peass-ng/PEASS-ng · error · RuntimeError

Something failed downloading PEASS script from #{url_peass}

Error message

Something failed downloading PEASS script from #{url_peass}

What it means

After parsing and fetching the PEASS URL, the module checks that the downloaded body is at least 500 characters and raises this error otherwise. A tiny body means the fetch did not return the real PEASS binary/script — typically an error page, redirect notice, or empty response.

Source

Thrown at metasploit/peass.rb:284

    # Load the PEASS script from a local file or from Internet
    peass_script = ""
    url_peass = ""
    # If no URL is set, use the default one
    if datastore['CUSTOM_URL'] != ""
      url_peass = datastore['CUSTOM_URL']
    else
      url_peass = datastore['WINPEASS'].to_s.strip.downcase == 'true' ? "https://github.com/peass-ng/PEASS-ng/releases/latest/download/winPEASany_ofs.exe" : "https://github.com/peass-ng/PEASS-ng/releases/latest/download/linpeas.sh"
    end
    # If URL is set, check if it is a valid URL or local file
    if url_peass.include?("http://") || url_peass.include?("https://")
      target = URI.parse url_peass
      raise 'Invalid URL' unless target.scheme =~ /https?/
      raise 'Invalid URL' if target.host.to_s.eql? ''
      
      res = fetch(target)
      peass_script = res.body

      raise "Something failed downloading PEASS script from #{url_peass}" if peass_script.length < 500

    else
      raise "PEASS local file (#{url_peass}) does not exist!" unless ::File.exist?(url_peass)        
      peass_script = File.read(url_peass)
      raise "Something falied reading PEASS script from #{url_peass}" if peass_script.length < 500
    end

    return peass_script
  end

  def aes_enc_peass(peass_script)
    # Encrypt the PEASS script with AES (CBC Mode)
    key = datastore["PASSWORD"]
    iv = OpenSSL::Cipher::Cipher.new('aes-256-cbc').random_iv
    
    c = OpenSSL::Cipher.new('aes-256-cbc').encrypt
    c.iv = iv
    c.key = key

View on GitHub (pinned to 53fb989abc)

Solutions

1. Open the URL in a browser or 'curl -s <url> | wc -c' and verify it returns the actual PEASS file (>500 bytes)
2. Fix the web server path/permissions so the real file is served instead of an error page
3. Re-upload the correct linpeas.sh/winPEASany_ofs.exe to your hosting server
4. Bypass or correctly configure the proxy that is returning an interception/block page
5. Clear CUSTOM_URL to fall back to the official GitHub release download

Example fix

# before
set CUSTOM_URL http://10.0.0.5/peass.sh   # serves 404 page
# after
# copy the real file to the webroot, then
set CUSTOM_URL http://10.0.0.5/linpeas.sh

body = Net::HTTP.get_response(URI(url)).body
raise 'URL does not serve the PEASS payload' if body.nil? || body.length < 500

begin
  res = fetch(target)
  raise 'empty response' if res.nil? || res.body.to_s.length < 500
rescue StandardError => e
  print_error("PEASS download failed: #{e.message}; verify the URL serves the real file")
end

When it happens

Trigger: fetch(target) succeeds at HTTP level but returns a body < 500 bytes: a 404/403 HTML error page served with 200, an auth/captive-portal page, a truncated response, or an empty proxy response.

Common situations: Hosting linpeas.sh on a web server that returns a login redirect or 404 page with status 200; a proxy/firewall injecting a block page; GitHub rate limiting; uploading a placeholder file to a local web server; TLS-intercepting appliance returning a notice page.

Related errors

• Neither curl nor wget were found in victim, unset the SRVHOS
• Invalid URL, too many HTTP redirects
• openssl not found on victim, unset the password of the modul
• base64 not found on victim, set a 32B length password!
• Invalid URL

AI-assisted analysis of peass-ng/PEASS-ng@53fb989abc (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7933fa75c0ae1624. Report an issue: GitHub.