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By the Will of the Omnissiah, and the Authority vested in me as Magos Dominus, I transmit this holy data-burst unto the noosphere.
EternalBlue Vulnerability (MS17-010)
Alright, here’s the tea on EternalBlue the vuln that turned Windows boxes everywhere into ransomware playgrounds.
WTF is EternalBlue?
EternalBlue is basically a cyber weapon crafted by the NSA because apparently they were bored and wanted to collect 0days like Pokémon cards. Unfortunately for them (and the rest of us), it got leaked by the Shadow Brokers in 2017.
- Vulnerability: MS17-010
- Target: SMBv1 protocol (the dusty old protocol nobody patches because “it just works”)
- Impact: Remote Code Execution (RCE)
- Affected OSes: Windows XP, 7, 8, Server 2003, 2008, etc.
- Infamous for: Being the launchpad for ransomware like WannaCry and NotPetya, which wrecked half the internet in 2017.
Basically, EternalBlue lets an attacker send specially crafted packets to SMBv1 and exploit how Windows handles SMB traffic, leading to arbitrary code execution. No creds needed. Just vibes and a target IP.
How to Check if a Target is Vulnerable
If you’re feeling fancy, you can scan with Nmap:
sudo nmap -sV -p445 --script=smb-vuln-ms17-010 <IP>If the script screams “VULNERABLE,” congratulations you found a door into someone’s network.
“For Educational Purposes Only” Example
So yesterday I decided to go full lab rat and set up a Windows Server 2008 R2 box because I apparently hate myself.
Here’s the lab magic:
- I used AutoBlue to generate a payload because I’m not about to handcraft shellcode like it’s the Renaissance.
- You can also just fire up Metasploit, which has a module ready to rock:
- Search for ms17_010_eternalblue
- Set your RHOSTS and payload
- Launch exploit and pray you don’t crash the target
And boom: SYSTEM shell on an ancient Windows box faster than you can say “patch your damn servers.”
Risks
- Wormable: WannaCry and NotPetya spread like COVID because EternalBlue let malware jump from machine to machine over SMB with zero human help.
- Data theft, ransomware, general mayhem.
- Crashes: Bad exploit attempts can BSOD the target because kernel memory doesn’t take kindly to strangers poking around.
How Not to Get Owned
- PATCH. Seriously. Microsoft dropped MS17-010 updates back in March 2017. It’s been years. No excuses.
- Disable SMBv1 unless you’re stuck in 2001.
- Keep external SMB ports closed to the internet. Like, why are they even open?
Side note: EternalBlue is old, but it still pops up in pentests all the time because people apparently love living dangerously.
Reference
GLORY TO THE OMNISSIAH. PRAISE THE BINARY DIVINE.
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