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

Maintaining access with PowerSploit


The PowerSploit framework is a real treat for the post-exploitation phase. The framework consists of a goodie bag full of PowerShell scripts that do various bits of magic. A full exploration of PowerSploit is an exercise I leave to you, dear reader; for now, we're checking out the persistence module.

Let's understand the module concept first. Modules are essentially collections of PowerShell scripts that together form a cohesive theme or type of task. You can group tools together in a folder, dump that into the module path, and then import the group as needed. A well-written module integrates seamlessly with all of what makes PowerShell special. In particular, Get-Help works as expected with the scripts. Yes, you can Get-Help these malicious scripts to understand exactly how to use them. Let's try it out.

Installing the persistence module in PowerShell

If you're using Kali Linux 2018.2, you'll notice that PowerSploit is already present. We're not going to...