Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
Hands-On Web Penetration Testing with Metasploit
Hands-On Web Penetration Testing with Metasploit

Hands-On Web Penetration Testing with Metasploit: The subtle art of using Metasploit 5.0 for web application exploitation

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Harpreet Singh Profile Icon Himanshu Sharma
Arrow right icon
$48.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4 (2 Ratings)
Paperback May 2020 544 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$48.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Harpreet Singh Profile Icon Himanshu Sharma
Arrow right icon
$48.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4 (2 Ratings)
Paperback May 2020 544 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$48.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$24.99 $35.99
Paperback
$48.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Hands-On Web Penetration Testing with Metasploit

Introduction to Web Application Penetration Testing

In today's world, there are automated tools and SaaS solutions that can test the security of a system or application. Automation often fails at a logical level when an application needs to be tested for business-logic flaws. It is important to learn how the penetration tester can help organizations stay a step ahead of cyber attacks and why the organization needs to follow a strict patch-management cycle to secure their assets.

In this book, you will learn how to perform a penetration test on web applications that are built on different platforms using the famous Metasploit framework. As most of us have heard about this tool and its importance in regular penetration tests, this book will be focused on how we can perform penetration testing on a variety of web applications, such as content management systems (CMSes) and content...

What is a penetration test?

Penetration testing, also known as pen testing, is an authorized attack on a computer system that is done to evaluate the security of the system/network. The test is performed to identify vulnerabilities and the risks they pose. A typical penetration test is a five-stage process that identifies the target systems, their vulnerabilities, and the exploitability of each vulnerability. The goal is to find as many vulnerabilities as possible and report back in a universally acceptable format for the client to understand. Let's look at the different types of penetration testing in the next section.

Types of penetration test

Depending upon the client's requirement, penetration tests can be categorized into three types:

  • White box
  • Black box
  • Gray box

We will discuss each of these in the following sections.

White box penetration test

A white box penetration test, or a glass box or clear box penetration test, is a type of test in which the information and details regarding the target system, network, or application are fully shared by the client, such as the login credentials of the systems, the SSH/Telnet login for the network devices, and the application source code that needs to be tested. Since the information retrieved from the client regarding their system, network, or application is highly sensitive, it is recommended...

Stages of penetration testing

To have a better understanding of penetration testing, let's go through the stages of the process:

  • Stage 1: Reconnaissance
  • Stage 2: Enumeration
  • Stage 3: Vulnerability assessment and analysis
  • Stage 4: Exploitation (includes the post-exploitation period)
  • Stage 5: Reporting

This can be seen in the following diagram:

Each and every stage has its own set of tools and techniques that can be used to perform the testing efficiently.

Reconnaissance and information gathering

Reconnaissance is the very first stage of performing a penetration test. In this stage, a pen tester will try to identify the system or application in question and find as much information as they can about it. This is the...

Important terminologies

Now that we are familiar with the standards, let's now cover the important terminology that we will be using a lot in the upcoming chapters:

  • Vulnerability: A weakness in a system that may allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to it.
  • Spoofing: A situation where an individual or program successfully masks data as something else in order to obtain an unlawful advantage.
  • Exploit: A piece of code, a program, a method, or a sequence of commands that takes advantage of a vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to a system/application.
  • Payload: The actual code that is executed on the system after/during exploitation to perform the desired task.
  • Risk: Anything that can affect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Unpatched software, misconfigured servers, unsafe internet surfing habits, and so on all contribute to risk.
  • Threat...

Penetration testing methodologies

As we all know, there are no official penetration testing standards defined; however, our security community has introduced a few standards for all security personnel to follow. Some of the commonly known standards are the Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM), the Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES), and the Information Systems Security Assessment Framework (ISSAF). Most of them follow the same methodology, but their phases have been named differently. We will take a look at each of them in the following sections and cover PTES in detail.

Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM)

The definition of the OSSTMM is mentioned on their official website...

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

In this section, we will talk about the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE). The CWE is a universal online dictionary of weaknesses that have been found in computer software. In this section, we will cover two well-known CWEs—the OWASP Top 10 and the SANS Top 25.

OWASP Top 10

Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is an organization that provides computer and internet applications with impartial, realistic, and cost-effective information.

The current list for 2020 contains the following bugs:

  • Injection
  • Broken authentication
  • Sensitive data exposure
  • XML external entities (XXE)
  • Broken access control
  • Security misconfigurations
  • Cross-site scripting (XSS)
  • Insecure deserialization
  • ...

Summary

In this chapter, we started with the introduction to penetration testing and its types and stages. We covered the pen testing methodologies and life cycle and we looked at some important terminology. Then, we looked at the OWASP Top 10 and SANS Top 25.

In the next chapter, we will learn about the essentials of Metasploit including the Metasploit framework, installation, and setup.

Questions

  1. Is there a database that maintains the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) list?

  2. Where can I find the OWASP Top 10 and SANS Top 25 lists?

  3. Are the tools required to perform a penetration test free?

  4. How do the OSSTMM- and PTES-based penetration tests differ?

Further reading

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Get up to speed with Metasploit and discover how to use it for pentesting
  • Understand how to exploit and protect your web environment effectively
  • Learn how an exploit works and what causes vulnerabilities

Description

Metasploit has been a crucial security tool for many years. However, there are only a few modules that Metasploit has made available to the public for pentesting web applications. In this book, you'll explore another aspect of the framework – web applications – which is not commonly used. You'll also discover how Metasploit, when used with its inbuilt GUI, simplifies web application penetration testing. The book starts by focusing on the Metasploit setup, along with covering the life cycle of the penetration testing process. Then, you will explore Metasploit terminology and the web GUI, which is available in the Metasploit Community Edition. Next, the book will take you through pentesting popular content management systems such as Drupal, WordPress, and Joomla, which will also include studying the latest CVEs and understanding the root cause of vulnerability in detail. Later, you'll gain insights into the vulnerability assessment and exploitation of technological platforms such as JBoss, Jenkins, and Tomcat. Finally, you'll learn how to fuzz web applications to find logical security vulnerabilities using third-party tools. By the end of this book, you'll have a solid understanding of how to exploit and validate vulnerabilities by working with various tools and techniques.

Who is this book for?

This book is for web security analysts, bug bounty hunters, security professionals, or any stakeholder in the security sector who wants to delve into web application security testing. Professionals who are not experts with command line tools or Kali Linux and prefer Metasploit’s graphical user interface (GUI) will also find this book useful. No experience with Metasploit is required, but basic knowledge of Linux and web application pentesting will be helpful.

What you will learn

  • Get up to speed with setting up and installing the Metasploit framework
  • Gain first-hand experience of the Metasploit web interface
  • Use Metasploit for web-application reconnaissance
  • Understand how to pentest various content management systems
  • Pentest platforms such as JBoss, Tomcat, and Jenkins
  • Become well-versed with fuzzing web applications
  • Write and automate penetration testing reports
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to United States

Economy delivery 10 - 13 business days

Free $6.95

Premium delivery 6 - 9 business days

$21.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : May 22, 2020
Length: 544 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789953527
Vendor :
Rapid7
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital eBook copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to United States

Economy delivery 10 - 13 business days

Free $6.95

Premium delivery 6 - 9 business days

$21.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : May 22, 2020
Length: 544 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781789953527
Vendor :
Rapid7
Category :
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 141.97
Hands-On Web Penetration Testing with Metasploit
$48.99
Mastering Metasploit
$48.99
Cybersecurity Attacks – Red Team Strategies
$43.99
Total $ 141.97 Stars icon
Banner background image

Table of Contents

22 Chapters
Introduction Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Introduction to Web Application Penetration Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Metasploit Essentials Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Metasploit Web Interface Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Pentesting Life Cycle with Metasploit Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Using Metasploit for Reconnaissance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Web Application Enumeration Using Metasploit Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Vulnerability Scanning Using WMAP Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Vulnerability Assessment Using Metasploit (Nessus) Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Pentesting Content Management Systems (CMSes) Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Pentesting CMSes - WordPress Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Pentesting CMSes - Joomla Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Pentesting CMSes - Drupal Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Performing Pentesting on Technological Platforms Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Penetration Testing on Technological Platforms - JBoss Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Penetration Testing on Technological Platforms - Apache Tomcat Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Penetration Testing on Technological Platforms - Jenkins Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Logical Bug Hunting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Web Application Fuzzing - Logical Bug Hunting Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Writing Penetration Testing Reports Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Assessment Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
(2 Ratings)
5 star 50%
4 star 0%
3 star 50%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Wisnu Dwi Hidayat Jun 10, 2020
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
If you are learning and want to know and deep to practice in web penetration, and everyone who interesting in web penetration, this book is very useful. It may upgrade your knowledge.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jeff Welch May 31, 2021
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
This book seems to have some great content and I was excited to use the capabilities of the GUI metasploit only to find out that the vendor no longer provides a free community edition. To use the "pro" version is only $15000 per year. Unfortunately, this makes a lot of the content in the book null and void for those of us just trying to learn.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact [email protected] with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at [email protected] using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on [email protected] within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on [email protected] who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on [email protected] within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela