Exploitation with Metasploit (accessed by Benjamin Hobbs on 9/7/2023)

From: What is Metasploit?

Metasploit:

What is it?

• Metasploit is a widely used penetration testing (pentesting) tool to facilitate hacking. It is a post-exploitation framework which said another way is "AFTER you get in...use these tools to do lots of stuff on the objective" although creative hackers can employ it to accomplish tasks prior to that point (info gathering, gaining access, etc). Metsploit is widely regarded as a multitool, beneficial to both red teams (AND blue!)

Why do you care?

• Metasploit automates a lot of actions that used to be required to be performed manually in hacking. Automation not only makes the process easier and faster, but also provides an added layer of consistency (no human errors in repetitve tasks, no "extra spaces" or "misspellings")

• Metasploit is extremely versatile.

• Metasploit integrates seamlessly with nmap, has a bridge to Nessus Vulnerability scanner, and a lot of recon tools integrate with Metapsploit.

• Metasploit is customizable. What it can't do- it can likely be tweaked to be able to do.

Where did it come from?

• Created by HD Moore and released in 2003, Metasploit has grown from 11 original exploits to more than 1,500 (with around 500 payloads)
• Orginally witten in Perl language, it is now in Ruby

Questions for Understanding

1. Explain what Metasploit is using non-technical terms.

• Metasploit is a very widespread hacking tool that is very versatile. It does a ton of stuff, which has lead to it being thought of as a "Swiss-Army Knife" to express that Metasploit is often the only tool that one may need to successfully compromise a system or network. Metasploit is easy enough that beginners can work with it, and robust enough that professionals still prefer it. It also plays really well with other tools. In hacking, if you could choose one tool- most (Noobs and Pros) would likely pick Metasploit.