Protocols

This page describes briefly different protocols that the pentester is likely to find when researching a host. Sometimes these protocols are new to the researcher, and time needs to be spent learning about the protocol, instead of the pentest. This page describes briefly some tools that can be used against protocols.

SMB (ports 139, 445):

Server Message Block. It is a client-server protocol to connect hosts and allow them to share files or printers accross a network. Different implementations of this protocol exist, based on the platform. Two common ones are Microsoft's, and Linux's Samba. This protocol lets computers exchange messages, and one acts as the server. We may find a machine which is acting as an SMB server, with ports 139 and 445 open. The following attack vectors can be available:

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FTP (ports 20, 21)

HTTP, HTTPS (ports 80, 443)

rpc:Microsoft Remote Procedure Call (RPC) defines a powerful technology for creating distributed client/server programs. The RPC run-time stubs and libraries manage most of the processes relating to network protocols and communication. This enables you to focus on the details of the application rather than the details of the network.