Penetration Testing and Network Defense

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A penetration test is useless without something tangible to give to a client or executive officer. A report should detail the outcome of the test and, if you are making recommendations, document the recommendations to secure any high-risk systems.

The report should contain the following sections:

  • Executive Summary

  • Project Scope

  • Results Analysis

  • Summary

  • Appendixes

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is a short high-level overview of the test. It is written for key executives who want to know the bottom line about how this affects their company but probably do not care much about the technical details. A sample Executive Summary would read as follows:

Executive Summary

This report details a recent intrusion test on <client name> as performed by <testing firm> between the dates of <dates>. <Client> contracted <testing firm> on <date of signed contract> to assess the security of <client>'s [public/private] network by emulating the techniques of a malicious attacker. A combination of tests was executed against <client name> [public/private] network, including port scans, exploit tests, ICMP scans, and other means to be detailed later in the report.

After reviewing the results of the tests, <testing firm> recommends the following to improve network security:

<bulleted list of suggestions>

Included in this report is a brief introduction about intrusion testing and an explanation of the scope of tests performed. This is followed by the complete results of the test and assessments of the results.

As the sample demonstrates, you should keep the Executive Summary brief. It is usually only a page long. You might encounter executive officers who stay only long enough for a brief five-minute introduction and overview of the Executive Summary followed by a question and answer period. Therefore, you should keep your Executive Summary brief and to the point within the context of how the results impact the business as a whole.

Your Executive Summary should also include a business case detailing the impact of your findings and any associated costs in fixing discovered vulnerabilities. You can use charts to support your case and make the report easier to read.

As a penetration tester, you are considered a specialist. You are hired to give not just your findings but also an analysis. You should include in your Executive Summary information on how your client compares with other companies you have performed tests on. To preserve confidentiality, you should not offer the names of any other clients, but instead provide generic statements as to whether the security of the company falls short or excels when compared to other companies in the same industry.

Tip

Because some of the officers might be unfamiliar with the need or purpose of penetration testing, the best practice is to include a one-page description after the Executive Summary explaining why penetration testing is important and what it entails. Include statistics and define common terms that you will use throughout the remainder of the report. This piques the interest of the readers and illustrates the importance of your work.

Project Scope

The Project Scope should include the IP address range tested against and the boundaries defined in the contract. The boundaries include such things as whether you employed social engineering, whether you tested the public (Internet-facing) or private networks, and whether you permitted Trojans and backdoor software applications such as Back Orifice. Although the timeframe for the test is included in the Executive Summary, you should include it here, too, because it relates to the Project Scope.

You should also include an estimate of the number of exploits attempted and their type. For example, the report might say this:

More than 230 tests were performed against hosts. These included, but were not limited to, the following:

  • Backdoor application vulnerabilities

  • CGI vulnerabilities

  • FTP server vulnerabilities

  • Game server vulnerabilities

  • Mail server vulnerabilities

  • Other server vulnerabilities

  • Network-based services vulnerabilities

  • Firewall vulnerabilities

  • Remote administration vulnerabilities

  • Web server vulnerabilities

  • CERT/CC advisory testing

  • BugTraq advisory testing

  • Dictionary attacks

  • CGI scanner

  • Port scanner

  • ICMP tests

Results Analysis

The Results Analysis is the meat of the report. The length of this section can vary from as few as ten pages to as many as several hundred pages, depending on the scope and detail of the tests. You should use a base template for this section, including the following:

  • IP address and domain name of host

  • Listening TCP and UDP ports

  • Service description

  • Tests performed

  • Vulnerability analysis

The following is a sample results analysis.

IP: 172.16.22.199 Name: CorpWebSrvr1

Port

Service

Description

80

HTTP (Web)

Host appears to be running Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0. Attempts to penetrate included the following: 1) msadc exploit, 2) codebrw.asp exploit, 3) showcode.asp exploit, 4) cgi exploits, 5) webhits.dll / webhits.htw exploits, 6) $data exploit, 7) ASP dot bug exploit, 8) ISM.dll buffer truncation exploit, 9) .idc and .ida exploits, 10) +htr exploits, 11) adsamples exploit, 12) /iisadmnpasswd, 13) dictionary password cracking, 14) brute force password cracking, and 15) SQL injection.

443

HTTPS (Secure Web)

A 1024-bit digital certificate is used that will expire December 15, 2005. The certificate is encrypted using RSA Sha1 encryption and is signed by VeriSign.

Vulnerability Analysis

Vulnerability: Unicode Directory Traversal

Risk: High

Description: A flaw in IIS allows for a malicious hacker to execute code on a target system. During testing, the following was entered into the URL string in a Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser:

http://www.hackmynetwork.com/scripts/..%co%af%../..%co%af%../.. %co%af%../ ..%co%af%../..%co%af%../..%co%af%../..%co%af%../..%co%af%.. /winnt/system32/ cmd.exe?/c+dir+c:

This resulted in getting a complete directory listing of the target server. You can use this same syntax to execute code on a target system. Attackers can use this exploit to steal confidential information, launch another attack, or perform DoS attacks on the target network.

Vulnerability: IIS Sample Codebrws.asp

Risk: Medium

The codebrws.asp sample file is shipped with Microsoft IIS server and can be used to remotely read arbitrary files. This might reveal sensitive information or code that can be used for further exploits.

Summary

The Executive Summary at the beginning of the report is directed toward key decision makers; the final Summary is directed toward technical personnel. This section should contain a bulleted list of technical recommendations for the client.

Appendixes

Finally, your report should include appendixes that include the following:

  • Contact information

  • Screen shots

  • Log output

Screen shots and log output are especially important. You should document everything you do during the test to prove your work to the client.

When you present your client with the report, he should sign a receipt for it to acknowledge that you have turned over your only copy of it and that you cannot be expected to reproduce copies of the report without doing the work again. Your report should be digitally signed and presented in a form that prevents editing, such as PDF files. The footer of each page should state that the information is confidential.

After you have presented your report, you need to agree with your client as to what to do with your copy of it. Recommended practice is to shred any hard copies you have and delete any soft copies using disk wiping software such as PGP.

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