RSYNC

Rsync exists to copy files efficiently — and when it's exposed on a network with no authentication, it'll happily list its shared folders and let you pull everything down, SSH keys included. Even when it needs credentials, found passwords are worth trying for reuse.

What Is Rsync?

Rsync is a fast, efficient tool for copying files — locally or to/from remote hosts. It's best known for its delta-transfer algorithm, which only sends the differences between the source files and any older version already on the destination, minimizing data over the network. It identifies what to transfer by looking at files that changed in size or last-modified time.

That efficiency makes it a favourite for backups and mirroring — which is exactly why the shares it exposes so often contain sensitive data.

By default rsync runs on TCP port 873, and it can be configured to ride over SSH for secure transfers, piggybacking on an existing SSH connection.

The two scenarios you'll meet:

• No authentication — you can list shared folders and retrieve files directly. Common, and the quickest win.
• Authentication required — you need credentials. If you've recovered passwords elsewhere on the engagement, always test them here for reuse — a successful login can pull down files that hand you remote access.

Footprinting the Service

Scanning for Rsync

nmap -sV -p873 10.129.14.128

PORT    STATE SERVICE VERSION
873/tcp open  rsync   (protocol version 31)

Probing for Accessible Shares

Connect with the rsync client and list available modules (shares) — no path, just the host:

rsync -av --list-only rsync://10.129.14.128

dev             Dev Folder

Enumerating an Open Share

List the contents of a share you found — here, dev:

rsync -av --list-only rsync://10.129.14.128/dev

drwxr-xr-x          4,096 2024/06/25 12:00:00 .
-rw-r--r--            402 2024/06/25 12:00:00 backup.sh
-rw-r--r--          1,872 2024/06/25 12:00:00 users.txt
drwx------          4,096 2024/06/25 12:00:00 .ssh

A directory like .ssh accessible in a share is a flag — it likely holds SSH keys worth pulling down.

Syncing Files to Your Machine

Pull the whole share down to inspect locally:

rsync -av rsync://10.129.14.128/dev ./dev-loot

Rsync Over SSH

If rsync is configured to transfer over SSH, add the -e ssh flag — or specify a non-standard SSH port:

# Rsync over SSH
rsync -av -e ssh rsync://user@10.129.14.128/dev ./dev-loot

# Non-standard SSH port
rsync -av -e "ssh -p2222" user@10.129.14.128:/path ./dev-loot

Quick Reference

The footprinting flow: nmap for port 873 → list modules (no auth first) → enumerate each share → sync interesting files (watch for .ssh) → fall back to credentials/SSH mode, testing for password reuse.

Next: R-Services — the legacy trust-based remote access suite and .rhosts abuse.