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Metasploit Documentation

MSSQL Workflows

Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) is a relational database management system. Commonly used in conjunction with web applications and other software that need to persist data. MSSQL is a useful target for data extraction and code execution.

MSSQL is frequently found on port on the following ports:

  • 1433/TCP
  • 1434/UDP

For a full list of MSSQL modules run the search command within msfconsole:

msf6 > search mssql

Or to search for modules that work with a specific session type:

msf6 > search session_type:mssql

Lab Environment

Environment setup:

MSSQL Enumeration

Running queries

use auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_sql
run rhost=192.168.123.13 username=administrator password=p4$$w0rd sql='select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@spid'

Logging in and obtaining a session

To log in or obtain an interactive session on an MSSQL instance running on the target, use mssql_login

use auxiliary/scanner/mssql_login
run CreateSession=true RPORT=1433 RHOSTS=192.168.2.242 USERNAME=user PASSWORD=password

The CreateSession option, when set to true, will result in returning an interactive MSSQL session with the target machine on a successful login:

[*] 192.168.2.242:1433    - 192.168.2.242:1433 - MSSQL - Starting authentication scanner.
[!] 192.168.2.242:1433    - No active DB -- Credential data will not be saved!
[+] 192.168.2.242:1433    - 192.168.2.242:1433 - Login Successful: WORKSTATION\user:password
[*] MSSQL session 1 opened (192.168.2.1:60963 -> 192.168.2.242:1433) at 2024-03-15 13:41:31 -0500
[*] 192.168.2.242:1433    - Scanned 1 of 1 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed

Which you can interact with using sessions -i <session id> or sessions -i -1 to interact with the most recently opened session.

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/mssql/mssql_login) > sessions

Active sessions
===============

  Id  Name  Type   Information                      Connection
  --  ----  ----   -----------                      ----------
  1         mssql  MSSQL test @ 192.168.2.242:1433  192.168.2.1:60963 -> 192.168.23.242:1433 (192.168.2.242)

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/mssql/mssql_login) > sessions -i 1
[*] Starting interaction with 1...

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > query 'select @@version;'
Response
========

    #  NULL
    -  ----
    0  Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (RTM) - 16.0.1000.6 (X64)
	    Oct 8 2022 05:58:25
	    Copyright (C) 2022 Microsoft Corporation
	    Developer Edition (64-bit) on Windows Server 2022 Stand
       ard 10.0 <X64> (Build 20348: ) (Hypervisor)

When interacting with a session, the help command can be useful:

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > help

Core Commands
=============

    Command            Description
    -------            -----------
    ?                  Help menu
    background         Backgrounds the current session
    bg                 Alias for background
    exit               Terminate the PostgreSQL session
    help               Help menu
    irb                Open an interactive Ruby shell on the current session
    pry                Open the Pry debugger on the current session
    sessions           Quickly switch to another session


MSSQL Client Commands
=====================

    Command            Description
    -------            -----------
    query              Run a single SQL query
    query_interactive  Enter an interactive prompt for running multiple SQL queries


Local File System Commands
==========================

    Command            Description
    -------            -----------
    getlwd             Print local working directory (alias for lpwd)
    lcat               Read the contents of a local file to the screen
    lcd                Change local working directory
    ldir               List local files (alias for lls)
    lls                List local files
    lmkdir             Create new directory on local machine
    lpwd               Print local working directory

This session also works with the following modules:

  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_enum
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_escalate_dbowner
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_escalate_execute_as
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_exec
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_findandsampledata
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_idf
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_sql
  auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_sql_file
  auxiliary/scanner/mssql/mssql_hashdump
  auxiliary/scanner/mssql/mssql_schemadump
  exploit/windows/mssql/mssql_payload

To interact directly with the session as if in a SQL prompt, you can use the query command.

msf6 auxiliary(scanner/mssql/mssql_login) > sessions -i -1
[*] Starting interaction with 2...

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > query -h
Usage: query

Run a single SQL query on the target.

OPTIONS:

    -h, --help      Help menu.
    -i, --interact  Enter an interactive prompt for running multiple SQL queries

Examples:

    query select @@version;
    query select user_name();
    query select name from master.dbo.sysdatabases;

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > query 'select @@version;'
Response
========

    #  NULL
    -  ----
    0  Microsoft SQL Server 2022 (RTM) - 16.0.1000.6 (X64)
	Oct  8 2022 05:58:25
	Copyright (C) 2022 Microsoft Corporation
	Developer Edition (64-bit) on Windows Server 2022 Standard 10.0 <X64> (B
       uild 20348: ) (Hypervisor)

Alternatively you can enter a SQL prompt via the query_interactive command which supports multiline commands:

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > query_interactive -h
Usage: query_interactive

Go into an interactive SQL shell where SQL queries can be executed.
To exit, type 'exit', 'quit', 'end' or 'stop'.

mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master) > query_interactive
[*] Starting interactive SQL shell for mssql @ 192.168.2.242:1433 (master)
[*] SQL commands ending with ; will be executed on the remote server. Use the exit command to exit.

SQL >> select *
SQL *> from information_schema.tables
SQL *> where table_type = 'BASE TABLE';
[*] Executing query: select * from information_schema.tables where table_type = 'BASE TABLE';
Response
========
    #  TABLE_CATALOG  TABLE_SCHEMA  TABLE_NAME             TABLE_TYPE
    -  -------------  ------------  ----------             ----------
    0  master         dbo           spt_fallback_db        BASE TABLE
    1  master         dbo           spt_fallback_dev       BASE TABLE
    2  master         dbo           spt_fallback_usg       BASE TABLE
    4  master         dbo           Users                  BASE TABLE
    5  master         dbo           spt_monitor            BASE TABLE
    6  master         dbo           MSreplication_options  BASE TABLE
SQL >>

Identify if the SQL server has been configured with trusted links, which allows running queries on other MSSQL instances:

use windows/mssql/mssql_linkcrawler
run rhost=192.168.123.13 username=administrator password=p4$$w0rd

Kerberos Authentication

Details on the Kerberos specific option names are documented in Kerberos Service Authentication

Connect to a Microsoft SQL Server instance and run a query:

msf6 > use auxiliary/admin/mssql/mssql_sql
msf6 auxiliary(admin/mssql/mssql_sql) > run 192.168.123.13 domaincontrollerrhost=192.168.123.13 username=administrator password=p4$$w0rd mssql::auth=kerberos mssql::rhostname=dc3.demo.local mssqldomain=demo.local sql='select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@spid'
[*] Reloading module...
[*] Running module against 192.168.123.13

[*] 192.168.123.13:1433 - 192.168.123.13:88 - Valid TGT-Response
[+] 192.168.123.13:1433 - 192.168.123.13:88 - Valid TGS-Response
[*] 192.168.123.13:1433 - 192.168.123.13:88 - TGS MIT Credential Cache saved to ~/.msf4/loot/20220630193907_default_192.168.123.13_windows.kerberos_556101.bin
[*] 192.168.123.13:1433 - SQL Query: select auth_scheme from sys.dm_exec_connections where session_id=@@spid
[*] 192.168.123.13:1433 - Row Count: 1 (Status: 16 Command: 193)

 auth_scheme
 -----------
 KERBEROS

[*] Auxiliary module execution completed