Add Windows Defender BlueHammer LPE exploit (CVE-2026-33825) by anasabugaddara-ux · Pull Request #21521 · rapid7/metasploit-framework

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-05-31T03:05:28Z

Summary

This PR adds a new local privilege escalation exploit module targeting CVE-2026-33825 (BlueHammer), a vulnerability in Microsoft Defender Antimalware Platform versions up to (excluding) 4.18.26030.3011.

The exploit abuses a TOCTOU race condition in Defender's remediation engine to elevate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM, enabling extraction of SAM/SYSTEM registry hives for offline hash cracking.

Files Changed

modules/exploits/windows/local/blue_hammer.rb – The exploit module
documentation/modules/exploits/windows/local/blue_hammer.md – Usage documentation

Verification

Start msfconsole
use exploit/windows/local/blue_hammer
set SESSION <id> (where <id> is an active Meterpreter session on the target)
set BASE_DIR C:\Users\Public\Downloads\HammerSpace
check → Verify output returns Appears for vulnerable Defender versions
exploit → Verify successful privilege escalation to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
Confirm SAM/SYSTEM hives are accessible post-exploitation
Documentation included per Metasploit guidelines

Testing Environment

Target OS: Windows 10/11 (with Defender version 4.18.x)
Attacker OS: Kali Linux (latest)
Session Type: Meterpreter (x86/x64)

References

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-05-31T05:27:07Z

Demo video coming soon—currently resolving lab environment issues.

smcintyre-r7 · 2026-06-01T12:39:25Z

I've seen no demo sent to the msfdev mailing list, it also looks like that text might have been AI generated. Without proof that this has been tested, we're going to close it out per our polices.

You need to prove that this was tested and working before we'll process it. If you're still working on it, please mark it as a draft.

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-06-01T12:49:19Z

Hello, I have sent the demo as a link, plus the video attacked to the email itself, and yes i still working on it, after I received the first response from Julien Voison ***@***.***), i want to edit according to the suggestions he gave me.

…

On Mon, 1 Jun 2026 at 3:39 PM Spencer McIntyre ***@***.***> wrote: *smcintyre-r7* left a comment (rapid7/metasploit-framework#21521) <#21521 (comment)> I've seen no demo sent to the msfdev mailing list, it also looks like that text might have been AI generated. Without proof that this has been tested, we're going to close it out per our polices. You need to prove that this was tested and working before we'll process it. If you're still working on it, please mark it as a draft. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#21521?email_source=notifications&email_token=B7QNMVLUTI3G6ODBMDJJALD45V2RHA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3DKNBQGU2KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-4592654054>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B7QNMVM6V73YJFAEFS4CCML45V2RHAVCNFSM6AAAAACZUDFJ6WVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DKOJSGY2TIMBVGQ> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/B7QNMVO2IUTE5W4UAXMMLPD45V2RHA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3DKNBQGU2KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/B7QNMVM523LBWEJBBXTKERD45V2RHA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3DKNBQGU2KM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

smcintyre-r7 · 2026-06-01T12:51:55Z

I'm not seeing the video. This is a public exploit for Windows though so there's not much reason to keep the video private. Please post the video to the PR or at least a screenshot showing the exploit and payload running.

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-06-01T13:11:24Z

Hi,
As requested, I have provided the demo of the BlueHammer exploit (CVE-2026-33825) below. The video demonstrates the "check" functionality, the exploit execution loop, and the successful exfiltration of the SAM/SYSTEM hives.

Demo Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-oSDkqtWKPj_ylhVyZzyUM9EM6ZydJ86/view?usp=drive_link

(Note: For a quicker review, feel free to watch the recording at 2x speed.)

Let me know if you need any additional information.

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-06-01T13:12:41Z

Done, I am sharing the link since the video is large, and i can not upload it even if compressed.

…

On Mon, 1 Jun 2026 at 3:52 PM Spencer McIntyre ***@***.***> wrote: *smcintyre-r7* left a comment (rapid7/metasploit-framework#21521) <#21521 (comment)> I'm not seeing the video. This is a public exploit for Windows though so there's not much reason to keep the video private. Please post the video to the PR or at least a screenshot showing the exploit and payload running. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#21521?email_source=notifications&email_token=B7QNMVIVUDXA4TT2P5E6RKL45V4ADA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3TINJVGYYKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-4592745560>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B7QNMVPYV6BGEBQZDLC2C3345V4ADAVCNFSM6AAAAACZUDFJ6WVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DKOJSG42DKNJWGA> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/B7QNMVLL63ZXBXVCFFNQOB345V4ADA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3TINJVGYYKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KUZTPN52GK4S7NFXXG> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/B7QNMVKWU3YA4MCPDL4R3NT45V4ADA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINJZGI3TINJVGYYKM4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2K4ZTPN52GK4S7MFXGI4TPNFSA>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

Co-authored-by: Julien Voisin <jvoisin@users.noreply.github.com>

…pecifications

anasabugaddara-ux

@jvoisin Thank you for the detailed review! I have addressed all your feedback.
Please let me know if any further changes are needed.

msutovsky-r7

Reviewed this PR and it seems like most of it is AI-generated as module contains errors and it cannot be loaded by framework because of that. After fixing those errors, the module still does not work as expected which leads me to conclusion that you've submitted something you didn't test before. My suggestion here is to fix the issues and make sure to test the code you've submitted. Otherwise, this PR will be closed/taken over by someone else.

msutovsky-r7 · 2026-06-10T06:48:49Z

+          system-level access to extract credentials or shadow copies.
+        },
+        'License' => MSF_LICENSE,
+        'Author' => [ 'Anas Abu Ghaddara' ],


Give creds to the researchers who discovered this: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-33825

msutovsky-r7 · 2026-06-10T06:49:20Z

+      current_version = ::Regexp.last_match(1)
+      print_status("Detected Defender Version: #{current_version}")
+      if Rex::Version.new(current_version) < Rex::Version.new('4.18.26050.3011')
+        return Exploit::CheckCode::Appears


Add messages as arguments to CheckCodes

msutovsky-r7 · 2026-06-11T11:48:40Z

This is wrong folder for documentation, it should be documentation/modules/exploit/.. - that leads me to question, if the content Scenarios is actual output of your run of module, because it seems it's missing some information.

Also, you should run ruby tools/dev/msftidy_docs.rb for this documentation and fix the issues it prompts.

msutovsky-r7 · 2026-06-11T11:51:52Z

+   check_result = cmd_exec("icacls \"#{target_file}\"")
+   if check_result.include?('BUILTIN\\Users')
+     print_good("Success! Privilege escalation confirmed.")
+     return true


This is wrong, exploit method does not return true/false and it actually breaks the module:

3041 [06/11/2026 13:42:32] [e(0)] core: /home/ms/git/metasploit-framework/modules/exploits/windows/local/blue_hammer.rb failed to load - SyntaxError /home/ms/git/metasploit-framework/modules/exploits/windows/local/blue_hammer.rb:105: Invalid retur n in class/module body 3042 return true 3043 ^~~~~~ 3044 /home/ms/git/metasploit-framework/modules/exploits/windows/local/blue_hammer.rb:108: Invalid return in class/module body 3045 return false

msutovsky-r7 · 2026-06-11T12:07:12Z

+
+    # We loop rapidly to catch the precise moment Defender's NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM thread
+    # opens the file but before it applies its remediation action.
+    datastore['ITERATIONS'].times do |i|


The ITERATIONS datastore option is not defined

anasabugaddara-ux · 2026-06-13T13:48:36Z

Hi @msutovsky-r7,

Thank you for the detailed review. I have addressed all the structural feedback:

Added messages to all CheckCodes (Appears, Safe, Unknown)
Added ITERATIONS as a configurable datastore option
Removed invalid return true/false from exploit method
Added proper author credits (Zen Dodd, Yuanpei XU)
Moved documentation to correct folder
Fixed all trailing whitespace (msftidy_docs clean)

I am also currently working on improving the reliability of the exploit with Defender fully active. I will update the PR once I have confirmed consistent results.

Please let me know if any further changes are needed on the current fixes.

Add Windows Defender BlueHammer LPE exploit (CVE-2026-33825)

69b414e

smcintyre-r7 added this to Metasploit Kanban May 31, 2026

github-project-automation Bot moved this to Todo in Metasploit Kanban May 31, 2026

jvoisin reviewed May 31, 2026

View reviewed changes

msutovsky-r7 marked this pull request as draft June 1, 2026 20:39

anasabugaddara-ux and others added 6 commits June 2, 2026 04:33

Apply suggestion from @jvoisin

e3607f0

Co-authored-by: Julien Voisin <jvoisin@users.noreply.github.com>

Apply suggestion from @jvoisin

3eacefc

Co-authored-by: Julien Voisin <jvoisin@users.noreply.github.com>

Apply suggestion from @jvoisin

ab124a5

Co-authored-by: Julien Voisin <jvoisin@users.noreply.github.com>

Address remaining review feedback

afc9e30

Resolve merge conflict

3e46fea

Clarify Meterpreter session prerequisite in documentation + updated s…

28c1740

…pecifications

anasabugaddara-ux commented Jun 2, 2026

View reviewed changes

dwelch-r7 added module rn-modules release notes for new or majorly enhanced modules labels Jun 8, 2026

msutovsky-r7 requested changes Jun 11, 2026

View reviewed changes

github-project-automation Bot moved this from Todo to Waiting on Contributor in Metasploit Kanban Jun 11, 2026

anasabugaddara-ux added 2 commits June 13, 2026 13:46

Fix CheckCode messages, add ITERATIONS option, add author credits

998d457

Move documentation to correct folder and fix trailing whitespace

0b080c4

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Summary

Files Changed

Verification

Testing Environment

References

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