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Q
7

Query String

The part of a URL after the question mark that carries named parameters and values. Defenders read query strings to understand requests and to spot injection or tampering attempts in web traffic.

A URL's query string carries parameters (such as ?id=42&sort=asc) passed to the server, used by web applications to receive input. For defenders, query strings matter because they often appear in logs and are a common channel for attacker input (SQL injection, parameter tampering, XSS attempts). Reading and analyzing them, and parameterizing inputs server-side, is foundational to web defense and to interpreting application logs during investigation.

Introduced in: Defensive Web Fundamentals

Examples

  • Inspecting a URL's query string to see what parameters were sent.
  • Spotting injection payloads in query-string parameters in logs.
  • Treating all query-string input as untrusted in application code.
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