277 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
277 lines
11 KiB
Markdown
# pwncat
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[](https://asciinema.org/a/417930)
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pwncat is a post-exploitation platform ~~for Linux targets~~. It started out as a
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wrapper around basic bind and reverse shells and has grown from there. It
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streamlines common red team operations while staging code from your attacker
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machine, not the target.
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pwncat used to only support Linux, but there has been a lot of work recently
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to support multiple platforms. Currently, there is alpha support for Windows
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targets. Please see the latest [documentation] for details on how to use
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pwncat with a Windows target.
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pwncat intercepts the raw communication with a remote shell and allows the
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user to perform automated actions on the remote host including enumeration,
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implant installation and even privilege escalation.
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After receiving a connection, pwncat will setup some common configurations
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for working with remote shells.
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- Disable history in the remote shell
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- Normalize shell prompt
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- Locate useful binaries (using `which`)
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- Attempt to spawn a pseudo-terminal (pty) for a full interactive session
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`pwncat` knows how to spawn pty's with a few different methods and will
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cross-reference the methods with the executables previously enumerated. After
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spawning a pty, it will setup the controlling terminal in raw mode, so you can
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interact in a similar fashion to `ssh`.
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`pwncat` will also synchronize the remote pty settings (such as rows, columns,
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`TERM` environment variable) with your local settings to ensure the shell
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behaves correctly with interactive applications such as `vim` or `nano`.
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John Hammond and I presented `pwncat` at GRIMMCon. Our presentation, which
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can be found on YouTube [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CISzI9klRkw).
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This video demonstrates an early version of the API and interface. Please
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refer to the documentation for up to date usage and API documentation!
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pwncat [documentation] is being built out on Read the Docs. Head there for
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the latest usage and development documentation!
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**pwncat requires Python 3.9+ on Linux**
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## Installation
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`pwncat` only depends on a working Python development environment running on Linux.
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In order to install some of the packages required with `pip`, you will likely need
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your distribution's "Python Development" package. On Debian based systems,
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this is `python-dev`. For Arch, the development files are shipped with the
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main Python repository. For Enterprise Linux, the package is named
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`python-devel`.
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`pwncat` is pushed to PyPI under the name `pwncat-cs`, and can be installed with
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`pip` like so:
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``` shell
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pip install pwncat-cs
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```
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However, it is recommended to install pwncat from a virtual environment.
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```shell script
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python3 -m venv pwncat-env
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source pwncat-env/bin/activate
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pip install pwncat-cs
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```
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For a development environment, `pwncat` usage Python Poetry. You can clone the
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repository locally and use poetry to setup a development environment.
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``` shell
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# Setup pwncat inside a poetry-managed virtual environment
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git clone git@github.com:calebstewart/pwncat.git
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cd pwncat
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poetry install
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# Enter the virtual environment
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poetry shell
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```
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## Naming Changes
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Due to the naming conflict with [Cytopia's pwncat](https://pwncat.org/), I have
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decided to rename the package to `pwncat-cs`. This includes renaming the
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entrypoint so that there are no direct conflicts with Cytopia's project. If you
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are updating from `v0.4.*`, the command name will now have changed, and the `pcat`
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and `pc` varianst have been removed. See the most recent release notes for more
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details.
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The added benefit of this move is that the project is now pushed to PyPI for
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easier installation/updating in the future.
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## Windows Support
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`pwncat` now supports connections from Windows targets starting at `v0.4.0a1`. The Windows
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platform utilizes a .Net-based C2 library which is loaded automatically. Windows
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targets should connect with either a `cmd.exe` or `powershell.exe` shell, and
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pwncat will take care of the rest.
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The libraries implementing the C2 are implemented at [pwncat-windows-c2].
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The DLLs for the C2 will be automatically downloaded from the targeted release
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for you. If you do not have internet connectivity on your target machine,
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you can tell pwncat to pre-stage the DLLs using the `--download-plugins`
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argument. If you are running a release version of pwncat, you can also download
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a tarball of all built-in plugins from the releases page.
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The plugins are stored by default in `~/.local/share/pwncat`, however this is
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configurable with the `plugin_path` configuration. If you download the packaged
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set of plugins from the releases page, you should extract it to the path pointed
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to by `plugin_path`.
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Aside from the main C2 DLLs, other plugins may also be available. Currently,
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the only provided default plugins are the C2 and an implementation of [BadPotato].
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pwncat can reflectively load .Net binaries to be used a plugins for the C2.
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For more information on Windows C2 plugins, please see the [documentation].
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## Modules
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Recently, the architecture of the pwncat framework was redesigned to
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incorporate a generic "module" structure. All functionality is now
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implemented as modules. This includes enumeration, persistence and
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privilege escalation. Interacting with modules is similar to most other
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post-exploitation platforms. You can utilize the familiar `run`, `search`
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and `info` commands and enter module contexts with the `use` command.
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Refer to the documentation for more information.
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## BlackArch Packaging
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[](https://repology.org/project/pwncat-caleb/versions)
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Installation on BlackArch is as simple as:
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``` shell
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pacman -Syu pwncat-caleb
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```
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### Connecting to a Victim
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The command line parameters for pwncat attempt to be flexible and accept
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a variety of common connection syntax. Specifically, it will try to accept
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common netcat and ssh like syntax. The following are all valid:
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```sh
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# Connect to a bind shell
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pwncat-cs connect://10.10.10.10:4444
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pwncat-cs 10.10.10.10:4444
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pwncat-cs 10.10.10.10 4444
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# Listen for reverse shell
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pwncat-cs bind://0.0.0.0:4444
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pwncat-cs 0.0.0.0:4444
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pwncat-cs :4444
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pwncat-cs -lp 4444
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# Connect via ssh
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pwncat-cs ssh://user:password@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs user@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs user:password@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs -i id_rsa user@10.10.10.10
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# SSH w/ non-standard port
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pwncat-cs -p 2222 user@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs user@10.10.10.10:2222
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# Reconnect utilizing installed persistence
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# If reconnection fails and no protocol is specified,
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# SSH is used as a fallback.
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pwncat-cs reconnect://user@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs reconnect://user@c228fc49e515628a0c13bdc4759a12bf
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pwncat-cs user@10.10.10.10
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pwncat-cs c228fc49e515628a0c13bdc4759a12bf
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pwncat-cs 10.10.10.10
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```
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By default, pwncat **assumes the target platform is Linux**. In order to
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connect to a Windows reverse or bind shell, you must pass the `--platform/-m`
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argument:
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``` shell
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pwncat-cs -m windows 10.10.10.10 4444
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pwncat-cs -m windows -lp 4444
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```
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For more information on the syntax and argument handling, see the
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help information with ``pwncat-cs --help`` or visit the [documentation].
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## Docker Image
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The recommended installation method is a Python virtual environment. This
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provides the easiest day-to-day usage of `pwncat`. However, there has been
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interest in using `pwncat` from a docker image, so I have provided a
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Dockerfile which provides a working `pwncat` installation. To build the image
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use:
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``` shell
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docker build -t pwncat .
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```
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This will build the `pwncat` docker image with the tag "pwncat". The working
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directory within the container is `/work`. The entrypoint for the container
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is the `pwncat` binary. It can be used like so:
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``` shell
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# Connect to a bind shell at 10.0.0.1:4444
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docker run -v "/some/directory":/work -t pwncat 10.0.0.1 4444
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```
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In this example, only the files in `/some/directory` are exposed to the container.
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Obviously, for upload/download, the container will only be able to see the files
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exposed through any mounted directories.
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## Features and Functionality
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`pwncat` provides two main features. At it's core, it's goal is to automatically
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setup a remote PseudoTerminal (pty) which allows interaction with the remote
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host much like a full SSH session. When operating in a pty, you can use common
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features of your remote shell such as history, line editing, and graphical
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terminal applications.
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The other half of `pwncat` is a framework which utilizes your remote shell to
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perform automated enumeration, persistence and privilege escalation tasks. The
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local `pwncat` prompt provides a number of useful features for standard
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penetration tests including:
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* File upload and download
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* Automated privilege escalation enumeration
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* Automated privilege escalation execution
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* Automated persistence installation/removal
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* Automated tracking of modified/created files
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* `pwncat` also offers the ability to revert these remote "tampers" automatically
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The underlying framework for interacting with the remote host aims to abstract
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away the underlying shell and connection method as much as possible, allowing
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commands and plugins to interact seamlessly with the remote host.
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You can learn more about interacting with `pwncat` and about the underlying framework
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in the [documentation]. If you have an idea for a new privilege escalation method
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or persistence method, please take a look at the API documentation specifically.
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Pull requests are welcome!
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## Planned Features
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**pwncat** would like to be come a red team swiss army knife. Hopefully soon,
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more features will be added.
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* More privilege escalation methods (sudo -u#-1 CVE, LXD containers, etc.)
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* Persistence methods (bind shell, cronjobs, SSH access, PAM abuse, etc.)
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* Aggression methods (spam randomness to terminals, flush firewall, etc.)
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* Meme methods (terminal-parrot, cowsay, wall, etc.)
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* Network methods (port forward, internet access through host, etc.)
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## Known Issues
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Because `pwncat` is trying to abstractly interact with any shell with minimal remote system
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dependencies, there are some edge cases we have found. Where we find them, we do
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everything we can to account for them and hide them from the user. However, some have
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slipped through the cracks and been observed in the wild. When this happens, `pwncat`
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will do whatever it can to preserve your terminal, but you may be greeted with some
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peculiar output or command failures.
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### BSD Support
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While BSD is a Unix-based kernel, in practice it's userland tools are noticeably
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different from their Linux counterparts. Due to this, many of the automated
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features of `pwncat` will not work or outright fail when running against a BSD
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based target. I have tried to catch all errors or edge cases, however there are
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likely some hiccups which haven't been fully tested against BSD. In any case,
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the stabilized shell should function within a BSD environment, but I don't
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provide any guarantees.
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If I find some time later down the road, I may try to stabilize `pwncat` on BSD,
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but for now my focus is on Linux-based distributions. If you'd like to
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contribute to making `pwncat` behave better on BSD, you are more then welcome to
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reach out or just fork the repo. As always, pull requests are welcome!
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[documentation]: https://pwncat.readthedocs.io/en/latest
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[pwncat-windows-c2]: https://github.com/calebstewart/pwncat-windows-c2
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[BadPotato]: https://github.com/calebstewart/pwncat-badpotato
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