Linux TTY Shell Cheat Sheet

Introduction

During a penetration test, when obtaining access to a remote Linux host via a reverse/bind shell, it can be very painful to issue certain commands over it and it is often a much better option to obtain an interactive shell. These are the main reason why this is a good idea:

More shell stability, as things like CTRL+C will no longer close down the connection.
Ability to use up, down, left, and right arrows to navigate through and modify commands.
Ability to use applications or commands that use a login prompt such as Sudo, MySQL, SSH, etc.
Ability to use tab-auto completion in commands.
Ability to view commands, output, and file contents in the same terminal size as the host machine.

This article will list the various commands that can be used to obtain a TTY shell and also how to turn it into a fully interactive shell.

May 13, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Cheat Sheets, Resources

Nmap Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Nmap is a free and open-source network scanner that is often used during penetration tests to discover hosts and services on a computer network by sending packets and analyzing the responses.

The tool provides a number of features top help identifying services and their versions, testing for known vulnerabilities, bruteforcing credentials, detecting operating system information and much more.

March 13, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Cheat Sheets, Resources

Penetration Testing Interview Questions Cheat Sheet

Introduction

When interviewing for a penetration testing job, you will most probably be required to answer a number of technical questions so that the interviewer can get a good understanding of your current level of knowledge and skill.

This guide will try to cover the most common questions that you are likely to come across during a pentesting interview. If you are already a penetration tester or have been studying pentesting for a while, most of these concepts and techniques should already be very familiar to you.

March 5, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | 4 Comments

Cheat Sheets, Resources

Shell File Transfer Cheat Sheet

Introduction

When performing enumeration steps during a penetration test, there is often the need to transfer files to or from the victim machine, for example to run custom scripts or analyze files further in a controlled environment.

There are different techniques and tools that can be used to transfer files and depending on the target operating system and installed software these may or may not work. The purpose of this cheat sheet is to provide an exhaustive resource for transferring files using command-line interfaces.

February 5, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Cheat Sheets, Resources

Tmux Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Tmux is an open-source terminal multiplexer for Unix-like operating systems. It allows multiple terminal sessions to be accessed simultaneously in a single window.

It is useful for running more than one command-line program at the same time. It can also be used to detach processes, allowing remote sessions to remain active without being visible.

January 26, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Cheat Sheets, Resources

Netcat Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Netcat is a networking tool used to send and receive data over a TCP/UDP network connection. It is often referred to as a networking Swiss army knife as it can be used to carry out various task.

In penetration testing, Netcat is often used to establish a reverse/bind shell with a target machine, transfer files over a network or interact with certain services such as FTP or SMTP.

January 23, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Checklists, Resources

File Upload Restriction Bypass Checklist

Introduction

When enumerating web applications, we often find ourselves in front of a file upload file that allows us to potentially upload malicious files onto the application, such as a PHP or ASP shell, although these will often have certain restrictions that will only allow certain file types, extensions, file names or contents.

Through this checklist, I hope to cover most of the possible bypass methods that can be used to get past this restriction.

January 20, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | 2 Comments

Checklists, Resources

Windows Privilege Escalation Checklist

Introduction

Privilege escalation is a crucial step in the penetration testing lifecycle, through this checklist I intend to cover all the main vectors used in Windows privilege escalation, and some of my personal notes that I used in previous penetration tests.

January 18, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | Leave a comment

Checklists, Resources

Linux Privilege Escalation Checklist

Introduction

Privilege escalation is a crucial step in the penetration testing lifecycle, through this Checklist I intend to cover all the main vectors used in Linux privilege escalation, and some of my personal notes that I used in previous penetration tests.

January 15, 2021 | by Stefano Lanaro | 2 Comments