Exploiting Template Injection Vulnerabilities

Exploiting Template Injection Vulnerabilities

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for exploiting template injection vulnerabilities. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "exploiting template injection vulnerabilities"

• "Detecting and exploiting Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) vulnerabilities a"

• During authorized penetration tests when user input is rendered through a server-side template engine

• When testing error pages, email templates, PDF generators, or report builders that include user-supplied data

• For assessing applications that allow users to customize templates or notification messages

• When identifying potential SSTI in parameters that reflect arithmetic results (e.g., {{7*7}} returns 49)

• During security assessments of CMS platforms, marketing tools, or any application with templating functionality

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• Authorization: Written penetration testing agreement with RCE testing scope
• Burp Suite Professional: For intercepting and modifying template parameters
• tplmap: Automated SSTI exploitation tool (git clone https://github.com/epinna/tplmap.git)
• SSTImap: Modern SSTI scanner (pip install sstimap)
• curl: For manual SSTI payload testing
• Knowledge of template engines: Jinja2, Twig, Freemarker, Velocity, Mako, Pebble, ERB, Smarty

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: str) -> dict:
    return {k: re.findall(v, text) for k, v in IOC_PATTERNS.items()}

1. Reconnaissance — Gather information about the target related to template injection vulnerabilities. Identify attack surface.
2. Vulnerability Identification — Enumerate potential template injection vulnerabilities weaknesses using automated and manual techniques.
3. Exploit Development/Selection — Choose or develop exploits targeting identified template injection vulnerabilities vulnerabilities.
4. Execution — Execute the template injection vulnerabilities test in a controlled manner with proper authorization.
5. Post-Exploitation — Document the impact and extent of successful exploitation.
6. Reporting — Write detailed findings with reproduction steps, impact assessment, and remediation guidance.

Tools

• Vulnerability Scanner — Automated weakness identification
• Exploitation Framework — Controlled exploitation testing
• Reporting Tool — Findings documentation and tracking

Process

1. Reconnaissance — Gather target information, identify attack surface, enumerate services
2. Analysis/Exploitation — Execute the technique, analyze results, document findings
3. Reporting — Document IOCs, write findings, provide remediation recommendations

Verification

• All template injection vulnerabilities procedures executed completely and documented
• Findings validated against multiple data sources
• False positives identified and filtered
• Results documented with evidence and timestamps
• Recommendations provided with risk-based prioritization

Anti-Rationalization Table