Penetration Testing with Kali Linux OffSec

sudo ./chmodfix +x /usr/bin/chmod
[sudo] password for kali:
Listing 24 - Yo dawg, I heard you like chmod, so I chmod +x your chmod. 
This worked. 
It may be too early to call ourselves “hackers”. However, finding unique ways to gain permissions 
unintended by a particular system is at the core of cyber security. This quick example offers a 
solid start. 
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(Aruchamy, 2021), https://www.baeldung.com/linux/sudo-command 

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Penetration Testing with Kali Linux
PWK - Copyright © 2023 OffSec Services Limited. All rights reserved. 
75 
4.4.4
Analyzing this Approach 
If much of the preceding example was new to you, congratulations! You’ve survived your first bit 
of cyber security training. Remember, the actual solutions and commands aren’t as important as 
understanding (for now) how this material was taught. 
Although we covered an admittedly simple section from our written training, let’s take a moment 
to examine how we taught this material. We’ll highlight a few things in particular: 
1.
Using the demonstration method 
2.
Learning by doing 
3.
The skill, not the tool 
4.
Interleaving 
5.
Expecting the unexpected 
Let’s quickly explore each of these. 
The demonstration method
is used specifically in the tone and voice of the example covered, but 
also in the series of actions that we follow. We don’t skip steps, including verifying whether our 
solutions worked. 
Notably, we encounter a “problem” (not being able to execute our script) almost immediately, 
which represents the real-world, day-to-day experience of students after the course has ended. 
Research also supports problem solving as a very effective learning strategy both for 
engagement and retention.
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This problem-solving approach is used throughout Modules very intentionally. One way learners 
can take advantage of this is by trying to predict outcomes. We might, for example, try to guess 
what the next step will be in solving a problem. If we are surprised that the course material goes 
in another direction, and if we’re curious, we can always try our solution! 
This is a great way to follow the material, but let’s consider something little more direct and 
practical. 
Learning by doing
is an area where students can take learning into their own hands and 
accelerate their own growth. The best way to do this is to follow along. 
We can acknowledge that in the case presented in this Module, it would have been difficult to 
follow along manually. Normally, a Module will include at least one virtual machine that is 
specifically set up to allow learners to follow the accompanying text. In this case, we would have 
used a Linux machine with our find_employee_names.py script on it. 
Let’s discuss where and how to follow along by focusing on the code presented in the Module. A 
keen student may have noticed that all of the code chunks use a similar style of formatting. Let’s 
review one quickly: 
kali@kali:~$