Collected research

Covert Web Shells in .NET with Read-Only Web Paths

Soroush Dalili · MDSec · 15 October 2020

Given a .NET code-execution bug (SharePoint CVE-2020-1147 deserialization) but a non-writable web directory, an attacker can register a VirtualPathProvider ghost web shell that exists only in memory. It serves a web shell even under precompiled apps and FriendlyUrls, avoids writing to disk, and can even replace existing uncompiled .NET pages, evading file-based detection.

Record

Researcher

Soroush Dalili

Published by

MDSec

Date

15 October 2020

Topic

Other

In the archive

• Collected in the 2020 research round

Related sources

• Author GhostWebShell example

Tags

• rce
• deserialization
• cve
• dotnet
• aspnet
• gadget-chain
• case-study
• owasp-a08-2021

This page is the archive's own catalogue record. The research is the work of Soroush Dalili, first published at the original source. Preserved copies are kept so the citation survives its host; this one was last captured on 10 August 2026.