Post Mixins

Mixins for post modules live under lib/msf/core/post/. Inheriting from Msf::Post provides the foundation for Common and File functionality; include OS-specific features separately. The bundled wiki page Post-Mixins.md is another reference.

Common

include Msf::Post::Common

hostname = cmd_exec('hostname')
out = create_process('grep', args: ['-r', 'password', '/var/www'], time_out: 30)
home = get_env('HOME')
envs = get_envs('HOME', 'USER', 'PATH')
print_status('python3 ready') if command_exists?('python3')

Method	Purpose
cmd_exec	Run a command string (simple)
create_process	Run an executable with an argument array (often preferable)
cmd_exec_with_result	Output and success status
get_env / get_envs	Environment variables
command_exists?	Check whether a command exists
rhost / rport / peer	Display target information

File

include Msf::Post::File

cd('/tmp')
print_status(pwd)
entries = dir('/etc')

if file?('/etc/passwd') && readable?('/etc/passwd')
  data = read_file('/etc/passwd')
  store_loot('linux.passwd', 'text/plain', session, data, 'passwd')
end

write_file('/tmp/out.txt', "hello\n")
append_file('/tmp/out.txt', "world\n")
upload_file('/tmp/tool', '/local/path/tool')
upload_and_chmodx('/tmp/run.bin', File.binread('/local/run.bin'))
rm_f('/tmp/out.txt')

Method	Purpose
pwd / cd / dir (ls)	Navigate and list
exist? / file? / directory?	File type
readable? / writable? / executable?	Permissions
read_file / write_file / append_file	Read and write files
upload_file / upload_and_chmodx	Upload files
rm_f / rm_rf / mkdir / rename_file / copy_file	Manage files and directories
expand_path	Expand $HOME or %APPDATA%
file_remote_digestmd5 and others	Hash files

Process / Unix / Windows

include Msf::Post::Process
get_processes.each { |p| print_line("#{p['pid']} #{p['name']}") }
kill_process(pid) if has_pid?(pid)

include Msf::Post::Unix
print_good('root') if is_root?
get_users.each { |u| print_line(u['name']) }

include Msf::Post::Windows::Registry
val = registry_getvaldata('HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\...', 'ProductName')

Windows-specific functionality is split into Registry, Accounts, Powershell, Services, LDAP, and others under lib/msf/core/post/windows/. Include only what you need.

Common patterns

Task	Combination
Run and display one command	Common: cmd_exec
Run with separate arguments	Common: create_process
Collect a configuration file	File: readable? → read_file → store_loot
Place a temporary binary	File: write_file / upload_and_chmodx + FileDropper
List users on Linux	Unix: get_users / is_root?
Read a Windows registry value	Windows::Registry
Stop a process	Process: pidof / kill_process

Usage guidance

• Use cmd_exec for a static one-line command; use create_process when arguments should be separate.
• Handle OS path differences with expand_path or absolute paths.
• For Meterpreter-only features such as Railgun, limit SessionTypes to meterpreter and check session.type.
• For the full structure of a post module, see Post.