Windows Servers Can Expose PowerShell on the Web
Source: YouTube · John Hammond · published Oct 21, 2024 · 18:14
The video highlights how Windows PowerShell Web Access (PSWA), a legitimate Windows Server feature, can act as a webshell, enabling remote command execution and serving as a backdoor for attackers 1:52.
Key Takeaways:
• PSWA is a native Windows Server 2012+ feature that provides a browser-based PowerShell console, resembling a webshell despite being a legitimate system tool 1:52.
• The feature exposes PowerShell commands via HTTPS, requiring authentication and allowing access to local and networked systems, making it a potential persistence mechanism 2:47.
• PSWA has hardcoded UI elements (e.g., "Windows Server 2016") and can be configured with XML-based authorization rules, allowing fine-grained access control 4:18.
• Attackers can leverage known credentials to access PSWA, execute commands, and move laterally, with limited visibility in logs unless PowerShell transcription or event monitoring is enabled 13:50.
This legitimate feature, though deprecated, poses a real threat if misconfigured or exposed to the internet.
Sources:
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First 800 characters of the transcript
at the end of August 2024 siza the cyber security and infrastructure Security Agency put out this cyber security advisory iran-based cyber actors are enabling ransomware attacks on us organizations now I won't drag you through all of the article but I think this is a little bit interesting there are a couple tidbits some breadcrumbs and good nuggets to take out of a lot of the ttps the tactics techniques and procedures that are outlined here and if I may say one of my good friends Mike ha actually pulled out a really neat little nugget that I thought would be worthwhile to share with you I will include the link to this in the video description if you're interested you can dig into a little bit more as to what this report entailed but I'd like to show you that small tidbit that is probably …