-5025 Order By 1# May 2026

Attackers increment this number (e.g., ORDER BY 2 , ORDER BY 3 ). When the database throws an error (e.g., "The ORDER BY position number 10 is out of range"), the attacker knows exactly how many columns the original query is fetching.

Here is a short technical paper outlining its structure, purpose, and how to defend against it. 1. Introduction

SELECT name, email FROM users WHERE id = "$input"; -5025 ORDER BY 1#

SELECT name, email FROM users WHERE id = "-5025" ORDER BY 1#";

The ORDER BY clause tells the database to sort results by a specific column. Attackers increment this number (e

Ensure the database user account used by the web application has limited permissions.

SQL Injection is a vulnerability where an attacker interferes with the queries an application makes to its database. The payload "-5025 ORDER BY 1#" is an "Inference" or "Error-based" probe used to determine the structure of a database table without having direct access to the source code. SQL Injection is a vulnerability where an attacker

This is the gold standard. It treats user input strictly as data, never as executable code.