🛠️ Tools in the Field of Penetration Testing

Importance of Penetration Testing

Penetration testing, also known as pentesting (or colloquially as penetration testing), is an essential practice for evaluating the security of an IT system. It involves simulating real attacks to identify and fix vulnerabilities before actual malicious attackers exploit them.

To conduct a successful penetration test, it’s crucial to have the right tools. However, navigating the plethora of available tools can be overwhelming.

Don’t worry, in this article, we’ve listed all the essential tools for an effective pentest to best meet your needs. 🥳

Recap

But first, why are penetration tests important? 🤔

Quick recap:

Penetration tests allow you to:

• Identify vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Evaluate the resilience of systems against real attacks.
• Improve the overall security posture of the organization.
• Comply with security regulations and standards.
• Train security teams on the latest attack and defense techniques.

In short, everything necessary for good business management 😉

Tools or No Tools?

It is therefore important to remember that an effective and responsible penetration test is a balanced mix of manual tests coupled with automated tests.

More details on our methodology below 👇

Tools for Penetration Testing

The tools used for penetration testing can be classified into several categories: reconnaissance, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, and post-exploitation. Each of these categories contains specialized tools facilitating the pentest process.

To make reading easier, the context to consider here is an external web penetration test/pentest.

1. Reconnaissance tools

Reconnaissance and service mapping is the first step in a web penetration test.

It involves collecting information about the target, such as accessible services, accessible technologies, etc. Reconnaissance tools help pentesters gather valuable data that can be directly or indirectly useful for the penetration test.

Some examples of tools:

• Nmap: nmap is the network scanner par excellence, it allows identifying active hosts on a network, available services, and running software versions. Nmap is extremely flexible and can be used for complete reconnaissance of a particular target.

• Subfinder: subfinder is a passive subdomain discovery tool, optimized for speed and lightness. It uses passive sources to identify valid subdomains of a website. GitHub.

• Gau (GetAllUrls): gau quickly retrieves all possible URLs for a given domain from various sources such as Wayback Machine and Common Crawl. We use it to enhance our perimeter view. GitHub.

• TheHarvester: theHarvester is an information-gathering tool that retrieves emails, names, subdomains, IP addresses, and banners from public sources such as search engines and PGP databases. Truly excellent! GitHub.

• Wafw00f: wafw00f detects and identifies web application firewalls (WAF) by sending HTTP requests and analyzing the responses to determine the security countermeasures deployed by the target site. GitHub.

• CORScanner: CORScanner checks the CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) configurations of websites to identify poorly configured policies that could allow cross-origin attacks. GitHub.

• Feroxbuster: feroxbuster is a brute force tool for web directories, allowing you to quickly discover hidden files and directories on a server by sending HTTP requests. Our little favorite at Trackflaw 🥰 GitHub.

2. Vulnerability scanning tools

These tools help identify security flaws in systems and applications. They automate much of the vulnerability detection process.

1. Burp Suite: Burp Suite is a comprehensive set of tools for testing the security of web applications. It allows for both manual and automated analyses to identify various vulnerabilities, such as SQL injections, XSS flaws, and more. It has a very powerful scanning module in its paid version. Website.

2. Nuclei: Nuclei is a fast and customizable vulnerability scanner based on simple YAML templates. It is extensible and easy to use, allowing for the detection, prioritization, and correction of security vulnerabilities. A must-have! 🥰 GitHub.

3. ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy): ZAP is a tool for attacking and detecting vulnerabilities in web applications. It offers a variety of features to automate security testing, including active scanning, passive analysis, and manual penetration testing. Often criticized (wrongly), the ZAP scan module is very effective compared to the BurpPro scanner. And all this for free! GitHub.

4. Nikto: Nikto is a somewhat outdated web server scanner and less efficient than its competitors. But it can sometimes yield good surprises GitHub.

5. {WP|Droope|Joom|Moodl}Scan: WPScan, Droopescan, Joomscan, and Moodlscan are security scanners for their respective CMS (you can easily guess each CMS I think 😉). Powerful and comprehensive, they are interesting to run during a specific audit. GitHub of WPScan for example.

6. testssl.sh: testssl.sh is a command-line tool for analyzing SSL/TLS configurations. Very practical! GitHub.

3. Exploitation tools

Once vulnerabilities are identified, exploitation tools allow verification of whether these flaws can be exploited to gain unauthorized access.

Some examples of the most well-known tools:

1. Metasploit: Metasploit is a modular penetration testing framework that allows for developing, testing, and executing exploits. It is widely used for detecting and exploiting vulnerabilities. GitHub.

2. SQLMap: SQLMap is an automated SQL injection tool that allows testing and exploiting SQL injections in web applications. It supports various databases and provides features for data extraction, bypassing WAFs, and more. GitHub.

3. SSRFmap: SSRFmap is a tool for exploiting Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerabilities, helping find and exploit SSRF vulnerabilities by automating attacks and providing advanced data exfiltration features. GitHub.

4. NoSQLMap: NoSQLMap is a tool used to test and exploit NoSQL databases. It supports several types of NoSQL databases and offers features for NoSQL injections, detection of injections, and other attacks specific to NoSQL databases. GitHub.

5. SearchSploit: SearchSploit is a command-line utility for searching exploits in the Exploit-DB database. It allows pentesters to quickly access public exploits without needing a constant internet connection. GitHub.

4. Post-exploitation Tools

Finally, post-exploitation tools are used after gaining initial access to maintain persistent access and further explore the compromised system.

A small non-exhaustive list:

1. Weevely: Weevely is a web shell designed for post-exploitation. It offers over 30 modules to assist with administrative tasks, maintain access, provide situational awareness, elevate privileges, and spread within the target network. GitHub.

2. Cobalt Strike: Cobalt Strike is a commercial post-exploitation tool used to assess the resilience of systems against advanced persistent threats (APT). It allows for simulating real attacks, controlling compromised systems, and conducting reconnaissance and exploitation activities. Official site.

3. Sliver: Sliver is an open-source command and control (C2) framework. It offers a variety of features for executing commands, managing sessions, and handling payloads. GitHub.

4. Havoc: Havoc is a modern red teaming and post-exploitation framework allowing simulation of advanced attacks against networks and systems. It offers an intuitive user interface and easy integration with various security tools. GitHub.

5. Mythic: Mythic is a flexible and extensible C2 framework used for penetration testing and red teaming operations. It allows managing multiple agents, creating custom payloads, and controlling compromised systems via a web interface. GitHub.

Our Advice

Phew 🥵! So much information!

But don’t leave yet; we still have some tips for you 👇

Optimizing Your Penetration Test

Some (not so trivial!) tips for conducting and optimizing your penetration test:

1. Planning and Preparation: Before starting a penetration test, make sure to plan and define the objectives well. This includes identifying targets and obtaining the necessary permissions.

2. Correlate Tools: Using a combination of tools to increase your audit’s comprehensiveness can be an excellent solution. For example, combine Nmap NSE scripts with Nuclei templates while using the right Metasploit auxiliary modules.

3. Regular Tool Updates: Penetration testing tools should be updated regularly to ensure they can detect and exploit the latest vulnerabilities. That’s why we recommend using Exegol (more details later in the article).

4. Detailed Reports: A detailed report of the penetration test results is essential. It should include identified vulnerabilities, proof of concepts, and recommendations for fixing security flaws.

5. Continuous Training: Auditors should continuously train and stay informed about the latest security techniques and tools. Participating in conferences, workshops, and online training can be beneficial.

Using the right tools and following best practices, penetration tests can significantly improve your organization’s security. 🎯

Going Further

As mentioned earlier, there is a much more practical solution than traditional pentesting operating systems like KaliLinux or BlackArch: Exegol.

A small excerpt from the documentation:

Exegol is a powerful, yet simple-to-use, community-driven hacking environment for anyone to use in their daily activities.

Exegol is the best solution for deploying powerful pentesting environments safely, easily, and professionally. No more unstable, insecure systems lacking major offensive tools. Kali Linux (and similar alternatives) are excellent toolboxes for learners, students, and junior pentesters. But professionals have different needs, and their context requires an entirely new design.

And to learn more, a dedicated video is available on Trackflaw’s YouTube channel: 👇

Conclusion

A lot of information… But only the essentials! 😅

Penetration tests are an essential component of any organization’s security strategy.

Using a combination of reconnaissance, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, and post-exploitation tools, pentesters can identify and fix security flaws before they are exploited by malicious attackers.

Trackflaw is available to help you in this endeavor. Contact us: https://trackflaw.com/commande/