send_request_cgi

send_request_cgi is HttpClient’s CGI-compatible HTTP request API. Its implementation is in lib/msf/core/exploit/remote/http_client.rb; opts are defined in lib/rex/proto/http/client.rb / client_request.rb.

Pages in this section

Page	Contents
Option reference	Available opts / datastore options
HTTP methods and parameters	GET / POST / PUT / raw query / encoding
Authentication and cookies	Basic / form login / self-registration / cookie jar / CSRF
Body and multipart	JSON / raw body / MIME / vars_form_data
Redirects and raw requests	send_request_cgi! / send_request_raw
Responses and debugging	Response handling, parsers, RCE success checks, HttpTrace

Shortest form

res = send_request_cgi(
  {
    'method' => 'GET',
    'uri' => normalize_uri(target_uri.path, 'index.php'),
    'vars_get' => { 'q' => '1' }
  },
  20 # timeout
)
return if res.nil?

The method arguments are as follows.

send_request_cgi(opts = {}, timeout = 20, disconnect = true)

Argument	Meaning
opts	Hash containing the request
timeout	Seconds. Often passed as datastore['HttpClientTimeout']
disconnect	Whether to disconnect after the response. Defaults to true

A timeout or connection failure returns nil. Always check for it.

Choosing between send_request_cgi and send_request_raw

API	Best suited for
send_request_cgi	vars_get / vars_post / forms / cookie jar
send_request_raw	Nonstandard methods, malformed HTTP, or HTTP-like protocols
send_request_cgi!	Following 30x redirects

Pattern quick reference

Task	Key / API
GET with a query	vars_get
Form POST	vars_post
Raw query string	query
JSON / arbitrary body	data + ctype
Manual multipart	Rex::MIME::Message + data + ctype
Simple multipart	vars_form_data
Basic authentication	authorization / basic_auth
Keep a form login session	keep_cookies
Self-registration → login	Registration POST → login POST + keep_cookies
Authenticated JSON API	keep_cookies on login; data + ctype for JSON
Fixed cookie	cookie
Additional headers	headers
Override Host	vhost
Temporary request to another host	rhost / rport / SSL
Follow redirects	send_request_cgi!
Disable encoding	encode_params: false

Content-Type and Accept

• ctype sets the format of the outgoing body through the Content-Type header. For JSON, use 'ctype' => 'application/json'. If omitted for POST, application/x-www-form-urlencoded is added.
• Accept specifies the desired response format. To request JSON, use 'headers' => { 'Accept' => 'application/json' }. Setting ctype does not add Accept automatically, so specify both for APIs that require content negotiation.