Metasploit

Metasploit

Metasploit Community showing three hosts, two of which were compromised by an exploit
Developer(s)	Rapid7 LLC
Stable release	4.11 / December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18)
Repository	github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework
Operating system	Cross-platform
Type	Security
License	Framework: BSD, Community/Express/Pro: Proprietary
Website	www.metasploit.com

The Metasploit Project is a computer security project that provides information about security vulnerabilities and aids in penetration testing and IDS signature development.

Its best-known sub-project is the open source Metasploit Framework, a tool for developing and executing exploit code against a remote target machine. Other important sub-projects include the Opcode Database, shellcode archive and related research.

The Metasploit Project is well known for its anti-forensic and evasion tools, some of which are built into the Metasploit Framework.

History

Metasploit was created by H. D. Moore in 2003 as a portable network tool using Perl. By 2007, the Metasploit Framework had been completely rewritten in Ruby. On October 21, 2009, the Metasploit Project announced that it had been acquired by Rapid7, a security company that provides unified vulnerability management solutions.

Like comparable commercial products such as Immunity's Canvas or Core Security Technologies' Core Impact, Metasploit can be used to test the vulnerability of computer systems or to break into remote systems. Like many information security tools, Metasploit can be used for both legitimate and unauthorized activities. Since the acquisition of the Metasploit Framework, Rapid7 has added two open core proprietary editions called Metasploit Express and Metasploit Pro.

Metasploit's emerging position as the de facto exploit development framework led to the release of software vulnerability advisories often accompanied by a third party Metasploit exploit module that highlights the exploitability, risk and remediation of that particular bug. Metasploit 3.0 began to include fuzzing tools, used to discover software vulnerabilities, rather than just exploits for known bugs. This avenue can be seen with the integration of the lorcon wireless (802.11) toolset into Metasploit 3.0 in November 2006. Metasploit 4.0 was released in August 2011.

Metasploit Framework

The basic steps for exploiting a system using the Framework include:

1. Choosing and configuring an exploit (code that enters a target system by taking advantage of one of its bugs; about 900 different exploits for Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac OS X systems are included);
2. Optionally checking whether the intended target system is susceptible to the chosen exploit;
3. Choosing and configuring a payload (code that will be executed on the target system upon successful entry; for instance, a remote shell or a VNC server);
4. Choosing the encoding technique so that the intrusion-prevention system (IPS) ignores the encoded payload;
5. Executing the exploit.

This modular approach – allowing the combination of any exploit with any payload – is the major advantage of the Framework. It facilitates the tasks of attackers, exploit writers and payload writers.

Metasploit runs on Unix (including Linux and Mac OS X) and on Windows. The Metasploit Framework can be extended to use add-ons in multiple languages.

To choose an exploit and payload, some information about the target system is needed, such as operating system version and installed network services. This information can be gleaned with port scanning and OS fingerprinting tools such as Nmap. Vulnerability scanners such as Nexpose or Nessus can detect target system vulnerabilities. Metasploit can import vulnerability scan data and compare the identified vulnerabilities to existing exploit modules for accurate exploitation.

Metasploit interfaces

There are several interfaces for Metasploit available. The most popular are maintained by Rapid7 and Strategic Cyber LLC.

Metasploit Framework Edition

The free version. It contains a command line interface, third-party import, manual exploitation and manual brute forcing.

Metasploit Community Edition

In October 2011, Rapid7 released Metasploit Community Edition, a free, web-based user interface for Metasploit. Metasploit Community is based on the commercial functionality of the paid-for editions with a reduced set of features, including network discovery, module browsing and manual exploitation. Metasploit Community is included in the main installer.

Metasploit Express

In April 2010, Rapid7 released Metasploit Express, an open-core commercial edition for security teams who need to verify vulnerabilities. It offers a graphical user interface, integrates nmap for discovery, and adds smart bruteforcing as well as automated evidence collection.

Metasploit Pro

In October 2010, Rapid7 added Metasploit Pro, an open-core commercial Metasploit edition for penetration testers. Metasploit Pro includes all features of Metasploit Express and adds web application scanning and exploitation, social engineering campaigns and VPN pivoting.

Armitage

Armitage is a graphical cyber attack management tool for the Metasploit Project that visualizes targets and recommends exploits. It is a free and open source network security tool notable for its contributions to red team collaboration allowing for shared sessions, data, and communication through a single Metasploit instance.

Cobalt Strike

Cobalt Strike is a collection of threat emulation tools provided by Strategic Cyber LLC to work with the Metasploit Framework. Cobalt Strike includes all features of Armitage and adds post-exploitation tools, in addition to report generation features.

Payloads

Metasploit offers many types of payloads, including:

• Command shell enables users to run collection scripts or run arbitrary commands against the host.
• Meterpreter enables users to control the screen of a device using VNC and to browse, upload and download files.
• Dynamic payloads enables users to evade anti-virus defenses by generating unique payloads.

Contributors

Metasploit Framework operates as an open-source project and accepts contributions from the community through GitHub.com pull requests. Submissions are reviewed by a team consisting of both Rapid7 employees and senior external contributors. The majority of contributions add new modules, such as exploits or scanners.

List of original developers:

• H. D. Moore (founder & chief architect)
• Matt Miller (core developer from 2004-2008)
• spoonm (core developer from 2003-2008)

See also

• w3af

Further reading

• Powerful payloads: The evolution of exploit frameworks, searchsecurity.com, 2005-10-20
• Chapter 12: Writing Exploits III from Sockets, Shellcode, Porting & Coding: Reverse Engineering Exploits and Tool Coding for Security Professionals by James C. Foster (ISBN 1-59749-005-9). Written by Vincent Liu, chapter 12 explains how to use Metasploit to develop a buffer overflow exploit from scratch.
• HackMiami Pwn-Off Hack-A-Thon review of Metasploit Express

External links

• Official website
• Metasploit Community – The Official Metasploit online community
• Metasploit Unleashed – Mastering The Framework
• Metasploit Resource Portal