thinQtankLABS

Detection Engineering & Incident Response: CVE-2026-72898

Respond to a Metabase SQL-injection compromise (CVE-2026-72898). Reconstruct the timeline from the access and database logs, see how /reset_password injection yielded admin, find the backdoor-superuser persistence, engineer a detection rule for the injection pattern, then contain at the WAF, eradicate, upgrade, verify and report - including rotating connected-DB credentials.

Intermediate 21 guided steps 6 tasks About 75 minutes Runs in your browser

Skills you will practice

  • Log analysis
  • detection and IR; Incident-handling lifecycle; SQL injection and IOCs; Security Operations domain

Certifications this lab maps to

This lab builds hands-on skills that appear on these certification exams. thinQtank Learning runs instructor-led training camps for each — click one to see upcoming classes.

CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 Log analysis, detection and IR Training at thinQtank Learning EC-Council Certified Incident Handler E|CIH Incident-handling lifecycle Training at thinQtank Learning EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker CEH SQL injection and IOCs Training at thinQtank Learning ISC2 CISSP CISSP Security Operations domain Training at thinQtank Learning
Part of these certification lab packages: CySA+ CS0-003 CISSP Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) CEH Certified Incident Handler (E|CIH) E|CIH GCIH GCIH GCIA GCIA

The scenario

A public Metabase instance (CVE-2026-72898 open) logged unauthenticated /reset_password requests with SQL metacharacters, then an admin session and a new superuser. You are the responder. Classify it.

What you will do

  1. Open and classify the incident4 steps

    Open the incident · Read the alert · Read the ticket · Classify it

  2. Reconstruct the timeline3 steps

    Pull the attacker’s requests · Correlate the database log · What made this possible?

  3. Impact and persistence3 steps

    Inspect the new account · What persistence? · Record IOCs

  4. Engineer a detection rule4 steps

    Study the sample · Write a rule · Test and tune · Why not flag every quote?

  5. Contain, eradicate, verify5 steps

    Contain: block injection at the WAF · Eradicate the rogue admin · Upgrade Metabase · Verify the host · …

  6. Report2 steps

    Write the report · What else must be rotated?

How this lab works

A real Linux-style console. Commands run against real files, so hashes, hex dumps and comparisons give real results.

A file browser where you can place evidence into the lab, either the file provided or one of your own.

Reset a single step, a whole task or the entire lab. The environment is rebuilt so you can try again cleanly.

Progress saves after every step. Close the tab and come back later; your files and answers are waiting.