Host access and shell

A Proxmox node is a Debian host running the VMs, containers, and management daemons as root. Access comes from a guest or container escape, SSH, or the management API and web shell. With it, an attacker controls every VM and container through qm/pct, reads all disks and backups, and in a cluster reaches the other nodes through the shared corosync-backed configuration.

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A Proxmox node is a Debian server where the management daemons (pvedaemon, pveproxy, pve-cluster) and the VM/container processes run as root. Reaching a shell comes from a guest or container escape landing on the node, from SSH with node credentials, or from the management interface, which includes a built-in web shell (noVNC/xterm.js) and command execution via the API. Node root is control of every VM and container on it through qm and pct, access to all disks and backups, and, in a cluster, reach to the other nodes because the cluster filesystem and corosync tie them together.

Reach and use the node#

bash
# SSH with node credentials, or the web-UI shell
ssh root@<proxmox-node>
qm list; pct list                         # VMs and containers
# run inside a VM via the guest agent, or in a container directly
qm guest exec <vmid> -- id 2>/dev/null
pct exec <ctid> -- id

Cluster reach#

bash
# the cluster filesystem (pmxcfs) is shared across nodes under /etc/pve
pvecm status; pvecm nodes
cat /etc/pve/corosync.conf                 # cluster members
ls /etc/pve/nodes/                         # per-node config, shared cluster-wide
# node root on one member, plus the shared /etc/pve and SSH trust, reaches peers
ssh root@<other-node>                      # cluster nodes commonly trust each other

/etc/pve is the corosync-backed cluster filesystem (pmxcfs) replicated to every node, and cluster members typically share root SSH trust, so compromising one node commonly extends to the whole cluster.

Exploitation notes#

  • Node root subsumes everything: qm/pct control all guests, the guest agent runs commands inside VMs, and pct exec enters containers directly.
  • The shared cluster filesystem under /etc/pve and the usual inter-node SSH trust make a single-node compromise a cluster compromise; enumerate peers via pvecm nodes and the shared config.
  • The web UI's shell and the API's command execution are legitimate node-access paths with management credentials, an alternative to a guest escape.
  • Persistence is standard Debian (systemd, cron, SSH keys); the cluster filesystem offers a replicated location visible to all nodes.

References#

TrướcProxmox VETiếp Guest-to-host escape