Book Image

Learn Kali Linux 2019

By : Glen D. Singh
Book Image

Learn Kali Linux 2019

By: Glen D. Singh

Overview of this book

The current rise in hacking and security breaches makes it more important than ever to effectively pentest your environment, ensuring endpoint protection. This book will take you through the latest version of Kali Linux and help you use various tools and techniques to efficiently deal with crucial security aspects. Through real-world examples, you’ll understand how to set up a lab and later explore core penetration testing concepts. Throughout the course of this book, you’ll get up to speed with gathering sensitive information and even discover different vulnerability assessment tools bundled in Kali Linux 2019. In later chapters, you’ll gain insights into concepts such as social engineering, attacking wireless networks, exploitation of web applications and remote access connections to further build on your pentesting skills. You’ll also focus on techniques such as bypassing controls, attacking the end user and maintaining persistence access through social media. Finally, this pentesting book covers best practices for performing complex penetration testing techniques in a highly secured environment. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to use Kali Linux to detect vulnerabilities and secure your system by applying penetration testing techniques of varying complexity.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1: Kali Linux Basics
6
Section 2: Reconnaissance
9
Section 3: Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing with Kali Linux 2019

Exploiting LFI vulnerabilities

Servers that are vulnerable to LFI security flaws allow an attacker to display the content of files through the URL within a web browser. In an LFI attack, the penetration tester can read the content of any file from within its directory using either ../ or /.

To get started, let's head back over to the Damn Vulnerable Web Application (DVWA) web interface within OWASP BWA:

  1. On the DVWA web interface, on the left-hand side menu, click on File Inclusion:
  1. By repeating ../ a few times and inserting the directory of the passwd file, we are able to view the content of the passwd file on the target web server:

This type of attack tests a system for directory transversal vulnerabilities. Directory transversal allows an attacker to access restricted locations and files, as well as execute commands on a target web server. This attacker can manipulate...