The big happy family of Metasploit modules designed to turn your foothold into total compromise is called post modules. There are a few types of post module, but two primary subfamilies: gather and manage. First, let's draw a distinction between the post manage and post gather modules:
- The post manage modules are what I like to call compromise management tools. In other words, they allow us to manage the compromise we've accomplished, mainly by modifying features of the host.
- The post gather modules are just what they sound like: they allow us to gather information from the target that will inform further compromise. Pushing past the initial foothold will require more information; a full penetration of the target network is an iterative process. Don't expect to only do recon and footprinting once, at the beginning of the assessment – you'll be doing it again at your foothold.
We don't have enough room to dive into all of the post modules, but...