HackTheBox - Interpreter
Source: YouTube · IppSec · published May 30, 2026 · 45:55
The video demonstrates a Hack The Box walkthrough for the "Interpreter" machine, focusing on exploiting a Java deserialization vulnerability in Mirth Connect to gain initial access and pivoting through database credentials to a final user shell.
Key Takeaways:
• The initial foothold is achieved by exploiting a Java deserialization vulnerability in Mirth Connect, where a malicious gadget is crafted from XML to execute arbitrary code 0:05.
• After gaining a shell, the attacker dumps the database to find a hashed password that is encoded in an unusual format 0:18.
• Analyzing the source code reveals the specific encoding method, allowing the conversion of the hash into a Hashcat-compatible format for cracking 0:23.
• Access to a secondary user is gained via the cracked password, who can read a Python script listening on a local socket 0:29.
• The final vulnerability involves a custom templating engine with a straightforward but unique exploitation vector 0:32.
This walkthrough highlights the importance of understanding application-specific vulnerabilities, such as custom templating engines, in conjunction with standard exploitation techniques.
Sources:
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First 800 characters of the transcript
What's going on YouTube? This is IPSC and today we'll be doing interpreter from hack the box which is a pretty straightforward box that starts off with a CVE exploiting mirth connect. I think the vulnerability is actually pretty interesting because it's a Java dialization vulnerability where we craft the gadget from XML. It just looks pretty cool. Anyways, that leads us to a shell on the box and we can dump the database to reveal a hashed password, but it's stored in a little bit of an odd way. Looking at the source code reveals how we can convert this into a hashcat format that leads us access to another user. This user can read a Python script that's listening on a local socket. The vulnerability is really odd but straightforward. They created their own templating engine that does like a…