Summary

In this chapter, we explored how malicious scripts interact with a host via the interpreter process, creating a unique defense scenario. We looked at a couple of straightforward templates for shellcode injection and data compromise and considered different ways to modify them to confuse scanners.

After this lab, we took a brief dive into the theory of Metasploit’s shellcode generation and understood the function and role of encoders. We explored Windows executable payloads with a quick and easy disassembler within Kali and grepped for byte sequences to learn how to identify patterns in encoded shellcode. Finally, we explored patching legitimate executables to make them effective Trojans using our own payload. A part of this process was a review of the injection points with a hex dump. We explored the still-relevant BDF to identify code caves and the controlled use of them to hold our shellcode.

In the next chapter, we’ll take a look at the lower layers of...