqlConnection constructor (the connection string)

• Checks if the connection string contains hardcoded password credentials

• Reports a vulnerability if the password in the connection string is a literal string rather than retrieved from a secure configuration

Vulnerable code example

using System.Data.SqlClient;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        // Vulnerable: Hardcoded credentials in connection string
        SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("Data Source=myserver.com;User Id=admin;Password=secretpass123");

        // Vulnerable: Alternative format still exposes credentials...

✅ Secure code example

using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;

class Program {
    static void Main() {
        // Safe: Get connection string from configuration, not hardcoded
        string connString = ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["MyDbConnection"].ConnectionString;
        SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection(connString);...