HTTP SSL Certificate Impersonation - Metasploit


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

Table Of Contents
hide

Module Overview

Name: HTTP SSL Certificate Impersonation
Module: auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl
Source code: modules/auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl.rb
Disclosure date: -
Last modification time: 2022-06-08 11:53:42 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): -
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): 443
List of CVEs: -

This module request a copy of the remote SSL certificate and creates a local (self.signed) version using the information from the remote version. The module then Outputs (PEM|DER) format private key / certificate and a combined version for use in Apache or other Metasploit modules requiring SSLCert Inputs for private key / CA cert have been provided for those with DigiNotar certs hanging about!

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/gather/impersonate_ssl
msf auxiliary(impersonate_ssl) > show targets
    ... a list of targets ...
msf auxiliary(impersonate_ssl) > set TARGET target-id
msf auxiliary(impersonate_ssl) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf auxiliary(impersonate_ssl) > 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 gather/impersonate_ssl auxiliary module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl

msf6 auxiliary(gather/impersonate_ssl) > show info

       Name: HTTP SSL Certificate Impersonation
     Module: auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Normal

Provided by:
  Chris John Riley

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name              Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----              ---------------  --------  -----------
  ADD_CN                             no        Add CN to match spoofed site name (e.g. *.example.com)
  CA_CERT                            no        CA Public certificate
  EXPIRATION                         no        Date the new cert should expire (e.g. 06 May 2012, YESTERDAY or NOW)
  OUT_FORMAT        PEM              yes       Output format (Accepted: DER, PEM)
  PRIVKEY                            no        Sign the cert with your own CA private key
  PRIVKEY_PASSWORD                   no        Password for private key specified in PRIV_KEY (if applicable)
  RHOSTS                             yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
  RPORT             443              yes       The target port (TCP)
  SNI                                no        Server Name Indicator

Description:
  This module request a copy of the remote SSL certificate and creates 
  a local (self.signed) version using the information from the remote 
  version. The module then Outputs (PEM|DER) format private key / 
  certificate and a combined version for use in Apache or other 
  Metasploit modules requiring SSLCert Inputs for private key / CA 
  cert have been provided for those with DigiNotar certs hanging 
  about!

References:
  http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisJohnRiley/ssl-certificate-impersonation-for-shits-andgiggles

Module Options

This is a complete list of options available in the gather/impersonate_ssl auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(gather/impersonate_ssl) > show options

Module options (auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl):

   Name              Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----              ---------------  --------  -----------
   ADD_CN                             no        Add CN to match spoofed site name (e.g. *.example.com)
   CA_CERT                            no        CA Public certificate
   EXPIRATION                         no        Date the new cert should expire (e.g. 06 May 2012, YESTERDAY or NOW)
   OUT_FORMAT        PEM              yes       Output format (Accepted: DER, PEM)
   PRIVKEY                            no        Sign the cert with your own CA private key
   PRIVKEY_PASSWORD                   no        Password for private key specified in PRIV_KEY (if applicable)
   RHOSTS                             yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
   RPORT             443              yes       The target port (TCP)
   SNI                                no        Server Name Indicator

Advanced Options

Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the gather/impersonate_ssl auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(gather/impersonate_ssl) > show advanced

Module advanced options (auxiliary/gather/impersonate_ssl):

   Name            Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----            ---------------  --------  -----------
   AlterSerial     true             no        Alter the serial number slightly to avoid FireFox serial matching
   CHOST                            no        The local client address
   CPORT                            no        The local client port
   ConnectTimeout  10               yes       Maximum number of seconds to establish a TCP connection
   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 gather/impersonate_ssl module can do:

msf6 auxiliary(gather/impersonate_ssl) > show actions

Auxiliary actions:

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

Evasion Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(gather/impersonate_ssl) > 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.

CA Certificate AND Private Key must be provided!

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "CA Certificate AND Private Key must be provided!" error message:

74:	        ca_key = OpenSSL::PKey::RSA.new(File.read(datastore['PRIVKEY']))
75:	      end
76:	      ca = OpenSSL::X509::Certificate.new(File.read(datastore['CA_CERT']))
77:	    elsif !datastore['PRIVKEY'].nil? || !datastore['CA_CERT'].nil?
78:	      # error if both PRIVKEY and CA_CERT are not BOTH provided
79:	      print_error('CA Certificate AND Private Key must be provided!')
80:	      return
81:	    end
82:	
83:	    begin
84:	      cert = get_cert(rhost, rport, sni)

<RHOST>:<RPORT> No certificate subject or CN found

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<RHOST>:<RPORT> No certificate subject or CN found" error message:

87:	    rescue ::Timeout::Error, ::Errno::EPIPE => e
88:	      print_error(e.message)
89:	    end
90:	
91:	    if !cert
92:	      print_error("#{rhost}:#{rport} No certificate subject or CN found")
93:	      return
94:	    end
95:	
96:	    print_status("Copying certificate from #{rhost}:#{rport}\n#{cert.subject} ")
97:	    vprint_status("Original Certifcate Details\n\n#{cert.to_text}")

The serial number of the original cert is too short. Creating new random serial

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "The serial number of the original cert is too short. Creating new random serial" error message:

147:	      if (cert.serial.to_s.length > 1)
148:	        # alter last digits of the serial number
149:	        new_cert.serial = (cert.serial.to_s[0..-2] + rand(0xFF).to_s).to_i
150:	      else
151:	        # serial is too small, create random serial
152:	        vprint_error('The serial number of the original cert is too short. Creating new random serial')
153:	        new_cert.serial = rand(0xFFFF)
154:	      end
155:	    else
156:	      # match serial number
157:	      new_cert.serial = cert.serial.to_s

Go back to menu.

References

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

Authors

Chris John Riley

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.2.29-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Go back to menu.