A common trait among persistent attackers is their distributed infrastructure. A serious attacker doesn’t use one system to launch attacks and catch shells from. Rather, they register many domains and setup several systems to act as redirectors (pivot points) back to their command and control server. As of last week, Cobalt Strike now has full […]
Read More… from Cloud-based Redirectors for Distributed Hacking
Cobalt Strike has always exposed the Metasploit Framework’s tool to generate executables. Unfortunately, these executables are caught by anti-virus products. I’ve had a lot of feedback about this and I know it’s annoying. The latest release of Cobalt Strike now generates artifacts from its own Artifact Kit. The Artifact Kit is a proprietary source code […]
Read More… from Cobalt Strike 01.08.14 – EXE Artifacts: A New Hope
Malware like Zeus and its variants inject themselves into a user’s browser to steal banking information. This is a man-in-the-browser attack. So-called, because the attacker is injecting malware into the target’s browser. Man-in-the-browser malware uses two approaches to steal banking information. They either capture form data as it’s sent to a server. For example, malware […]
Yesterday, one of my customers asked about x64 payloads in Cobalt Strike. Specifically, he wanted to know why Cobalt Strike doesn’t expose them. I’ve already replied to the question, but I think it makes an interesting blog post. Cobalt Strike’s listener management feature pretends that 64-bit payloads don’t exist. Beacon is a 32-bit payload with […]
Beacon is my payload for low and slow control of a compromised system. Recently, I added peer-to-peer communication to Beacon. When two Beacons are linked, the child Beacon will get its tasks from and send its output through its parent. Linked Beacons use SMB pipes to communicate. This is a big win for stealth. If a workstation […]
<update 03:30pm> I’ve had some feedback that this post describes a concept that is too basic to put into blog form. I can see where this confusion may occur. Most literature that describes pivoting through Meterpreter, shows how to setup a payload connection that goes through Meterpreter (e.g., a bind payload). What isn’t well known or documented, […]
Read More… from Reverse Meterpreter Connect-backs through a Compromised Host
I’m pleased to announce Cobalt Strike 1.48. This release introduces a peer-to-peer data channel for Beacon, improves browser pivoting, and updates the signed applet attack with options the latest Java 1.7 updates require. Peer-to-Peer Beacon It’s hard to stay hidden when many compromised systems call out to the internet. To solve this problem, Beacon now supports peer-to-peer command and […]
Sometimes, it’s easy to get code execution in a network, but very difficult to egress out of it. When you are an external actor trying to get a foothold, it’s important that your attack package use a payload that’s likely to leave your target’s network. If you can’t get out, all of your work is […]
Read More… from Evade Egress Restrictions with Staged Payloads
One of my favorite Metasploit Framework modules is psh_web_delivery. You can find it in exploits -> windows -> misc. This module starts a local web server that hosts a PowerShell script. This module also provides a PowerShell one liner to download this script and run it. I use this module all of the time in […]
Read More… from Schtasks Persistence with PowerShell One Liners
I have a philosophy. Armitage should make common actions simple and efficient. As soon as you need to break away into an uncommon action, use a console. Because the console is so important in Armitage’s use, I put a lot of effort into making Armitage a solid interface to use the Metasploit Framework console through. […]