🌪️Pivoting
Last updated
Last updated
Pivoting is the art of using access obtained over one machine to exploit another machine deeper in the network. It is one of the most essential aspects of network penetration testing.
Put simply, by using one of the techniques, it becomes possible to gain initial access to a remote network, and use it to access other machines in the network that would not otherwise be accessible :
In this diagram, there are four machines on the target network: one public facing server, with three machines which are not exposed to the internet. By accessing the public server, we can then pivot to attack the remaining three targets.
Two main methods :
Tunnelling/Proxying : Creating a proxy type connection through a compromised machine in order to route all desired traffic into the targeted network. This could potentially also be tunnelled inside another protocol (e.g. SSH tunnelling), which can be useful for evading a basic Intrusion Detection System (IDS) or firewall.
Port Forwarding : Creating a connection between a local port and a single port on a target, via a compromised host.
A proxy is good to redirect lots of different kinds of traffic into the target network -- for example, with an nmap scan, or to access multiple ports on multiple different machines.
Port Forwarding tends to be faster and more reliable, but only allows to access a single port (or a small range) on a target device.
Which style of pivoting is more suitable will depend entirely on the layout of the network, so start with further enumeration before deciding how to proceed. It would be sensible at this point to also start to draw up a layout of the network.
As a general rule, if you have multiple possible entry-points, try to use a Linux/Unix target where possible, as these tend to be easier to pivot from. An outward facing Linux webserver is absolutely ideal.
Enumerating a network using native and statically compiled tools :
Proxychain : Proxychains and FoxyProxy are used to access a proxy created with one of the other tools
SSH Tunnelling (primarily Unix) : SSH can be used to create both port forwards, and proxies
Plinx.exe (Windows) : plink.exe is an SSH client for Windows, allowing you to create reverse SSH connections on Windows
Socat (Windows and Unix) : Socat is a good option for redirecting connections, and can be used to create port forwards in a variety of different ways
Chisel (Windows and Unix) : Chisel can do the exact same thing as with SSH portforwarding/tunneling, but doesn't require SSH access on the box
Sshuttle (currently Unix only) : sshuttle is a nicer way to create a proxy when we have SSH access on a target
Ligolo-Ng : TODO
As always, 'enumeration is the key to success. Information is power'
The more we know about our target, the more options we have available to us. As such, our first step when attempting to pivot through a network is to get an idea of what's around us.
Five possible ways to enumerate a network through a compromised host :
Using material found on the machine : i.e., hosts file or ARP cache.
Using pre-installed tools
Using statically compiled tools
Using scripting techniques
Using local tools through a proxy
