Better title: "How I found an exploit in a Paypal vendor ticket server."
Clearly the title is meant to bait an interest in financial vulnerabilities. A "Paypal server" is as meaningful a name as a "Google webpage".
Clearly the title is meant to bait an interest in financial vulnerabilities. A "Paypal server" is as meaningful a name as a "Google webpage".
Who knows what kind of "soft center" is around the "hard shells" of these organisations?
For starters, the "uname -a" he ran shows the server's kernel to be from Jan 2016. Right from the top of my head, this is probably vulnerable to "dirtycow" (for which there are weaponized exploits on github).
Who knows where root on this server can get you? You're not allowed to check. Legally that's black. No bug-bounty program allows you to go beyond the "/etc/passwd" print.
Who lets an Internet-facing production server run for a year without updates?
(So, okay, it is possible that whoever is responsible for that machine did install updates but did not reboot the server. But that still leaves that server running with a known vulnerability.)
If you can execute on a server that serves a "Google webpage" then I'll be impressed. No, it doesn't have to be google.com.