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Nuclei Templates

Active Desktop Enabled

ID: windows-active-desktop-enabled

Severity: medium

Author: princechaddha

Tags: windows,active-desktop,security,code,windows-audit

Description

Section titled “Description”

Checks if Active Desktop is enabled, which can be exploited to deliver malicious content.

YAML Source

Section titled “YAML Source”
id: windows-active-desktop-enabled


info:
  name: Active Desktop Enabled
  author: princechaddha
  severity: medium
  description: Checks if Active Desktop is enabled, which can be exploited to deliver malicious content.
  impact: |
    Enabling Active Desktop allows attackers to inject malicious content or scripts.
  remediation: |
    Disable Active Desktop unless it's specifically required.
  tags: windows,active-desktop,security,code,windows-audit


self-contained: true


code:
  - pre-condition: |
      IsWindows();
    engine:
      - powershell.exe
    args:
      - -ExecutionPolicy
      - Bypass
    pattern: "*.ps1"
    source: |
      if ((Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer' -Name 'NoActiveDesktop' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).NoActiveDesktop -eq 0) { Write-Output 'Active Desktop enabled'; }


    matchers:
      - type: word
        words:
          - "Active Desktop enabled"
# digest: 4b0a00483046022100dd7bd8214f67351b1f25da25ba78a12be98578f4226ecf715c03dbada396c81002210081f219e777b23470afed5bfc517e0da110eafa38c9ab9d6bf018757207d482c9:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950

Guide to check the vulnerabilities

Section titled “Guide to check the vulnerabilities”

This template is used to detect vulnerabilities in web applications. It can be used with the Nuclei tool to scan for specific patterns or behaviors.

Terminal window
$ nuclei -u "URL" -t "code/windows/audit/windows-active-desktop-enabled.yaml"

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