Setting up Kali

Once in a while, we may have to reinstall Kali and start from fresh. This cheatsheets aims to provide a basic working pentesting environment.

Change hostname

Edit /etc/hosts and add:

127.0.1.1    <hostName>

Edit /etc/hostname and add:

<hostName>

Change password

passwd

Change the keyboard

It is US by default, we can change it by right-clicking on the Desktop > Applications > Settings > keyboard > layout. There, we add a new keyboard layout and put it at the top of the list (or remove the unwanted one).

Create a directory structure

In the home directory, create a directory for enumeration, exploits, privesc, BOFs, and so on…

Install useful Firefox addons

On Firefox, open the Application menu > Add-ons and themes. In particular, we want to instal FoxyProxy (standard) and Cookie-editor. Foxyproxy is useful to simply turn on and off a proxy from the browser. Oncce installed, we add a proxy for Burp. Title: Burp, Proxy Type: HTTP, Proxy IP address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8080.

Install Burp

sudo apt install burpsuite

Before using Burp, it is necessary to install Burp CA certificate in Firefox (or any other browser). Once the proxy listener is active and the browser has been configured to work with Burp (with FoxyProxy for example), go to http://burpsuite > click CA Certificate in the top right corner > open Firefox’ preferences > Privacy and Security > Certificates > View certificates > Authorities > Import. Tick This certificate can identify web sites.

Install seclists’ wordlists

sudo apt install seclists

Install Gobuster

sudo apt install gobuster

Install Docker

sudo apt install docker.io

Create a file containing badchars (for buffer overflows)

badchars = (
"\x00\x01\x02\x03\x04\x05\x06\x07\x08\x09\x0a\x0b\x0c\x0d\x0e\x0f\x10"
"\x11\x12\x13\x14\x15\x16\x17\x18\x19\x1a\x1b\x1c\x1d\x1e\x1f\x20"
"\x21\x22\x23\x24\x25\x26\x27\x28\x29\x2a\x2b\x2c\x2d\x2e\x2f\x30"
"\x31\x32\x33\x34\x35\x36\x37\x38\x39\x3a\x3b\x3c\x3d\x3e\x3f\x40"
"\x41\x42\x43\x44\x45\x46\x47\x48\x49\x4a\x4b\x4c\x4d\x4e\x4f\x50"
"\x51\x52\x53\x54\x55\x56\x57\x58\x59\x5a\x5b\x5c\x5d\x5e\x5f\x60"
"\x61\x62\x63\x64\x65\x66\x67\x68\x69\x6a\x6b\x6c\x6d\x6e\x6f\x70"
"\x71\x72\x73\x74\x75\x76\x77\x78\x79\x7a\x7b\x7c\x7d\x7e\x7f\x80"
"\x81\x82\x83\x84\x85\x86\x87\x88\x89\x8a\x8b\x8c\x8d\x8e\x8f\x90"
"\x91\x92\x93\x94\x95\x96\x97\x98\x99\x9a\x9b\x9c\x9d\x9e\x9f\xa0"
"\xa1\xa2\xa3\xa4\xa5\xa6\xa7\xa8\xa9\xaa\xab\xac\xad\xae\xaf\xb0"
"\xb1\xb2\xb3\xb4\xb5\xb6\xb7\xb8\xb9\xba\xbb\xbc\xbd\xbe\xbf\xc0"
"\xc1\xc2\xc3\xc4\xc5\xc6\xc7\xc8\xc9\xca\xcb\xcc\xcd\xce\xcf\xd0"
"\xd1\xd2\xd3\xd4\xd5\xd6\xd7\xd8\xd9\xda\xdb\xdc\xdd\xde\xdf\xe0"
"\xe1\xe2\xe3\xe4\xe5\xe6\xe7\xe8\xe9\xea\xeb\xec\xed\xee\xef\xf0"
"\xf1\xf2\xf3\xf4\xf5\xf6\xf7\xf8\xf9\xfa\xfb\xfc\xfd\xfe\xff")

Install Wine

Useful to cross-compile exploits

sudo apt-get install wine

Add the following lines into /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://old.kali.org/kali sana main non-free contrib
deb http://old.kali.org/kali moto main non-free contrib

Finally, install wine32 as well:

sudo apt-get install wine32

Download privesc scripts