197 Chapter 8 Client Side Exploitation The server side is getting stronger by the day, but the client is still left vulnerable, like the saying
goes “There is no patch to human stupidity.” This chapter will introduce the readers to various
client side exploitation techniques that can be used in a penetration test. Client side exploits are
useful in the cases where the victim is behind a router, Nat or firewall, or anything not directly
reachable to us.
The success of client side exploitation is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend
performing reconnaissance. This means that you need to gather personal information about the
target victim such as likes, dislikes, favorite pet names, etc. Social media are the best source for
this kind of information.
Client Side Exploitation Methods So let’s talk about some of the client side exploitation methods that we can utilize in real-world
penetration tests.
Attack Scenario 1: E-Mails Leading to Malicious Attachments In this particular attack scenario, we will send the victim malicious files such as PDF, exe, or mp3
in the hope that the victim would click on the link and download and execute the attachment.
Upon execution, we will have a meterpreter session opened on the victim’s machine.
Attack Scenario 2: E-Mails Leading to Malicious Links In this particular attack scenario, we will send malicious links in the hope that our victim would
click on it. The link could be a fake log-in page or a webserver hosted with our malicious code.
Considering we are hosting a webserver, the code will be executed in the victim’s browser and we
will have a meterpreter session opened.
