LAB 1 (Shell Access & Directory Browsing on Victim)

HACKING WINDOWS 10
VULNERABILITY EXPLOITATION WITH
METASPLOIT & ARMITAGE

CYBERSECURITY PRACTICE LAB

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 PRACTICE LAB
HACKING Windows10
Vulnerability exploitation with Metasploit & Armitage

LAB 1 (Shell Access & Directory Browsing on Victim)

BACKGROUND:
METASPLOIT FRAMEWORK (MSF) is a collection of Cybersecurity & Pentesting tools. It is used to create
payloads. It is an open-source framework & its Community/FW version is free to use. It is an essential tool for
both attackers and defenders. Metasploit is pre-installed in the Kali Linux operating system.
Metasploit was created by H. D. Moore in 2003 using Perl. Then, in 2007, it was rewritten in Ruby. In 2009, it
was bought by Rapid7 & it is currently owned by Rapid7.
Metasploit currently has around 600 payloads (Meterpreter, CommandShell, ..) & around 2000 exploits (for
Windows, Android, Linux, …).
ARMITAGE is a GUI front-end tool for Metasploit that shows targets graphically, recommends exploits and
shows the advanced capabilities of the framework.

TASKS

TASK 1 Hack a Windows10 machine using Amitage and Metasploit

TASK 2 Gain the Meterpreter shell access. Run sysinfo command to find
the system information through shell access.

TASK 3 Browse the files on remote machine & list down.

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 SOLUTION

TASK 1

Step1. Download & install ARMITAGE on Kali linux:

Step2. Start postgresql service:

Step3. Launch ARMITAGE

Step4. Enter password (kali or root)

Step5. Click connect (connects to Metasploit)

Step6. Click YES

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Step7. Scan your network subnet through the built-in scanner of Armitage:

Note:
You can also follow the
Nmap lab to scan your
relevant network OR use
the built-in Nmap
scanner in ARMITAGE
as shown in this lab.

Step8. Enter the range of your network to scan (we are using 10.0.0.0/24 according to
lab setup)
In this lab, we are using 10.0.0.0/24 network subnet. You can use your range of subnet where attacker & victim machines are in.

Step9. Identify the victim/target Windows10 machine after the scan is complete:

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Step10. From the left-hand pane, expand & double-click on:
payload >windows > meterpreter_reverse_tcp

Step11. The windows/meterpreter_reverse_tcp window appears. Scroll down to the

Step12. Save the output payload file on your desktop in Kali Linux:

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Step13. The payload will be saved on your desktop, as shown below:

To avoid security issues on main PC, we can zip the file before transferring to victim:

Step14. Transfer the malicious_payload1.exe file to the target Window (copy-paste

Note:
For this lab practice,
we can transfer the
payload by simple
copy/paste.
But in real world
practice, we transfer
the payload through
email, usb, whatsapp
or any other means
to the victim.

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Step15. Run the reverse_tcp again to start listener/handler on Attacker Kali Linux
Machine. Select same port 444 & choose multihandler this time in the Output field.
Then click on Launch:

Step16. Double-click the malicious file on victim PC.

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Step17. As soon as the victim opens the malicious file, session is created with
attacker (there is under-attack sign on victim in Armitage which means that this
machine has been hacked):

This means the Windows10 system has been hacked now!

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 TASK 2

Step1. Right-click on the target host & navigate to Meterpreter1> Interact>

Step2. A new Meterpreter tab appears. Type sysinfo command to view the system
details of the victim system, as shown below.
This confirms that the target/victim system has been hacked now & it is under
control of the attacker.

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 TASK 3
Step1. Right-click on the target host & navigate to Meterpreter1>Explore>Browse
Files, as shown below.

Step2. A new Meterpreter File tab appears which shows the victim’s current working
directory. This further confirms that the target/victim system has been hacked now
& it is in control of the attacker. Hacker can now create/delete any files, create
folders & much more.

-End-
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 EXTRA REFERENCES & TIPS

• METASPLOIT FRAMEWORK (MSF) is a collection of very powerful Cybersecurity &

• As shown in this lab, we can also explore various other options with Metasploit
including:

✓ View Webcam
✓ Listen to the Microphone
✓ Remote Desktop (Desktop VNC)
✓ Log Keystrokes
✓ Escalate Privileges (to steal tokens etc)

• Metasploit is used to create payloads.

• Metasploit is an open-source & its Community/FW version is free to use.

• Metasploit is an essential tool for both attackers and defenders.

• Metasploit comes pre-installed in the Kali Linux operating system.

• Metasploit was created by H. D. Moore in 2003 using Perl. Then, in 2007, it was
rewritten in Ruby. In 2009, it was bought by Rapid7 & it is currently owned by Rapid7.

• Metasploit currently has around 600 payloads (Meterpreter, CommandShell, ..)

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