Introduction to Metasploit

The Metasploit Project is a Ruby-based, modular penetration testing platform that enables you to write, test, and execute the exploit code. This
exploit code can be custom-made by the user or taken from a database containing the latest already discovered and modularized exploits. The
Metasploit Framework includes a suite of tools that you can use to test security vulnerabilities, enumerate networks, execute attacks, and evade

detection. At its core, the Metasploit Project is a collection of commonly used tools that provide a complete environment for penetration testing and
exploit development.

The modules mentioned are actual exploit proof-of-concepts that have already been developed and tested in the wild and integrated within the
framework to provide pentesters with ease of access to different attack vectors for different platforms and services. Metasploit is not a jack of all trades
but a swiss army knife with just enough tools to get us through the most common unpatched vulnerabilities.
✎

Its strong suit is that it provides a plethora of available targets and versions, all a few commands away from a successful foothold. These, combined with
an exploit tailor-made to those vulnerable versions and with a payload that is sent after the exploit, which will give us actual access into the system,
provide us with an easy, automated way to switch between target connections during our post-exploitation ventures.

Metasploit Pro
Metasploit as a product is split into two versions. The Metasploit Pro version is different from the Metasploit Framework one with some additional

features:

Task Chains

Social Engineering

Vulnerability Validations

GUI

Quick Start Wizards

Nexpose Integration

If you're more of a command-line user and prefer the extra features, the Pro version also contains its own console, much like msfconsole.

To have a general idea of what Metasploit Pro's newest features can achieve, check out the list below:

Infiltrate Collect Data Remediate

Manual Exploitation Import and Scan Data Bruteforce

Anti-virus Evasion Discovery Scans Task Chains

 Infiltrate Collect Data Remediate

IPS/IDS Evasion Meta-Modules Exploitation Workflow

Proxy Pivot Nexpose Scan Integration Session Rerun

Post-Exploitation Task Replay

Session Clean-up Project Sonar Integration

Credentials Reuse Session Management

Social Engineering Credential Management

Payload Generator Team Collaboration

Quick Pen-testing Web Interface

VPN Pivoting Backup and Restore

Vulnerability Validation Data Export

Phishing Wizard Evidence Collection

Web App Testing Reporting

Persistent Sessions Tagging Data

Metasploit Framework Console

The msfconsole is probably the most popular interface to the Metasploit Framework (MSF). It provides an "all-in-one" centralized console and allows

you efficient access to virtually all options available in the MSF. Msfconsole may seem intimidating at first, but once you learn the syntax of the
✎
commands, you will learn to appreciate the power of utilizing this interface.

The features that msfconsole generally brings are the following:

It is the only supported way to access most of the features within Metasploit

Provides a console-based interface to the Framework

Contains the most features and is the most stable MSF interface

Full readline support, tabbing, and command completion

Execution of external commands in msfconsole

Both products mentioned above come with an extensive database of available modules to use in our assessments. These, combined with the use of

external commands such as scanners, social engineering toolkits, and payload generators, can turn our setup into a ready-to-strike machine that will
allow us to seamlessly control and manipulate different vulnerabilities in the wild with the use of sessions and jobs in the same way we would see tabs

on an Internet browser.

The key term here is usability—user experience. The ease with which we can control the console can improve our learning experience. Therefore, let

us delve into the specifics.

Understanding the Architecture

To fully operate whatever tool we are using, we must first look under its hood. It is good practice, and it can offer us better insight into what will be going

on during our security assessments when that tool comes into play. It is essential not to have any wildcards that might leave you or your client exposed

to data breaches.
By default, all the base files related to Metasploit Framework can be found under /usr/share/metasploit-framework in our ParrotOS Security distro.

Data, Documentation, Lib

These are the base files for the Framework. The Data and Lib are the functioning parts of the msfconsole interface, while the Documentation folder
contains all the technical details about the project.

Modules
The Modules detailed above are split into separate categories in this folder. We will go into detail about these in the next sections. They are contained in
the following folders:

Introduction to Metasploit

ddsr@htb[/htb]$ ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/modules

auxiliary encoders evasion exploits nops payloads post

Plugins
Plugins offer the pentester more flexibility when using the msfconsole since they can easily be manually or automatically loaded as needed to provide

extra functionality and automation during our assessment.

Introduction to Metasploit

ddsr@htb[/htb]$ ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/plugins/

aggregator.rb ips_filter.rb openvas.rb sounds.rb

alias.rb komand.rb pcap_log.rb sqlmap.rb
auto_add_route.rb lab.rb request.rb thread.rb
beholder.rb libnotify.rb rssfeed.rb token_adduser.rb
db_credcollect.rb msfd.rb sample.rb token_hunter.rb
✎
db_tracker.rb msgrpc.rb session_notifier.rb wiki.rb
event_tester.rb nessus.rb session_tagger.rb wmap.rb
ffautoregen.rb nexpose.rb socket_logger.rb

Scripts
Meterpreter functionality and other useful scripts.

Introduction to Metasploit

ddsr@htb[/htb]$ ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/scripts/

meterpreter ps resource shell

Tools
Command-line utilities that can be called directly from the msfconsole menu.

Introduction to Metasploit

ddsr@htb[/htb]$ ls /usr/share/metasploit-framework/tools/

context docs hardware modules payloads

dev exploit memdump password recon

Now that we know all of these locations, it will be easy for us to reference them in the future when we decide to import new modules or even create
new ones from scratch.

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Questions

 Cheat Sheet
Answer the question(s) below to complete this Section and earn cubes!

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 Which version of Metasploit comes equipped with a GUI interface?

Metasploit Pro

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+0
 What command do you use to interact with the free version of Metasploit?

msfconsole

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Preface 


Introduction to Metasploit  ✎


Introduction to MSFconsole 


MSF Components


 Modules 


Targets 



 Payloads 


Encoders 


Databases 


Plugins & Mixins 



MSF Sessions


 Sessions & Jobs 



 Meterpreter 


Additional Features

Writing & Importing Modules 



Introduction to MSFVenom 


Firewall and IDS/IPS evasion 



Metasploit-Framework Updates - August 2020 



My Workstation
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 Start Instance


 / 1 spawns left