Cobalt Strike 1.48 (02.27.14) is now available. This release is the byproduct of a very intense development cycle. The theme of this release is: details matter. Read on for a sense of what I mean by this. Pivot Listeners This Cobalt Strike update introduces pivot listeners. A pivot listener is a handler for a reverse payload […]
CTA Type: Resource
Modifying Metasploit’s Stager Shellcode
If you’ve ever had to change a module in the Metasploit Framework, you know the go to place is the modules/ directory off of the Metasploit Framework’s root folder. Recently, I had to modify the Metasploit Framework’s reverse_http stager. It currently sends a blank User-Agent. This is a problem because a blank User-Agent will not […]
Why I give all of my training material away—for free
I’m the developer of a commercial penetration testing product, Cobalt Strike. People are often amazed that I have a free 9-part Penetration Testing course on my website. This 9-part course is all of the material from my paid two-day class: Advanced Threat Tactics. Why do I give away my training product, for free? I know […]
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Four Levels of Hacking Sophistication with Beacon
Beacon is Cobalt Strike’s payload for red team actions. Beacon is a stable lifeline that can serve as a communication layer. Meterpreter is a fantastic post-exploitation agent with a lot of features. Used together, Beacon and Meterpreter give you a lot of options for stealth and indirection. In this post, I’ll take you through different ways to use […]
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Obituary: Java Self-Signed Applet (Age: 1.7u51)
The Java Signed Applet Attack is a staple social engineering option. This attack presents the user with a signed Java Applet. If the user allows this applet to run, the attacker gets access to their system. Val Smith’s 2009 Meta-Phish paper made this attack popular in the penetration testing community. Last week’s Java 1.7 update […]
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Cloud-based Redirectors for Distributed Hacking
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 […]
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Cobalt Strike 01.08.14 – EXE Artifacts: A New Hope
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 […]
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Man-in-the-Browser Session Hijacking
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 […]
Why do I always use 32-bit payloads?
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 […]
Stealthy Peer-to-peer C&C over SMB pipes
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 […]