Hack The Box: Alert Machine Walkthrough – Easy Difficulty
We discovered an XSS vulnerability in .md file uploads and the Contacts tab. By embedding an XSS payload and sharing the link, we extracted data from messages.php, revealing a file parameter vulnerable to LFI. This led us to /var/www/statistics.alert.htb/.htpasswd, which contained a hashed password. Using hashid, we identified it as MD5 (APR1-MD5) and cracked it with Hashcat, retrieving the password ManchesterUnited. With these credentials, we accessed the system and captured the user flag.
After logging into statistics.alert.htb, we found port 8080 open. Using SSH port forwarding, we accessed a monitoring site but needed to locate its directory. Checking ps aux, we found it in /opt/website-monitor. We confirmed file access by testing a basic PHP file, which worked. We then uploaded a PentestMonkey reverse shell, but it didn’t execute. To ensure success, we crafted a reliable PHP shell, triggered it, and gained root access.
🔍 #CyberSecurity #BugBounty #EthicalHacking #PenTesting #CTF #HTB #WebSecurity #XSS #LFI #PrivilegeEscalation #Hacking
