Console Interface

Overview of the C2 operator console and available commands

The operator console provides an interactive REPL interface for managing agent sessions and executing tasks. The console is the primary interface for C2 operations.

Starting the Console

Start the operator console from the server directory:

python -m server.api_interface

You’ll see the startup banner with server information:

============================================================
  C2 OPERATOR CONSOLE
  Server : https://c2.lab.internal:443
  Active sessions: 3
============================================================

Console Prompt

The console uses the c2> prompt for all commands:

c2> list
c2> task a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 whoami
c2> results a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

Available Commands

The console supports six commands:

Command	Purpose	Usage
list	List all sessions	list
task	Enqueue a task for execution	task <session_id> <cmd> [args...]
results	View task results for a session	results <session_id>
kill	Deactivate a session	kill <session_id>
help	Show available commands	help
exit	Quit the console	exit

Command Reference

list

Displays all registered agent sessions in a formatted table:

c2> list

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SESSION ID                            HOSTNAME          USERNAME          OS                        JITTER    ACTIVE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890  VICTIM-PC         jdoe              Windows 10 22H2           20%       YES
b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f12345678901  UBUNTU-SRV        root              Linux 5.15.0-78-generic   20%       YES
c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-123456789012  WEB-SERVER        www-data          Linux 6.1.0-13-amd64      20%       NO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3 session(s) total.

The table shows:

• SESSION ID: Unique UUID for each agent
• HOSTNAME: Computer name from agent
• USERNAME: User running the agent
• OS: Operating system information
• JITTER: Beacon jitter percentage (0-100%)
• ACTIVE: Whether the session is active (YES/NO)

task

Enqueues a command for execution on an agent:

c2> task a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 whoami
  Task enqueued — task_id: 9f8e7d6c-5b4a-3210-9876-543210abcdef

With command arguments:

c2> task a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890 ping -n 4 8.8.8.8
  Task enqueued — task_id: 8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12

Parameters:

• <session_id>: UUID of the target session (from list command)
• <cmd>: Command to execute
• [args...]: Optional command arguments (space-separated)

Error conditions:

c2> task nonexistent-id whoami
  ERROR: session nonexistent-id not found.

c2> task c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-123456789012 whoami
  ERROR: session c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-123456789012 is inactive.

results

Displays all task results for a specific session:

c2> results a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9f8e7d6c-5b4a-3210-9876-543210abcdef  0         42ms      VICTIM-PC\jdoe
8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12  0         156ms     Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 8.8.8...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  2 result(s) total.

  Enter a task_id to view full output, or press Enter to skip:

The results table shows:

• TASK ID: UUID of the task
• EXIT: Exit code (0 = success)
• DURATION: Execution time in milliseconds
• STDOUT: First 60 characters of output

After viewing the table, you can enter a task ID to see full output:

  Enter a task_id to view full output, or press Enter to skip: 8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12

  Task ID   : 8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12
  Exit code : 0
  Duration  : 156ms
  STDOUT:
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 13ms, Maximum = 14ms, Average = 13ms

kill

Deactivates an agent session:

c2> kill c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-123456789012
  Session c3d4e5f6-a7b8-9012-cdef-123456789012 deactivated.

Deactivated sessions:

• No longer receive new tasks
• Will not beacon to the server
• Appear as ACTIVE: NO in the session list
• Remain in the database for historical reference

help

Displays the command reference:

c2> help

  Commands:
    list                              — list all sessions
    task <session_id> <cmd> [args...] — enqueue a task
    results <session_id>              — show task results
    kill <session_id>                 — deactivate a session
    help                              — show this message
    exit                              — quit

exit

Quits the operator console:

c2> exit
  Exiting operator console.

You can also exit with Ctrl+C or Ctrl+D.

Console Architecture

The console is implemented in server/api_interface.py and provides:

• Asynchronous REPL: Non-blocking command execution using asyncio
• Session management: Direct integration with SessionManager
• Task queueing: Real-time task submission via CommandQueue
• Database queries: Direct access to task results and session history

Session Restoration

On startup, the console automatically restores active sessions from the database:

await session_mgr.restore_from_db(db)

This ensures that sessions persist across server restarts.

Error Handling

The console validates all commands and provides clear error messages:

c2> task
  Usage: task <session_id> <command> [args...]

c2> results
  Usage: results <session_id>

c2> kill
  Usage: kill <session_id>

c2> invalid_command
  Unknown command: invalid_command. Type "help" for usage.

Implementation Reference

Key functions in server/api_interface.py:

• run_repl(): Main command loop (line 212)
• cmd_list(): Session listing (line 126)
• cmd_task(): Task enqueueing (line 132)
• cmd_results(): Results display (line 167)
• cmd_kill(): Session deactivation (line 194)
• _print_sessions(): Session table formatter (line 46)
• _print_results(): Results table formatter (line 81)