A comprehensive guide for ethical penetration testing, meticulously designed to cover all phases of a penetration test. This step-by-step checklist ensures thorough coverage from preparation to reporting, ideal for both novice and experienced testers.
- Pre-Engagement
- Information Gathering
- Vulnerability Analysis
- Exploitation
- Post-Exploitation
- Reporting
- Remediation Verification
- Secure Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
- Collect comprehensive client and system information.
- Define the scope and rules of engagement clearly.
- Obtain formal, written authorization for testing.
- Conduct a detailed risk assessment.
- Ensure legal compliance for all testing activities.
- Set specific, measurable success criteria.
- Establish emergency contact and response protocols.
- Define data handling and storage protocols.
- Agree on communication channels and reporting frequency with the client.
- Ensure the penetration testing team has the necessary skills and certifications.
- Conduct network and application scans (e.g., Nmap, Nessus).
- Perform web crawling for hidden or dynamic content.
- Identify and enumerate all subdomains.
- Search for common vulnerabilities (e.g., default credentials, unpatched systems).
- Pinpoint potential initial access points.
- Assess opportunities and methods for social engineering.
- Execute a comprehensive DNS analysis.
- Undertake passive information gathering (e.g., Shodan, Censys).
- Utilize Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques.
- Perform Google dorking to find potentially sensitive information.
- Check for information leakage via metadata, HTML comments, etc.
- Validate and prioritize findings from scans.
- Test for known vulnerabilities and possible exploits.
- Analyze applications for common flaws (SQLi, XSS, etc.).
- Conduct fuzz testing to discover new vulnerabilities.
- Review server and application configurations for misconfigurations.
- Perform manual code reviews where feasible.
- Examine third-party components and libraries.
- Evaluate the security of wireless and cloud services.
- Assess authentication and authorization mechanisms.
- Test for insecure direct object references (IDOR).
- Check for sensitive data exposure (e.g., in URLs, API responses).
- Analyze mobile app binaries if in scope.
- Attempt to gain initial access (e.g., through phishing, exploiting known vulnerabilities).
- Perform privilege escalation on compromised systems.
- Explore lateral movements within the network.
- Document each step of the exploitation process meticulously.
- Simulate Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) techniques where authorized.
- Attempt to bypass security controls like WAF, 2FA etc.
- Test for common misconfigurations (e.g., verbose error messages, directory listing).
- Identify and access critical data stores.
- Simulate data exfiltration, if within the agreed scope.
- Implement strategies for maintaining access, if necessary.
- Adhere to secure data handling and processing procedures.
- Document all system alterations comprehensively.
- Check for clear-text credentials and sensitive data in memory.
- Analyze the potential impact of identified vulnerabilities.
- Create a detailed report documenting tools, techniques, and procedures used.
- Include evidence such as screenshots and logs.
- Provide clear, actionable remediation recommendations.
- Assign risk ratings to all identified vulnerabilities.
- Prepare an executive summary for stakeholder review.
- Suggest a timeline for follow-up assessments or retesting.
- Conduct a read-out meeting with the client to discuss key findings.
- Provide a technical report as well as an executive summary.
- Allow a designated period for the client to remediate identified issues.
- Conduct retests to verify the effectiveness of fixes.
- Document any unresolved security issues.
- Recommend strategies for ongoing monitoring and improvement.
- Advise on the need for security awareness and training programs.
- Propose a schedule for regular future security audits.
- Provide guidance on implementing a vulnerability management program.
- Discuss strategies to improve the security development lifecycle.
We welcome and value contributions. Please feel free to submit pull requests or issues for improvements.