Book Image

Hands-On Penetration Testing on Windows

By : Phil Bramwell
Book Image

Hands-On Penetration Testing on Windows

By: Phil Bramwell

Overview of this book

Windows has always been the go-to platform for users around the globe to perform administration and ad hoc tasks, in settings that range from small offices to global enterprises, and this massive footprint makes securing Windows a unique challenge. This book will enable you to distinguish yourself to your clients. In this book, you'll learn advanced techniques to attack Windows environments from the indispensable toolkit that is Kali Linux. We'll work through core network hacking concepts and advanced Windows exploitation techniques, such as stack and heap overflows, precision heap spraying, and kernel exploitation, using coding principles that allow you to leverage powerful Python scripts and shellcode. We'll wrap up with post-exploitation strategies that enable you to go deeper and keep your access. Finally, we'll introduce kernel hacking fundamentals and fuzzing testing, so you can discover vulnerabilities and write custom exploits. By the end of this book, you'll be well-versed in identifying vulnerabilities within the Windows OS and developing the desired solutions for them.
Table of Contents (25 chapters)
Title Page
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

Summary


In this chapter, we revisited shellcoding concepts to demonstrate a unique take on buffer overflows called heap spraying. As a part of this exercise, we walked through coding a JavaScript-based web page that preps the target's memory with our payload before tricking the user into triggering the exploit. In order to understand the attack (as well as enhance our exploit research and development skills), we learned how to debug Windows applications and examine the state of memory and registers in real time. After this lab, we took a brief dive into the theory of Metasploit's shellcode generation and understood the function and role of encoders. We explored Windows executable payloads with a quick and easy disassembler within Kali, and grepped for byte sequences to learn how to identify patterns in encoded shellcode. Finally, we explored patching legitimate executables to make them effective Trojans using our own payload. A part of this process was a review of the injection points with...