Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux - Second Edition

Table of Contents

Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux Second Edition

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

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Why subscribe?

Free access for Packt account holders

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Downloading the example code

Downloading the color images of this book

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Introduction to Penetration Testing and Web Applications

Proactive security testing

Who is a hacker?

Different testing methodologies

Ethical hacking

Penetration testing

Vulnerability assessment

Security audits

Rules of engagement

Black box testing or Gray box testing

Client contact details

Client IT team notifications

Sensitive data handling

Status meeting

The limitations of penetration testing

The need for testing web applications

Social engineering attacks

Training employees to defeat social engineering attacks

A web application overview for penetration testers

HTTP protocol

Request and response header

The request header

The response header

Important HTTP methods for penetration testing

The GET/POST method

The HEAD method

The TRACE method

The PUT and DELETE methods

The OPTIONS method

Session tracking using cookies

Cookie

Cookie flow between server and client

Persistent and non-persistent cookies

Cookie parameters

HTML data in HTTP response

Multi-tier web application

Summary

2. Setting up Your Lab with Kali Linux

Kali Linux

Improvements in Kali Linux 2.0

Installing Kali Linux

USB mode

VMware and ARM images of Kali Linux

Kali Linux on Amazon cloud

Installing Kali Linux on a hard drive

Kali Linux-virtualizing versus installing on physical hardware

Important tools in Kali Linux

Web application proxies

Burp proxy

Customizing client interception

Modifying requests on the fly

Burp proxy with SSL-based websites

WebScarab and Zed Attack Proxy

ProxyStrike

Web vulnerability scanner

Nikto

Skipfish

Web Crawler – Dirbuster

OpenVAS

Database exploitation

CMS identification tools

Web application fuzzers

Using Tor for penetration testing

Steps to set up Tor and connect anonymously

Visualization of a web request through Tor

Final words for Tor

Summary

3. Reconnaissance and Profiling the Web Server

Reconnaissance

Passive reconnaissance versus active reconnaissance

Reconnaissance – information gathering

Domain registration details

Whois – extracting domain information

Identifying hosts using DNS

Zone transfer using dig

Brute force DNS records using Nmap

The Recon-ng tool – a framework for information gathering

Domain enumeration using recon-ng

Sub-level and top-level domain enumeration

Reporting modules

Scanning – probing the target

Port scanning using Nmap

Different options for port scan

Evading firewalls and IPS using Nmap

Spotting a firewall using back checksum option in Nmap

Identifying the operating system using Nmap

Profiling the server

Application version fingerprinting

The Nmap version scan

The Amap version scan

Fingerprinting the web application framework

The HTTP header

The Whatweb scanner

Identifying virtual hosts

Locating virtual hosts using search engines

The virtual host lookup module in Recon-ng

Identifying load balancers

Cookie-based load balancer

Other ways of identifying load balancers

Scanning web servers for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations

Identifying HTTP methods using Nmap

Testing web servers using auxiliary modules in Metasploit

Automating scanning using the WMAP web scanner plugin

Vulnerability scanning and graphical reports – the Skipfish web application scanner

Spidering web applications

The Burp spider

Application login

Summary

4. Major Flaws in Web Applications

Information leakage

Directory browsing

Directory browsing using DirBuster

Comments in HTML code

Mitigation

Authentication issues

Authentication protocols and flaws

Basic authentication

Digest authentication

Integrated authentication

Form-based authentication

Brute forcing credentials

Hydra – a brute force password cracker

Path traversal

Attacking path traversal using Burp proxy

Mitigation

Injection-based flaws

Command injection

SQL injection

Cross-site scripting

Attack potential of cross-site scripting attacks

Cross-site request forgery

Session-based flaws

Different ways to steal tokens

Brute forcing tokens

Sniffing tokens and man-in-the-middle attacks

Stealing session tokens using XSS attack

Session token sharing between application and browser

Tools to analyze tokens

Session fixation attack

Mitigation for session fixation

File inclusion vulnerability

Remote file include

Local file include

Mitigation for file inclusion attacks

HTTP parameter pollution

Mitigation

HTTP response splitting

Mitigation

Summary

5. Attacking the Server Using Injection-based Flaws

Command injection

Identifying parameters to inject data

Error-based and blind command injection

Metacharacters for command separator

Scanning for command injection

Creating a cookie file for authentication

Executing Wapiti

Exploiting command injection using Metasploit

PHP shell and Metasploit

Exploiting shellshock

Overview of shellshock

Scanning – dirb

Exploitation – Metasploit

SQL injection

SQL statements

The UNION operator

The SQL query example

Attack potential of the SQL injection flaw

Blind SQL injection

SQL injection testing methodology

Scanning for SQL injection

Information gathering

Sqlmap – automating exploitation

BBQSQL – the blind SQL injection framework

Sqlsus – MySQL injection

Sqlninja – MS SQL injection

Summary

6. Exploiting Clients Using XSS and CSRF Flaws

The origin of cross-site scripting

Introduction to JavaScript

An overview of cross-site scripting

Types of cross-site scripting

Persistent XSS

Reflected XSS

DOM-based XSS

Defence against DOM-based XSS

XSS using the POST Method

XSS and JavaScript – a deadly combination

Cookie stealing

Key logger

Website defacing

Scanning for XSS flaws

Zed Attack Proxy

Scoping and selecting modes

Modes of operation

Scan policy and attack

Xsser

Features

W3af

Plugins

Graphical interface

Cross-site request forgery

Attack dependencies

Attack methodology

Testing for CSRF flaws

CSRF mitigation techniques

Summary

7. Attacking SSL-based Websites

Secure socket layer

SSL in web applications

SSL encryption process

Asymmetric encryption versus symmetric encryption

Asymmetric encryption algorithms

Symmetric encryption algorithm

Hashing for message integrity

Identifying weak SSL implementations

OpenSSL command-line tool

SSLScan

SSLyze

Testing SSL configuration using Nmap

SSL man-in-the-middle attack

SSL MITM tools in Kali Linux

SSLsplit

SSLstrip

SSL stripping limitations

Summary

8. Exploiting the Client Using Attack Frameworks

Social engineering attacks

Social engineering toolkit

Spear-phishing attack

Website attack

Java applet attack

Credential harvester attack

Web jacking attack

Metasploit browser exploit

Tabnabbing attack

Browser exploitation framework

Introducing BeEF

BeEF hook injection

Browser reconnaissance

Exploit modules

Host information gathering

Persistence module

Network recon

Inter-protocol exploitation and communication

Exploiting the mutillidae XSS flaw using BeEF

Injecting the BeEF hook using MITM

Summary

9. AJAX and Web Services – Security Issues

Introduction to AJAX

Building blocks of AJAX

The AJAX workflow

AJAX security issues

Increase in attack surface

Exposed programming logic of the application

Insufficient access control

Challenges of pentesting AJAX applications

Crawling AJAX applications

AJAX crawling tool

Sprajax

AJAX spider – OWASP ZAP

Analyzing client-side code – Firebug

The Script panel

The Console panel

The Network panel

Web services

Introducing SOAP and RESTful web services

Securing web services

Insecure direct object reference vulnerability

Summary

10. Fuzzing Web Applications

Fuzzing basics

Types of fuzzing techniques

Mutation fuzzing

Generation fuzzing

Applications of fuzzing

Network protocol fuzzing

File fuzzing

User interface fuzzing

Web application fuzzing

Web browser fuzzing

Fuzzer frameworks

Fuzzing steps

Testing web applications using fuzzing

Fuzzing input in web applications

Request URI

Headers

Form fields

Detecting result of fuzzing

Web application fuzzers in Kali Linux

Fuzzing using Burp intruder

PowerFuzzer tool

Summary

Index

Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux Second Edition

Web Penetration Testing with Kali Linux Second Edition

Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: November 2015

Production reference: 1201115

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-78398-852-5

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Credits

Author

Juned Ahmed Ansari

Reviewers

Olivier Le Moal

Gilberto Najera-Gutierrez

Janusz Oppermann

Commissioning Editor

Kartikey Pandey

Acquisition Editor

Indrajit Das

Content Development Editor

Mamata Walkar

Technical Editor

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Copy Editor

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Project Coordinator

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Proofreader

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Indexer

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Production Coordinator

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Cover Work

Shantanu N. Zagade

About the Author

Juned Ahmed Ansari (@junedlive) is a cyber security researcher based out of Mumbai. He currently leads the penetration testing and offensive security team of a large MNC. Juned has worked as a consultant for large private sector enterprises, guiding them on their cyber security program. He has also worked with start-ups, helping them make their final product secure.

Juned has conducted several training sessions on advanced penetration testing, focused on teaching students stealth, and evasion techniques in highly secure environments. His primary focus areas are penetration testing, threat intelligence, and application security research. He holds leading security certifications such as GXPN, CISSP, CCSK, and CISA. Juned enjoys contributing to public groups and forums and occasionally blogs at http://securebits.in.

I would like to dedicate this book to my parents, Abdul Rashid and Sherbano, and sisters, Tasneem and Lubna. Thank you all for your encouragement on every small step that I took forward. Thank you mom and dad for all the sacrifices and always believing in me. I would also additionally like to thank my seniors for their mentorship and friends and colleagues for supporting me over the years.

About the Reviewers

Olivier Le Moal is a young System Security Engineer, working in the French online poker industry. He is an open source enthusiast and holds OSCP certification. He also runs a French security blog (blog.olivierlemoal.fr).

Gilberto Najera-Gutierrez leads the Security Testing Team (STT) at Sm4rt Security Services, one of the top security firms in Mexico. He also is an Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), an EC-Council Certified Security Administrator (ECSA) and holds a Master's degree in Computer Science with specialization in Artificial Intelligence.Working as a Penetration Tester since 2013 and being a security enthusiast since high school, he has successfully conducted penetration tests to networks and applications of some the biggest corporations in Mexico, government agencies, and financial institutions.

Janusz Oppermann is an enthusiastic and passionate security specialist and ethical hacker. He is currently working at Deloitte The Netherlands as an ethical hacker/security professional. He is experienced with security testing of (wifi-) network infrastructures, web applications, and mobile applications. Because of his broad experience with network infrastructures and security solutions in different types of organizations, he is able to find security issues, estimate risks, and give consultations on the subject. He holds several security-related certifications such as CISSP, OSCP, CCNP Security, and CEH.

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Preface

Kali Linux is a Linux distribution widely used by security professionals. It comes bundled with many tools to effectively perform a security assessment. It has tools categorized based on the different phases of a penetration test such as information gathering, vulnerability analysis, and exploitation phase to name a few. The latest version, Kali 2.0, was released at Black Hat USA 2015. Besides tools used in a network penetration test, Kali Linux also includes tools to perform web application security and database assessment.

Web applications have become an integral part of any network and they need special attention when performing a security assessment. Web penetration testing with Kali Linux is designed to be a guide for network penetration testers who want to explore web application hacking. Our goal in this book is to gain an understanding about the different security flaws that exist in web application and then use selected tools from Kali Linux to identify the vulnerabilities and exploit them.

The chapters in this book are divided based on the steps that are performed during a real-world penetration test. The book starts with describing the different building blocks of a penetration test and then moves on to setting up the lab with Kali 2.0. In subsequent chapters, we follow the steps of a professional penetration tester and identify security flaws using the tools in Kali 2.0.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to Penetration Testing and Web Applications, covers the different testing methodologies and rules that security professionals follow when performing an assessment of a web application. We also gain an overview of the building blocks of a web applications and the HTTP protocol.

Chapter 2, Setting up Your Lab with Kali Linux, introduces the changes and improvements in Kali 2.0. We will learn about the different ways to install Kali Linux and also install it in a lab environment. Next we have a walk-through of the important tools in Kali Linux and then set up Tor to connect anonymously.

Chapter 3, Reconnaissance and Profiling the Web Server, focuses on the information gathering phase. We use different tools in Kali Linux to perform passive and active reconnaissance. Next we profile the web server identifying the OS, application version, and additional information that help us in the later stages of the penetration test.

Chapter 4, Major Flaws in Web Applications, covers the different security flaws that affect web applications at various levels. We start by describing the less serious security flaws such as information leakage and then move on to the more severe ones, such as injection flaws. The chapter briefly touches all the major flaws that exist in real-world web applications.

Chapter 5, Attacking the Server Using Injection-based Flaws, is all about command injection and SQL injection flaws. We gain a deep understanding of the command injection flaw and exploit it using Metasploit. We also learn about the attack potential of a SQL injection flaw and use different tools in Kali Linux to exploit it.

Chapter 6, Exploiting Clients Using XSS and CSRF Flaws, focuses on cross-site scripting attack. We learn about the origin of the flaw and different types of XSS. We use different tools in Kali Linux to automate the scanning of the web application for XSS flaws. In the CSRF section we cover the attack methodology and the tools to exploit the flaw.

Chapter 7, Attacking SSL-based Websites, explores the importance of SSL in web applications. We learn different techniques to identify weak SSL implementations and then use the man-in-the-middle technique to hack into an SSL connection.

Chapter 8, Exploiting the Client Using Attack Frameworks, discusses different techniques and tricks to gain control over a client computer. In this chapter we use the Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) from Kali Linux to execute a phishing attack. In the second part of the chapter, we use the Browser exploitation framework (BeEF) to gain control of a user's browser by exploiting a XSS flaw. We also explore the different modules in BeEF.

Chapter 9, AJAX and Web Services – Security Issues, covers security flaws affecting an AJAX application and the challenges faced when performing a security assessment of it. Web services are also introduced in this chapter along with the security issues it faces.

Chapter 10, Fuzzing Web Applications, introduces the different types of fuzzing techniques. We learn the different ways in which fuzzing can identify flaws in web applications. Next we explore different fuzzers in Kali Linux and use Burp intruder to fuzz a web application.

What you need for this book

Readers should have a basic understanding of web applications, networking concepts, and penetration testing methodology. This book will include detailed examples of how to execute an attack using the tools offered in Kali Linux. It is not required but beneficial to have experience using previous versions of Kali Linux.

The software requirements for building a lab environment and installing Kali Linux are covered in Chapter 2, Setting up Your Lab with Kali Linux.

Who this book is for

If you are already working as a network penetration tester and want to expand your knowledge of web application hacking, then this book tailored for you. Those who are interested in learning more about the Kali Linux 2.0 tools that are used to test web applications will find this book a thoroughly useful and interesting guide.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: The ID could be shared using the GET method or the POST method.

A block of code is set as follows:

  $file = $_GET['file'];

  {

    include(pages/$file);

  }

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

  $file = $_GET['file'];

  {

    include(pages/$file);

  }

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

SELECT columnA FROM tableX WHERE columnE='employee' AND columnF=100;

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: Select New context to create a new scope for this URL.

Note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tip

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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Questions

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Chapter 1. Introduction to Penetration Testing and Web Applications

CISO and CTO have been spending a huge amount of money on web applications and general IT security without getting the benefits, and they are living with a false sense of security. Although IT security has been a top priority for organizations, there have been some big security breaches in the last few years. The attack on the Target Corp, one of the biggest retailers in the US, exposed around 40 million debit and credit card details and the CEO and CIO were forced to step down. The attack on the Sony PlayStation network was a result of a SQL injection attack—one of the most common web application attacks—and the network was down for 24 days. This exposed personal information of 77 million accounts. These personal details and financial records then end up in underground markets and are used for malicious activities. There have been many more attacks that have not reported in the news with much vigor. Web applications may not be the sole reason for such huge security breaches, but they have always played an assisting role that has helped the attacker to achieve their main goal of planting malware for exposing private data.

It's not only the web server or the website that is responsible for such attacks; the vulnerabilities