Remote work is the main trend of this year. It suddenly turned out that many things can be done more efficiently from home than sitting in the office. In my humble opinion, such a standard operation as OS reinstallation can be performed remotely as…
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Holes in the hole. Vulnerabilities in Pi-hole allow to seize…
Three severe vulnerabilities have been recently discovered in Pi-hole, a popular app that blocks advertisement and unwanted scripts. Two of these vulnerabilities result in remote command execution, while the third one allows to escalate your privileges to root. Let’s examine the origin of these bugs and concurrently find…
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Ultimate guide to Metasploit: how to use the renowned pentesting…
As you are likely aware, Metasploit is the most acclaimed exploitation and post-exploitation framework in the world. Even if you don’t use it, you had definitely encountered numerous references to Metasploit in our materials. In this article, I will give a brief overview of this framework,…
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Ultimate guide to PowerShell Empire: from installation to persistence in…
Empire is a popular post-exploitation tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS. This article addresses all key aspects of this framework, including its most frequently used functions. Even if you are a seasoned pentester, you will likely find something new and useful in this material.
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Useless Crap? No, not nearly! Advance your binary exploitation skills…
PWN challenges are my favorite tasks at CTF contests. Such tasks effectively train you in real-life code analysis, while their write-ups usually describe all fine details, even those already addressed by other authors. Today, I will explain how to solve…
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Spying penguin. Windows post-exploitation with a Linux-based VM
Windows-based systems are significantly more resistant against MITM attacks in comparison with Linux-based ones. The reason is simple: Windows does not include a handy mechanism to forward transit packets. Today, I will explain how to use a minimalist Linux system running on a virtual machine…
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Android SSL Pinning
Introduction Modern requirements to mobile data processing apps designed for work with personal and financial data include secure data transfer over the Internet. SSL pinning is a mechanism used to satisfy this requirement: it enables the user…
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Seizing subdomains. How I took over Microsoft subdomains and how…
A few years ago, I managed to take over subdomains on Microsoft websites and got access to the mail and files of Outlook and OneDrive users, as well as user profile data on Xbox.com. Today, I am…
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Stratosphere flight. How to crack Struts using an Action app…
Today, I will show how to conquer the stratosphere - i.e. gain root access on the Stratosphere VM available on [Hack The Box](https://www.hackthebox.eu/) CTF grounds. To capture the root flag, I will have to overcome the Apache…
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The PWN realm. Modern techniques for stack overflow exploitation
The buffer overflow vulnerability is an extremely popular topic on hackers' forums. In this article, I will provide a universal and practically-oriented 'introduction' for enthusiasts studying the basics of low-level exploitation. Using stack overflow as an example,…
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Python reverse shell. How to boost your networking capacity with…
In this article, I will show how Python scripts can be used to transmit messages between two computers connected to the web. You may need to perform such an operation while developing an app, pentesting a corporate…
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Hack in one click. Comparing automated vulnerability scanners
Searches for vulnerabilities require special knowledge, extensive experience, and a sixth sense. But what about novice security researchers? They have no experience and cannot gain it because don't know where to start from. This is where automated…
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Compressed Token Format (CTF). One-time passwords, LDAP injections, and tricks…
Today, I will explain how to hack the CTF virtual machine available on [Hack The Box](https://www.hackthebox.eu/) training grounds. For the purposes of this article, the abbreviation "CTF" refers to Compressed Token Format, not Capture the Flag. This…
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Ghostcat. How to exploit a new RCE vulnerability in Apache…
This article addresses a vulnerability in Apache Tomcat that enables the attacker to read files on the server and, under certain conditions, execute arbitrary code. The problem lies in the implementation of the AJP protocol used to…
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Conquering the web. Application instruction for OWASP Testing Guide v4
Web security is a very broad term. It includes bugs in old protocols, usage of dangerous techniques, trivial human errors made by developers, and more. It is difficult to test products in such a broad area without…
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Pentester’s suitcase: Identifying OS on remote host
As you are aware, any penetration test starts from information collection. You have to find out what operating system is running on the remote host, and only then you can start looking for vulnerabilities in it. This…
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DoS attacks on ModSecurity: Exploiting critical bug in popular WAF
A critical vulnerability resulting in a denial-of-service error has been recently discovered in ModSecurity, a popular web application firewall (WAF) for Apache, IIS, and Nginx. The bug is truly severe: not only does the library stop working,…
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Protecting MikroTik. How to make your router safe
Firmware of popular routers often contains errors identified by security researchers on a regular basis. However, it is not enough just to find a bug - it must be neutralized. Today, I will explain how to protect…
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The deplorable four. Testing free antiviruses: Huorong, Preventon, Zoner, and…
Today, I am going to battle-test four antivirus programs: a British one, a Chinese one (featuring an original engine), a Finnish one, and an exciting Czech project at the beta-version stage. All of them are free and…
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The weakest link. Phishing emails as a pentesting tool
Conventional wisdom holds that the most vulnerable component of any computer system is its user. Humans may be inattentive, unthoughtful, or misinformed and easily become victims of phishing attacks. Accordingly, this weak link must be tested for…
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