Preface

This book will teach you how to execute penetration testing from start to finish. Starting from the pre-engagement phase, you will learn threat modeling for the architecture phase. After that, you will engage in the source code review process. Following this, you will also learn how to execute web application and network infrastructure penetration testing, and finally, you'll discover how to automate all this using Python.

Who this book is for

This book is for security professionals and enthusiasts who want to deepen their knowledge of the web penetration testing world. Many topics will be covered in this book, but you will need the basics of ethical hacking before you start reading (many online courses out there will get you up to speed). If you're a professional, I'm betting that you will appreciate a lot the straight forward checklists that I will provide. In fact, I use them myself in my career as a penetration tester.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Building a Vulnerable Web Application Lab, will help us to get and install the vulnerable application Mutillidae using Windows and Linux. Also, we will have a quick tour of how to use this vulnerable web application.

Chapter 2, Kali Linux Installation, will explain how to download, install, and configure Kali Linux

Chapter 3, Delving Deep into the Usage of Kali Linux, will teach more about how to deal with Kali Linux from the Terminal window, and will help you to become a ninja in bash scripting as well.

Chapter 4, All About Using Burp Suite, covers what you need to know about Metasploit to fulfil the role of a web application security expert.

Chapter 5, Understanding Web Application Vulnerabilities, explains the attacks that can happen on a web application, and after finishing the chapter, you will be able to use these skills to manipulate your findings during pentests.

Chapter 6, Application Security Pre-Engagement, will explain how to sign all the necessary contracts before starting the tests. Also, you will learn how to estimate, scope, and schedule your tests before they start.

Chapter 7, Application Threat Modeling, will explains that ATM is a security architecture document that allows you to identify future threats and to pinpoint the different pentest activities that need to be executed in the future deployment of the web application project.

Chapter 8, Source Code Review, covers how to deal with the source code review process. The source code is the heart or engine of a web application, and it must be properly constructed from a security perspective.

Chapter 9, Network Penetration Testing, explains how to use Metasploit, Nmap, and OpenVAS together to conduct a network infrastructure vulnerability assessment.

Chapter 10, Web Intrusion Tests, will show how to look for web application based vulnerabilities (SQLi, XSS, and CSRF) using Burp. Also, the readers will learn how to take advantage of, get a remote shell, and probably elevate their privileges on the victim web server.

Chapter 11, Pentest Automation Using Python, explains how to automate everything that we have learned using the Python language for a more performant result.

Appendix A, Nmap Cheat Sheet, a list of the most common Nmap options.

Appendix B, Metasploit Cheat Sheet, provides a quick reference to the Metasploit framework.

Appendix C, Netcat Cheat Sheet, provides Netcat commands and a few popular practical examples.

Appendix D, Networking Reference Section, provides important information about networking, such as network subnets, port number, and its services.

Appendix E, Python Quick Reference, provides a quick overview of the amazing programming language—Python.

To get the most out of this book

To get the most out of this book you need to know the basics of ethical hacking and you will need to build a lab. You will need a virtual machine software (for example, VirtualBox or VMware) for the virtualization of the lab environment. To follow the examples, you will also need to install Kali Linux. Don't worry, I will discuss how to do it in Chapter 2, Kali Linux Installation. Kali Linux will be the attacker machine that we will use to test the security of the victim's machine. Speaking of the victim host, I encourage you to install a Windows 7 virtual machine where you will install a vulnerable web application called Mutillidae. Again, I will walk you through all the steps of building the vulnerable host in Chapter 1, Building a Vulnerable Web Application Lab. Finally, I will be using Burp Suite Professional Edition, but you can follow along with the free edition of this tool. That being said, all the tools that we are going to use for the security tests are already installed by default on Kali Linux.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

1. Log in or register at www.packtpub.com.
2. Select the SUPPORT tab.
3. Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
4. Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

• WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
• Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
• 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Practical-Web-Penetration-Testing. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/PracticalWebPenetrationTesting_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "The -y in the upgrade command will accept the prompts automatically."

A block of code is set as follows:

class ServiceDTO:
    # Class Constructor
    def __init__(self, port, name, description):
        self.description = description
        self.port = port
        self.name = name

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

meterpreter > getsystem

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Click on Continue, and your system will reboot."

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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Disclaimer

The information within this book is intended to be used only in an ethical manner. Do not use any information from the book if you do not have written permission from the owner of the equipment. If you perform illegal actions, you are likely to be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Packt Publishing does not take any responsibility if you misuse any of the information contained within the book. The information herein must only be used while testing environments with proper written authorizations from appropriate persons responsible.