PowerPreter:
Post Exploitation like a boss
Nikhil “SamratAshok” Mittal

Get-Host
• Hacker who goes by the handle SamratAshok
• Twitter - @nikhil_mitt
• Blog –
http://labofapenetrationtester.blogspot.com
• Creator of Kautilya and Nishang
• Interested in Offensive Information Security, new
attack vectors and methodologies to pwn
systems.
• Freelance penetration tester *hint*
• Spoken at BlackHat, Troopers, PHDays and more
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Get-Content
• Need for Post Exploitation
• PowerShell
• Why PowerShell?
• Introducing – Powerpreter
– Architecture
– Usage
– Payloads
– Capabilities
– Deployment
• Antak – The WebShell
• Limitations
• Conclusion
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Need for Post Exploitation
• The most important part of a penetration test.
• Guy who will pay you $$$ do not understand
technology (neither he wants to). A “shell” is
not what he wants from you.
• IMHO, this differentiates a good pen tester
and one-click-i-pwn-you-omg pen tester.
• Etc Etc
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PowerShell
• A shell and scripting language present by
default on new Windows machines.
• Designed to automate things and make life
easier for system admin.
• Based on .Net framework and is tightly
integrated with Windows.
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Why PowerShell?
• Provides access to almost everything in a
Windows platform which could be useful for an
attacker.
• Easy to learn and really powerful.
• Trusted by the countermeasures and system
administrators.
• Consider it bash of Windows.
• Less dependence on msf and
<insert_linux_scripting>-to-executable libraries.
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Powerpreter - Introduction
• A post exploitation tool written completely in
powershell.
• To be a part of Nishang, powershell based post
exploitation framework, written by the
speaker.
• The name is similar to meterpreter.
Powerpreter wants to be like meterpreter
after growing up :)
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Powerpreter - Architecture
• Powerpreter is a powershell module and/or
script depending on the usage.
• Payloads and features in powerpreter are
structured as functions. Separate function for
each functionality.
• It could be easily extended to include new
scripts, just add a new function and it would
be used with other options.
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Powerpreter – Usage
• Powerpreter is best used from a Powershell
Remote Session.
• It could be imported as a module and the
functionalities get loaded in the current
session.
• It could also be used with meterpreter and
“possibly” other shells as well.
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Powerpreter – Payloads
• Payloads depend on the privileges available.
• Many useful payloads.
• Better seen in the demo.
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Powerpreter – Capabilities
• Persistence
• Pivoting
• Admin to SYSTEM
• Helper functionalities
• Etc Etc
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Powerpreter – Deployment
• From a powershell session
• Using meterpreter.
• Using psexec.
• Drive-by-download
• Human Interface Device (Bare bones
preferred)
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Powerpreter - DEMO
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Antak- The Webshell
• Named after God of Death (Yamraj) in Indian
mythology….muhahaha
• Written in C#.Net (that is what I call it).
• The UI is designed to look like a powershell prompt.
• Ability to upload & download files, executing
commands.
• Scripts can be executed by using the “Encode and
Execute” option.
• If remoting is enabled, commands/scripts on remote
systems can be executed.
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BTW meet Yamraj
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Limitations
• Yet to undergo community testing.
• Keylogger does not work from powershell
remoting session.
• Backdoors can be detected with careful traffic
analysis.
• Pivot depends upon powershell remoting.
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Conclusion
• Powershell provides much control over a
Windows system and Windows based network
• Powerpreter has been designed to derive its
power from above fact and provides (or at
least attempts to) a useful set of features for
penetration testers.
• Obviously, there are other ways to achieve
similar things. Powerpreter just makes it
easier.
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Thanks/Credit/Greetz
• Thanks to my friend Arthur Donkers for helping me to
come to Defcon.
• Thanks/Credit/Greetz/Shoutz to powershell hackers (in
no particular order)
@obscuresec, @mattifestation, @Carlos_Perez,
@Lee_Holmes, @ScriptingGuys, @BrucePayette,
@adamdiscroll, @JosephBialek, @dave_rel1k and all
bloggers and book writers.
• Go see another awesome powershell talk in Track- 2
tomorrow – “PowerPwning: Post-Exploiting By
Overpowering PowerShell by Joe Bialek“
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Thank You
• Questions?
• Insults?
• Feedback?
• Powerpreter would be available at
http://code.google.com/p/nishang/
• Follow me @nikhil_mitt
• Latest slides for this preso could be found at:
http://labofapenetrationtester.blogspot.in/p/blog-
page.html
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