What is meant by 'injection' in a cybersecurity context?

In the cybersecurity context, 'injection' refers specifically to the act of embedding unauthorized code into an application. This often involves manipulating an application's inputs to execute unintended commands or access data that the user should not be able to retrieve. Common forms of injection attacks include SQL injection, where an attacker sends malicious SQL queries through input fields to gain access to a database, or command injection, where harmful commands are executed on a server.

The significance of injection attacks lies in their potential to compromise applications and the sensitive data they hold. By exploiting vulnerabilities that allow user input to be treated as executable code, attackers can execute harmful actions, such as retrieving or altering data, bypassing authentication mechanisms, or even taking control of the server itself.

This understanding underscores the importance of validating and sanitizing input in application development to prevent such vulnerabilities, which makes this definition central to cybersecurity awareness and application security strategies.