Book Image

Kali Linux Cookbook - Second Edition

By : Corey P. Schultz, Bob Perciaccante
Book Image

Kali Linux Cookbook - Second Edition

By: Corey P. Schultz, Bob Perciaccante

Overview of this book

Kali Linux is a Linux distribution designed for penetration testing and security auditing. It is the successor to BackTrack, the world’s most popular penetration testing distribution. Kali Linux is the most widely used platform and toolkit for penetration testing. Security is currently the hottest field in technology with a projected need for millions of security professionals. This book focuses on enhancing your knowledge in Kali Linux for security by expanding your skills with toolkits and frameworks that can increase your value as a security professional. Kali Linux Cookbook, Second Edition starts by helping you install Kali Linux on different options available. You will also be able to understand the lab architecture and install a Windows host for use in the lab. Next, you will understand the concept of vulnerability analysis and look at the different types of exploits. The book will introduce you to the concept and psychology of Social Engineering and password cracking. You will then be able to use these skills to expand the scope of any breaches you create. Finally, the book will guide you in exploiting specific technologies and gaining access to other systems in the environment. By the end of this book, you will have gained the core knowledge and concepts of the penetration testing process.

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Table of Contents (11 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What this book covers
What you need for this book
Who this book is for
Sections
Conventions
Readers feedback
Customer support
Free Chapter
1
Installing Kali and the Lab Setup
Installing Kali and the Lab Setup
Introduction
Lab architecture and considerations
Installing VirtualBox
Installing Kali on VirtualBox
Using Kali Linux from bootable media
Upgrading Kali Linux
Understanding the advanced customization and optimization of Kali
Installing Windows machines
Installing Metasploitable
Installing OWASP-BWA
Understanding hack me and other online resources
2
Reconnaissance and Scanning
Reconnaissance and Scanning
Introduction
Using KeepNote to organize our data
Getting up and running with Maltego CE
Gathering domain information
Gathering public IP information
Gathering external routing information
Gathering internal routing information
Gathering cloud service information
Identifying network hosts
Profiling hosts
Identifying whether there is a web application firewall
Using SNMP to gather more information
3
Vulnerability Analysis
Vulnerability Analysis
Introduction
Installation and configuration of OpenVAS
A basic vulnerability scanning with OpenVAS
Advanced vulnerability scanning with OpenVAS
Installation and Configuration of Nessus
A basic vulnerability scanning with Nessus
Advanced vulnerability scanning with Nessus
The installation and configuration of Nexpose
Basic vulnerability scanning with Nexpose
Advanced vulnerability scanning with Nexpose
4
Finding Exploits in the Target
Finding Exploits in the Target
Introduction
Searching the local exploit database
Searching the online exploit database
The Metasploit setup and configuration
The Armitage setup
Basic exploit attacks with Armitage
Advanced attacks with Armitage
Using the backdoor factory and Armitage
5
Social Engineering
Social Engineering
Introduction
Phishing attacks
Spear-phishing attacks
Credential harvesting with SET
Web jacking
PowerShell attack vector
QRCode attack vector
Infectious media generator
Obfuscating and manipulating URLs
DNS spoofing and ARP spoofing
DHCP spoofing
6
Password Cracking
Password Cracking
Introduction
Resetting local Windows machine password
Cracking remote Windows machine passwords
Windows domain password attacks
Cracking local Linux password hashes
Cracking password hashes with a wordlist
Brute force password hashes
Cracking FTP passwords
Cracking Telnet and SSH passwords
Cracking RDP and VNC passwords
Cracking ZIP file passwords
7
Privilege Escalation
Privilege Escalation
Introduction
Establishing a connection as an elevated user
Remotely bypassing Windows UAC
Local Linux system check for privilege escalation
Local Linux privilege escalation
Remote Linux privilege escalation
DirtyCOW privilege escalation for Linux
8
Wireless Specific Recipes
Wireless Specific Recipes
Introduction
Scanning for wireless networks
Bypassing MAC-based authentication
Breaking WEP encryption
Obtaining WPA/WPA2 keys
Exploiting guest access
Rogue AP deployment
Using wireless networks to scan internal networks
9
Web and Database Specific Recipes
Web and Database Specific Recipes
Introduction
Creating an offline copy of a web application
Scanning for vulnerabilities
Launching website attacks
Scanning WordPress
Hacking WordPress
Performing SQL injection attacks
10
Maintaining Access
Maintaining Access
Introduction
Pivoting and expanding access to the network
Using persistence to maintain system access
Using cymothoa to create a Linux backdoor
Protocol spoofing using pingtunnel
Protocol spoofing using httptunnel
Hiding communications with cryptcat

Using Kali Linux from bootable media

As you will see in the pages that follow, there are a tremendous number of uses for Kali Linux, and for these uses, it is not always practical to dedicate a device to one particular use case, as this would be a tremendous waste of resources. To address this, you can use the Kali Linux installation ISO downloaded in the previous section as a live CD as well; or you can maintain persistence with a live USB drive with persistence (with or without Linux Unified Key Setup encryption).

We will show you how to create the Live USB (no persistence, no history maintained).

Additional options such as live USB with persistence, live USB with encrypted persistence, and custom rolled Kali Linux ISO (which can be incorporated into the bootable USB options) can be found on the Kali Linux documentation wiki at http://docs.kali.org under the section called 02. Kali Linux Live.

Getting ready

In order to be able to complete this section successfully, you will need the following:

  • USB Drive (8 GB or larger)
  • USB disk imager (Win32DiskImager)

How to do it...

Let's begin the process of creating a bootable Kali Linux USB device:

  1. Starting with the Kali Linux ISO file we downloaded in the earlier recipe, installing VirtualBox, we will use Win32DiskImager (https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/) to create a bootable USB using the ISO. Download and install Win32DiskImager.
  2. Once installed, launch Win32DiskImager.
In order to format the USB drive and to write the raw image, Win32DiskImager needs admin permissions to run. You will need to give permission for it to run when the user access control dialog is presented.
  1. Win32DiskImager will use IMG files, but we will tell it to use an ISO file as the source. From the application screen, click on the File Open button, and when presented with the File Open box, change the file filter to *.* in the lower right, and navigate to the Kali Linux ISO file.
  2. Select the drive letter of your USB device, and click on Write:
FW32 DiskImager example
  1. Once the image has been written to the USB drive, you will be able to boot from this device on machines that support the USB bootable media. In this configuration, you now have a bootable USB drive that will from which the Kali Linux operating system will boot, as if it were installed onto the local disk. Across reboots, you will lose any documents you may have created. If you choose it, you can create an additional partition on the USB drive that will be persistent, and keep files and documents you may wish to keep. The step-by-step instructions on how to extend this functionality can be found on the Kali Linux documentation wiki at http://docs.kali.org under 02. Kali Linux Live.
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