Preface

For more than a decade or so, the use of technology has been rising exponentially. Almost all of the businesses are partially or completely dependent on the use of technology. From bitcoins to cloud to Internet-of-Things (IoT), new technologies are popping up each day. While these technologies completely change the way we do things, they also bring along threats with them. Attackers discover new and innovative ways to manipulate these technologies for fun and profit! This is a matter of concern to thousands of organizations and businesses around the world. Organizations worldwide are deeply concerned about keeping their data safe. Protecting data is certainly important, however, testing whether adequate protection mechanisms have been put to work is also equally important. Protection mechanisms can fail, hence testing them before someone exploits them for real is a challenging task. Having said this, vulnerability assessment and penetration testing have gained high importance and is now trivially included in all compliance programs. With the vulnerability assessment and penetration testing done in a right way, organizations can ensure that they have put in the right security controls, and they are functioning as expected! For many, the process of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing may look easy just by running an automated scanner and generating a long report with false positives. However, in reality, this process is not just about running tools but a complete lifecycle. Fortunately, the Metasploit Framework can be plugged-in in almost each phase of the penetration testing lifecycle making complex tasks easier. This book will take you through some of the absolute basics of the Metasploit Framework to the advanced and sophisticated features that the framework has to offer!

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to Metasploit and Supporting Tools, introduces the reader to concepts such as vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. Then, the reader would understand the need for a penetration testing framework along with a brief introduction to the Metasploit Framework. Moving ahead, the chapter explains how the Metasploit Framework can be effectively used across all stages of the penetration testing lifecycle along with some supporting tools that extend the Metasploit Framework's capability.

Chapter 2, Setting up Your Environment, essentially guides on setting up the environment for the Metasploit Framework. This includes setting up the Kali Linux virtual machine, independently installing the Metasploit Framework on various platforms, such as Windows and Linux, and setting up exploitable or vulnerable targets in the virtual environment.

Chapter 3, Metasploit Components and Environment Configuration, covers the structure and anatomy of the Metasploit Framework followed by the introduction to various Metasploit components. This chapter also covers the local and global variable configuration along with procedure to keep the Metasploit Framework updated.

Chapter 4, Information Gathering with Metasploit, lays the foundation for information gathering and enumeration with the Metasploit Framework. It covers information gathering and enumeration for various protocols such as TCP, UDP, FTP, SMB, HTTP, SSH, DNS, and RDP. It also covers extended usage of the Metasploit Framework for password sniffing along with the advanced search for vulnerable systems using Shodan integration.

Chapter 5, Vulnerability Hunting with Metasploit, starts with instructions on setting up the Metasploit database. Then, it provides insights on vulnerability scanning and exploiting using NMAP, Nessus and the Metasploit Framework concluding with post-exploitation capabilities of the Metasploit Framework.

Chapter 6, Client-side Attacks with Metasploit, introduces key terminology related to client-side attacks. It then covers the usage of the msfvenom utility to generate custom payloads along with the Social Engineering Toolkit. The chapter concludes with advanced browser-based attacks using the browser_autopwn auxiliary module.

Chapter 7, Web Application Scanning with Metasploit, covers the procedure of setting up a vulnerable web application. It then covers the wmap module within the Metasploit Framework for web application vulnerability scanning and concludes with some additional Metasploit auxiliary modules that can be useful in web application security assessment.

Chapter 8, Antivirus Evasion and Anti-Forensics, covers the various techniques to avoid payload getting detected by various antivirus programs. These techniques include the use of encoders, binary packages, and encryptors. The chapter also introduces various concepts for testing the payloads and then concludes with various anti-forensic features of the Metasploit Framework.

Chapter 9, Cyber Attack Management with Armitage, introduces a cyberattack management tool “Armitage” that can be effectively used along with the Metasploit framework for performing complex penetration testing tasks. This chapter covers the various aspects of the Armitage tool, including opening the console, performing scanning and enumeration, finding suitable attacks, and exploiting the target.

Chapter 10, Extending Metasploit & Exploit Development, introduces the various exploit development concepts followed by how the Metasploit Framework could be extended by adding external exploits. The chapter concludes by briefing about the Metasploit exploit templates and mixins that can be readily utilized for custom exploit development.

What you need for this book

In order to run the exercises in this book, the following software is recommended:

• Metasploit Framework
• PostgreSQL
• VMWare or Virtual Box
• Kali Linux
• Nessus
• 7-Zip
• NMAP
• W3af
• Armitage
• Windows XP
• Adobe Acrobat Reader

Who this book is for

This book is for all those who have a keen interest in computer security especially in the area of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing and specifically want to develop practical skills in using the Metasploit Framework.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: Code words in text are shown as follows: "Type msfconsole and hit Enter. "

A block of code is set as follows:

#include <stdio.h>

void AdminFunction()
 { 
    printf("Congratulations!\n");
    printf("You have entered in the Admin function!\n");
 }

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

wget http://downloads.metasploit.com/data/releases/metasploit-latest-linux-installer.run

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes, for example, appear in the text like this: "Click on Forward to proceed with the installation."

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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