Windows Gather Unattended Answer File Enumeration - Metasploit


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

Table Of Contents
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Module Overview

Name: Windows Gather Unattended Answer File Enumeration
Module: post/windows/gather/enum_unattend
Source code: modules/post/windows/gather/enum_unattend.rb
Disclosure date: -
Last modification time: 2021-08-16 16:34:50 +0000
Supported architecture(s): -
Supported platform(s): Windows
Target service / protocol: -
Target network port(s): -
List of CVEs: -

This module will check the file system for a copy of unattend.xml and/or autounattend.xml found in Windows Vista, or newer Windows systems. And then extract sensitive information such as usernames and decoded passwords.

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/gather/enum_unattend

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/gather/enum_unattend
msf post(enum_unattend) > show options
    ... show and set options ...
msf post(enum_unattend) > set SESSION session-id
msf post(enum_unattend) > 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/gather/enum_unattend")
  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/gather/enum_unattend post exploitation module looks in the msfconsole:

msf6 > use post/windows/gather/enum_unattend

msf6 post(windows/gather/enum_unattend) > show info

       Name: Windows Gather Unattended Answer File Enumeration
     Module: post/windows/gather/enum_unattend
   Platform: Windows
       Arch: 
       Rank: Normal

Provided by:
  Sean Verity <[email protected]>
  sinn3r <[email protected]>
  Ben Campbell <[email protected]>

Compatible session types:
  Meterpreter

Basic options:
  Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
  ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
  GETALL   true             yes       Collect all unattend.xml that are found
  SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Description:
  This module will check the file system for a copy of unattend.xml 
  and/or autounattend.xml found in Windows Vista, or newer Windows 
  systems. And then extract sensitive information such as usernames 
  and decoded passwords.

References:
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff715801
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749415(v=ws.10).aspx
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/c026170e-40ef-4191-98dd-0b9835bfa580

Module Options

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

msf6 post(windows/gather/enum_unattend) > show options

Module options (post/windows/gather/enum_unattend):

   Name     Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----     ---------------  --------  -----------
   GETALL   true             yes       Collect all unattend.xml that are found
   SESSION                   yes       The session to run this module on.

Advanced Options

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

msf6 post(windows/gather/enum_unattend) > show advanced

Module advanced options (post/windows/gather/enum_unattend):

   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/gather/enum_unattend module can do:

msf6 post(windows/gather/enum_unattend) > show actions

Post actions:

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

Evasion Options

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

msf6 post(windows/gather/enum_unattend) > 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.

Invalid XML format

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Invalid XML format" error message:

57:	    raw = read_file(xml_path)
58:	
59:	    begin
60:	      xml = REXML::Document.new(raw)
61:	    rescue REXML::ParseException => e
62:	      print_error("Invalid XML format")
63:	      vprint_line(e.message)
64:	      return nil, raw
65:	    end
66:	
67:	    return xml, raw

<XML_PATH> not found

Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<XML_PATH> not found" error message:

136:	
137:	  def run
138:	    init_paths.each do |xml_path|
139:	      # If unattend.xml doesn't exist, move on to the next one
140:	      unless unattend_exists?(xml_path)
141:	        vprint_error("#{xml_path} not found")
142:	        next
143:	      end
144:	
145:	      xml, raw = load_unattend(xml_path)
146:	      save_raw(xml_path, raw)

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References

See Also

Check also the following modules related to this module:

Authors

  • Sean Verity <veritysr1980[at]gmail.com>
  • sinn3r
  • Ben Campbell

Version

This page has been produced using Metasploit Framework version 6.1.41-dev. For more modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.

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