Nenad Vijatov » Linux

Ubuntu Pentest Edition

Nenad Vijatov — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:41:00 +0000

netinfinity release Ubuntu Pentest Edition …
“Ubuntu pentest edition is primarily designed as a complete system (everyday usage – office, internet etc..) and can be used in pentesting purposes, which is a big advantage because you do not need to have a dual boot or use a virtual machine to run the system for pentest.”
Try it … link.

VMware Tools – bulk update Windows VMs

Nenad Vijatov — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:13:23 +0000

If you need to update VMware tools on all Windows (Server 2003, XP) VMs on one or more VMware ESX server, you need to do that with command vmware-vmupgrade.exe.
From my point of view this command is insecure, so I deiced to create a bash script for this job using GREAT utility vimsh.

Script looks like this …
#!/bin/bash
#Automatic Upgrade VMware Tools — Nenad Vijatov — v.0.6

#Define variables
TEMPFILE=/root/temp_vmlist
RESULTFILE=/root/temp_vmupgrade

#Fill TEMPFILE
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms > $TEMPFILE

#Lets filter TEMPFILE
for a in `awk ‘{if ($5 == “winNetStandardGuest” || $5 == “winNetEnterpriseGuest” || $5 == “winXPProGuest”) print $1}’ $TEMPFILE`
do
#Take action on each VM
VMSTATE=`vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate $a | grep Powered | awk ‘{print $2}’`
echo “VM with ID $a is powered $VMSTATE” >> $RESULTFILE
while [ $VMSTATE == "off" ]
do
echo “Powering on VM with ID $a …” >> $RESULTFILE
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on $a
sleep 30
VMSTATE=`vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate $a | grep Powered | awk ‘{print $2}’`
done
echo “Upgrading VM with ID $a …” >> $RESULTFILE
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/tools.upgrade $a
done
#EOF

Password protect single user mode

Nenad Vijatov — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:59:00 +0000

You forget your root password and get locked out of your own box. What do you do? Typically, you would reboot into single user mode and change the password there.

When booting into single user mode you will not be prompted for the root password. This is something every attacker knows and prays on once he has gained physical access to you box. So what do you do?
Firstly, a good sys admin knows not to forget the root password. Login in as root is never a good idea so using sudo is always advised.
This still leaves the single user mode vulnerable, to secure it you will have to append the following line “su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin” to your “/etc/inittab” file.
Now, every time you boot into single user mode you will be prompted for the root password.

# password protect single user mode
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin

PS: Always remember you password, if you can’t then write in down in a safe place.