The role of post-exploitation in Linux on a penetration test

Post-exploitation is a crucial phase in a penetration test on Linux systems, where security professionals assess the extent of access gained and exploit opportunities to establish persistence, escalate privileges, and gather valuable information. This phase occurs after an initial breach, allowing testers to simulate real-world attack scenarios.

One primary objective of post-exploitation in Linux is to achieve and maintain persistence. Attackers seek to establish a lasting presence on the compromised system, ensuring continued access even after initial detection and remediation attempts. This can involve creating backdoors, modifying startup scripts, or installing malicious services.

Privilege escalation is another key focus during post-exploitation. Linux systems operate with various user accounts, each assigned specific privileges. Testers aim to escalate their privileges to gain access to sensitive data, manipulate...