SC3010-Computer-Security — CVE-2017-5638 Attack Recreation

This repository is part of the SC3010 Computer Security course project.
It recreates CVE-2017-5638, a critical Remote Code Execution vulnerability in Apache Struts 2 (versions 2.3.5–2.3.31 and 2.5–2.5.10), famously exploited in the 2017 Equifax data breach to exfiltrate personal records of roughly 147 million people.

The vulnerability arises from a single design flaw: when Apache Struts fails to parse a multipart/form-data upload request, it builds an error message by embedding the raw Content-Type header — without sanitizing it — into a string that is then passed through the OGNL expression evaluator. An attacker who puts an OGNL expression inside the Content-Type header therefore gets it executed server-side as the Tomcat process user.

This repo contains:

A working vulnerable Java/Maven server (Struts2 2.3.28) with a file-upload endpoint.
A PowerShell exploit script that demonstrates the full injection → RCE chain.
Annotated reference source files from Apache Struts 2.3.28 mapping each step of the call chain.

Background Knowledge

How does OGNL injection work?

Repository Structure

SC3010-Computer-Security/
├── simulation/
│   ├── backend/          # Vulnerable Apache Struts2 2.3.28 server (Java/Maven)
│   └── attack-script/    # Exploit script for CVE-2017-5638
│       └── exploit_cve_2017_5638.ps1   # PowerShell (cross-platform)
├── struts-src-code/          # Apache Struts2 reference source + legal notices
│   ├── licenses/             # LICENSE, NOTICE, and component licenses
│   └── src/
│       ├── struts2-core/     # Request pipeline classes + vulnerable JakartaMultiPartRequest
│       ├── xwork2/           # ActionContext.java, OgnlUtil.java
│       └── ognl/             # OgnlContext.java
├── diagrams/                 # State-machine + sequence diagrams, annotated OGNL payload
└── _notes/                   # Background reading

Exploit Simulation

See simulation/README.md for setup and usage instructions.

Attack State Machine Diagram

The diagram below shows each decision branch in the Struts2 request pipeline. The red path is the one the attacker forces; grey → ... branches are safe paths that don't apply during the exploit.

flowchart TD
    Start(["Attacker sends HTTP POST /upload.action<br/>Content-Type: &#37;&#123;OGNL_PAYLOAD&#125;.multipart/form-data"])
    Start --> PIPE

    PIPE["<b>Struts2 filter → wrap → parse pipeline</b><br/>doFilter() → PrepareOperations.wrapRequest()<br/>→ Dispatcher.wrapRequest() → new MultiPartRequestWrapper()"]
    PIPE --> D_CT{"Content-Type contains<br/>multipart/form-data?"}
    D_CT -- "No → normal request ..." --> OUT_NORM([non-upload path ...])
    D_CT -- "Yes (attacker appends<br/>.multipart/form-data to payload)" --> PARSE

    PARSE[/"<b>JakartaMultiPartRequest.parse()</b><br/>→ Commons FileUpload.parseRequest()"/]
    PARSE --> D_VALID{"FileUpload can parse<br/>Content-Type?"}
    D_VALID -- "Yes → normal file upload ..." --> OUT_OK([files extracted, action executes ...])
    D_VALID -- "No — malformed Content-Type<br/>throws InvalidContentTypeException<br/>(message = raw Content-Type string)" --> CATCH

    CATCH["parse() catch block<br/>calls buildErrorMessage(e, &#123;&#125;)"]
    CATCH --> FIND

    FIND[/"<b>buildErrorMessage()</b><br/>→ LocalizedTextUtil.findText(class, errorKey, locale, e.getMessage(), args)"/]
    FIND --> D_KEY{"Resource bundle has key<br/>struts.messages.upload.error.*?"}
    D_KEY -- "Yes → safe localised message ..." --> OUT_SAFE([error displayed safely ...])
    D_KEY -- "No — falls back to<br/>e.getMessage() as the default<br/>(attacker's raw Content-Type)" --> TRANSLATE

    TRANSLATE["TextParseUtil.translateVariables()<br/>scans string for &#37;&#123;...&#125; expressions"]
    TRANSLATE --> D_OGNL{"String contains<br/>&#37;&#123;...&#125; OGNL expression?"}
    D_OGNL -- "No → plain error string ..." --> OUT_PLAIN([safe error message ...])
    D_OGNL -- "Yes — evaluates OGNL<br/>inside attacker content" --> SANDBOX

    SANDBOX[/"<b>OGNL sandbox bypass</b><br/>#ognlUtil.getExcludedClasses().clear()<br/>#ognlUtil.getExcludedPackageNames().clear()"/]
    SANDBOX --> ACCESS

    ACCESS[/"<b>Unrestricted reflection</b><br/>#context.setMemberAccess(DEFAULT_MEMBER_ACCESS)"/]
    ACCESS --> RCE

    RCE[/"<b>RCE</b><br/>Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd)"/]
    RCE --> Done([Command executed as Tomcat process user])

    style Start fill:#d32f2f,color:#fff
    style Done fill:#d32f2f,color:#fff
    style OUT_NORM fill:#9e9e9e,color:#fff
    style OUT_OK fill:#9e9e9e,color:#fff
    style OUT_SAFE fill:#9e9e9e,color:#fff
    style OUT_PLAIN fill:#9e9e9e,color:#fff
    style SANDBOX fill:#b71c1c,color:#fff
    style ACCESS fill:#b71c1c,color:#fff
    style RCE fill:#b71c1c,color:#fff
    style CATCH fill:#e65100,color:#fff
    style TRANSLATE fill:#e65100,color:#fff

For the full state-machine with branch explanations, see diagrams/cve-2017-5638-state-machine.md.
For a sequence diagram view and annotated OGNL payload breakdown, see diagrams/cve-2017-5638-attack-chain.md.

Third-Party Software Notices

This repository reproduces portions of Apache Struts 2.3.28 source code for academic security research purposes.

Apache Struts is Copyright © 2000–2016 The Apache Software Foundation.
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
A copy of the license is available at struts-src-code/licenses/LICENSE.txt.
The full attribution notice required by the Apache License is in struts-src-code/licenses/NOTICE.txt.

Apache Struts 2 bundles additional third-party components, each governed by their own license:

Component	License file
OGNL (Object-Graph Navigation Library)	`struts-src-code/licenses/OGNL-LICENSE.txt`
XWork	`struts-src-code/licenses/XWORK-LICENSE.txt`
FreeMarker	`struts-src-code/licenses/FREEMARKER-LICENSE.txt`

Source References:

apache/struts @ STRUTS_2_3_28 — Struts2 core and XWork
jkuhnert/ognl — OGNL 3.0.x
Gemini — Consultation on general OGNL languages.

SC3010-Computer-Security

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