Running a cfquery in a cfc and passing parameters through AJAX

Question

Running a cfquery in a cfc and passing parameters through AJAX

I am currently setting up a system to retrieve data from my ColdFusion database using JavaScript. However, I am encountering an error and unsure of its cause since I am relatively new to CF. The specific engine I am utilizing is ColdFusion MX 7.

Below is the content of the CFC file named cfquery.cfc:

<cfcomponent output="no">
    <cffunction name="phonebookQuery" access="remote" returnType="struct">
        <cfargument name="select" type="string" required="yes">
        <cfargument name="from" type="string" required="yes">
        <cfargument name="where" type="string" required="yes">
        <cfargument name="orderBy" type="string" required="yes">

        <cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
            SELECT #select#
            FROM #from#
            WHERE #where#
            ORDER BY #orderBy#
        </cfquery>
        <cfreturn query>
    </cffunction>
</cfcomponent>

It seems that I might not be returning values correctly as my code fails to execute beyond a certain point.

Presented below is the JS function responsible for making an AJAX call. Although I acknowledge that using async: false is not best practice, I am opting for temporary functionality until the main implementation stage where promises or callbacks will come into play.

function cfQuery(p){
  var result;
  var queryStr= "cfquery.cfc?method=phonebookQuery&" +
    "select="+p.select+"&"+
    "from="+p.from+"&"+
    "where="+p.where.replace("=","%3D")+"&"+
    "orderBy="+p.orderBy;
  $.get( queryStr, function(data){
    result=data;
  });
  return result;
}

The code snippet below showcases a specific function call example I am trying to rectify:

var query_result= cfQuery({
    select: "*",
    from: "shareloantypes",
    where: "share_loan='S'",
    orderBy: "share_loan_type"
});

A server error occurs whenever I run the above code. It indicates a syntax problem near the 'S' in the SQL statement:

Error Executing Database Query.

[Macromedia][SequeLink JDBC Driver][ODBC Socket][Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]

Line 1: Incorrect syntax near 'S'.

The error occurred in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\xxxxxx\report\cfquery.cfc: line 12
10 :            FROM #from#
11 :            WHERE #where#
12 :            ORDER BY #orderBy#
13 :        </cfquery>
14 :        <cfreturn query>

SQL    SELECT * FROM shareloantypes WHERE share_loan=''S'' ORDER BY share_loan_type
DATASOURCE    phonebook
VENDORERRORCODE   170
SQLSTATE      42000

My issue lies with the transformation of 'S' into ''S''. How can this be resolved? When replacing where: "share_loan='S'" with where: "share_loan=S" within the function call, the generated SQL omits quotes entirely leading to an "invalid column name" error.

javascript ajax coldfusion

Answer 1

Answer №1

Here's a suggestion to improve your code:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT '#select#'
    FROM '#from#'
    WHERE '#where#'
    ORDER BY '#orderBy#'
</cfquery>

Based on my findings, enclosing the variables in quotes instructs ColdFusion to handle those values like SQL statements. This approach prevents escaping of quotes and helps prevent SQL injection attacks.

In my experience, using this method also provides protection against SQL injection. While there are specific ColdFusion prepared statements available, this shortcut method effectively achieves the same goal of preventing injection. If someone can provide evidence or examples disproving this, please feel free to correct me.

Edit: Upon reviewing your code again, it may work as intended, but from personal practice, I usually pass variable values rather than constructing the entire query. An alternative approach could be:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT *
    FROM mytable
    WHERE ID > '#minID#'
    ORDER BY ID DESC
</cfquery>

In this scenario, you're only passing the comparison value instead of building the complete WHERE clause.

Edit: After further consideration, I cannot confidently state that the previous code is immune to SQL injection vulnerabilities. To safely execute the second query mentioned (with a variable in the WHERE clause), use the following format:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT *
    FROM mytable
    WHERE ID > <cfqueryparam value="#minID#" CFSQLType="CF_SQL_INTEGER">
    ORDER BY ID DESC
</cfquery>

To learn more about cfqueryparam, refer to:

Answer 2

Here's a suggestion to improve your code:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT '#select#'
    FROM '#from#'
    WHERE '#where#'
    ORDER BY '#orderBy#'
</cfquery>

Based on my findings, enclosing the variables in quotes instructs ColdFusion to handle those values like SQL statements. This approach prevents escaping of quotes and helps prevent SQL injection attacks.

In my experience, using this method also provides protection against SQL injection. While there are specific ColdFusion prepared statements available, this shortcut method effectively achieves the same goal of preventing injection. If someone can provide evidence or examples disproving this, please feel free to correct me.

Edit: Upon reviewing your code again, it may work as intended, but from personal practice, I usually pass variable values rather than constructing the entire query. An alternative approach could be:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT *
    FROM mytable
    WHERE ID > '#minID#'
    ORDER BY ID DESC
</cfquery>

In this scenario, you're only passing the comparison value instead of building the complete WHERE clause.

Edit: After further consideration, I cannot confidently state that the previous code is immune to SQL injection vulnerabilities. To safely execute the second query mentioned (with a variable in the WHERE clause), use the following format:

<cfquery name="query" datasource="phonebook">
    SELECT *
    FROM mytable
    WHERE ID > <cfqueryparam value="#minID#" CFSQLType="CF_SQL_INTEGER">
    ORDER BY ID DESC
</cfquery>

To learn more about cfqueryparam, refer to:

Running a cfquery in a cfc and passing parameters through AJAX

Answer №1

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