Exploiting and Pivoting Flashcards
Alice discovers a rating that her vulnerability scanner lists as 9.3 out of 10 on its severity scale. The service that is identified runs on TCP 445. What type of exploit is Alice most likely to use on this service?
A. SQL injection
B. SMB exploit
C. CGI exploit
D. MIB exploit
Answer:
B. TCP 445 is a service port typically associated with SMB services.
Matt wants to pivot from a Linux host to other hosts in the network but is unable to install additional tools beyond those found on a typical Linux server. How can he leverage the system he is on to allow vulnerability scans of those remote hosts if they are firewalled against inbound connections and protected from direct access from his penetration testing workstation?
A. SSH tunneling
B. Netcat port forwarding
C. Enable IPv6
D. Modify browser plug‐ins
Answer:
A. Matt can safely assume that almost any modern Linux system will have SSH, making SSH tunneling a legitimate option. If he connects outbound from the compromised system to his and creates a tunnel allowing traffic in, he can use his own vulnerability scanner through the tunnel to access the remote systems.
After gaining access to a Windows system, Fred uses the following command: SchTasks /create /SC Weekly /TN “Antivirus” /TR “C:\Users\SSmith\av.exe” /ST 09:00
What has he accomplished?
A. He has set up a weekly antivirus scan.
B. He has set up a job called “weekly.”
C. He has scheduled his own executable to run weekly.
D. Nothing; this command will only run on Linux.
Answer:
C. Fred has used the scheduled tasks tool to set up a weekly run of av.exe from a user directory at 9 a.m. It is fair to assume in this example that Fred has gained access to SSmith’s user directory and has placed his own av.exe file there and is attempting to make it look innocuous if administrators find it.
After gaining access to a Linux system through a vulnerable service, Cassandra wants to list all of the user accounts on the system and their home directories. Which of the following locations will provide this list?
A. /etc/shadow
B. /etc/passwd
C. /var/usr
D. /home
Answer:
B. On most Linux systems, the /etc/passwd file will contain a list of users as well as their home directories. Capturing both /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow are important for password cracking, making both desirable targets for penetration testers.
A few days after exploiting a target with the Metasploit Meterpreter payload, Robert loses access to the remote host. A vulnerability scan shows that the vulnerability that he used to exploit the system originally is still open. What has most likely happened?
A. A malware scan discovered Meterpreter and removed it.
B. The system was patched.
C. The system was rebooted.
D. Meterpreter crashed.
Answer:
C. Meterpreter is a memory‐resident tool that injects itself into another process. The most likely answer is that the system was rebooted, thus removing the memory‐resident Meterpreter process. Robert can simply repeat his exploit to regain access, but he may want to take additional steps to ensure continued access.
Angela wants to exfiltrate data from a Windows system she has gained access to during a penetration test. Which of the following exfiltration techniques is least likely to be detected?
A. Send it via outbound HTTP as plaintext to a system she controls.
B. Hash the data, then send the hash via outbound HTTPS.
C. Use PowerShell to base64‐encode the data, then post to a public HTTPS‐accessible code repository.
D. Use PowerShell to base64‐encode the data, then use an SSH tunnel to transfer the data to a system she controls.
Answer:
C. Encoding data will make it less likely that intrusion prevent and data loss prevention systems will identify acquired data, meaning that encoding is a useful technique. Sending the data to a public repository like GitHub is less likely to look unusual than an internal system opening a SSH tunnel to a previously unknown system. Sending via HTTP instead of HTTPS will make inspection of the outbound, unencoded data trivial for defenders, and hashing the data will not leave it in a recoverable state when it arrives.
Ian’s penetration test rules of engagement specify that he cannot add tools to the systems he compromises in a specific target environment. What techniques will he have to use to meet this requirement?
A. Compromise using a fileless malware package, then cover his tracks and clean up any files he uses.
B. Compromise using a known exploit and dropper from Metasploit, then use living‐off‐the‐land techniques.
C. Compromise using a fileless malware package, then use living‐off‐the‐land techniques.
D. Compromise using a known exploit and dropper from Metasploit, then clean up the dropped files and only use system utilities for further work.
Answer:
C. A combination of fileless malware and living‐off‐the‐land techniques that use native tools and utilities will help Ian to ensure that he meets the rules of engagement of the penetration test he is conducting. Even cleaning up files will violate those rules, meaning that Ian should not add tools even if he is confident in his ability to clean them up after he is done. A Metasploit dropper leaves files behind, which means both answers that use this do not meet the requirements.
Tina has acquired a list of valid user accounts but does not have passwords for them. If she has not found any vulnerabilities but believes that the organization she is targeting has poor password practices, what type of attack can she use to try to gain access to a target system where those usernames are likely valid?
A. Rainbow tables
B. Dictionary attacks
C. Thesaurus attacks
D. Meterpreter
Answer:
B. Tina may want to try a brute‐force dictionary attack to test for weak passwords. She should build a custom dictionary for her target organization, and she may want to do some social engineering work or social media assessment up front to help her identify any common password selection behaviors that members of the organization tend to display.
What built‐in Windows server administration tool can allow command‐line PowerShell access from other systems?
A. VNC
B. PowerSSHell
C. PSRemote
D. RDP
Answer:
C. PSRemote, or PowerShell Remote, provides command‐line access from remote systems. Once you have established a remote trust relationship using valid credentials, you can use PowerShell commands for a variety of exploit and information gathering activities, including use of dedicated PowerShell exploit tools.
John wants to retain access to a Linux system. Which of the following is not a common method of maintaining persistence on Linux servers?
A. Scheduled tasks
B. Cron jobs
C. Trojaned services
D. Modified daemons
Answer:
A. The Windows task schedule is used for scheduled tasks. On Linux, cron jobs are set to start applications and other events on time. Other common means of creating persistent access to Linux systems include modifying system daemons, replacing services with Trojaned versions, or even simply creating user accounts for later use.
Cameron runs the following command via an administrative shell on a Windows system he has compromised. What has he accomplished?
$command = ‘cmd /c powershell.exe -c Set-WSManQuickConfig
-Force;Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Service\Auth\Basic -Value $True;Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Service\AllowUnencryed
-Value $True;Register-PSSessionConfiguration -Name Microsoft.PowerShell -Force’
A. He has enabled PowerShell for local users.
B. He has set up PSRemoting.
C. He has disabled remote command‐line access.
D. He has set up WSMan.
Answer:
B. Cameron has enabled PowerShell remote access, known as PSRemoting, and has configured it to allow unencrypted sessions using basic auth. This configuration should worry any Windows administrator who finds it!
Mike discovers a number of information exposure vulnerabilities while preparing for the exploit phase of a penetration test. If he has not been able to identify user or service information beyond vulnerability details, what priority should he place on exploiting them?
A. High priority; exploit early.
B. Medium priority; exploit after other system and service exploits have been attempted.
C. Low priority; only exploit if time permits.
D. Do not exploit; information exposure exploits are not worth conducting.
Answer:
A. Although it may seem odd, exploiting information gathering exploits early can help provide useful information for other exploits. In addition, most information gathering exploits leave very little evidence and can provide information on service configurations and user accounts, making them a very useful tool in a situation like the scenario described.
Annie is using a collection of leaked passwords to attempt to log in to multiple user accounts belonging to staff of the company she is penetration testing. The tool she is using attempts to log into each account using a single password, then moves on to the next password, recording failures and successes. What type of attack is Annie conducting?
A. A firehose attack
B. Password spraying
C. Pass the hash
D. A cloned password attack
Answer:
B. Annie is using a password spraying attack, which uses the same password against a variety of accounts, then tries the next password in a series, continuing through each password in its list for all the targeted accounts. Firehose and cloned password attacks were made up for this question, and pass‐the‐hash attacks use captured hashes to attempt to use existing sessions.
Jacob wants to capture user hashes on a Windows network. Which tool could he select to gather these from broadcast messages?
A. Metasploit
B. Responder
C. Impacket
D. Wireshark
Answer:
C. Metasploit’s SMB capture mode, Responder, and Wireshark can all capture SMB hashes from broadcasts. Impacket doesn’t build this capability in but provides a wide range of related tools, including the ability to authenticate with hashes once you have captured them. If you’re wondering about encountering this type of question on the exam, remember to eliminate the answers you are sure of to reduce the number of remaining options. Here, you can likely guess that Metasploit has a module for this, and Wireshark is a packet capture tool, so capturing broadcast traffic may require work but would be possible. Now you’re down to a 50/50 chance!
Madhuri has been asked to run BloodHound as part of her penetration testing efforts. What will she be able to do with the tool?
A. Visualize Active Directory environments.
B. Capture encrypted network traffic.
C. Visualize network traffic flows.
D. Find encrypted files in network share drives.
Answer:
A. BloodHound ingests Active Directory forest or tree data and displays, allowing penetration testers to visualize the data and analyze it by looking for elements like privileged accounts. It does not capture encrypted network traffic, visualize network flows, or search for encrypted files on shared drives.
