Hacking Vulnerable Apache Servers with Metasploit

Metasploit is a popular penetration testing framework that can be used to identify vulnerabilities in a target system. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through the steps of using Metasploit to hack a vulnerable Apache server.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that this tutorial is for educational purposes only. We’ll be using a vulnerable Apache server that we control, so we won’t be breaking any laws or causing any harm to real systems.

Step 1: Set up the vulnerable Apache server

The first step is to set up a vulnerable Apache server that we can use for testing. We can use a vulnerable virtual machine image, such as the Metasploitable 2 image, or set up our own vulnerable server.

Once we have a vulnerable server set up, we can move on to the next step.

Step 2: Identify the vulnerabilities

The next step is to identify the vulnerabilities in the target system. We can use a vulnerability scanner such as Nmap to scan the target system and identify open ports and services.

In our case, we’ll assume that we’ve identified a vulnerable Apache server running on port 80.

Step 3: Use Metasploit to exploit the vulnerabilities

Now that we’ve identified the vulnerabilities, we can use Metasploit to exploit them. We can start by launching the Metasploit framework by typing “msfconsole” in the terminal.

Once we’re in the Metasploit console, we can search for exploits that target the vulnerabilities we’ve identified. In our case, we’ll search for exploits that target the vulnerable Apache server.

We can use the “search” command to search for exploits. For example, we can type “search apache” to search for exploits that target Apache servers.

Once we’ve found an exploit that we want to use, we can load it into Metasploit by typing “use exploit/[exploit name]”.

Next, we need to set the payload that we want to use. The payload is the code that will be executed on the target system. We can use the “set payload” command to set the payload. For example, we can set the payload to a reverse shell payload that will give us remote access to the target system.

Finally, we can launch the exploit by typing “exploit”. If the exploit is successful, we should have remote access to the target system.

Step 4: Mitigate the vulnerabilities

Now that we’ve identified the vulnerabilities and exploited them, it’s important to take steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities. We can use the information we’ve gained to patch the vulnerabilities and improve the overall security of the system.

Conclusion

Using Metasploit to hack a vulnerable Apache server can be a useful exercise in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities. By using a vulnerable system that we control and following ethical guidelines, we can improve our knowledge of cybersecurity and improve the overall security of our systems.