Red Team Tools and Methodology

Purpose

Implement proven methodologies and tool workflows from top security researchers for effective reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, and bug bounty hunting. Automate common tasks while maintaining thorough coverage of attack surfaces.

Inputs/Prerequisites

• Target scope definition (domains, IP ranges, applications)
• Linux-based attack machine (Kali, Ubuntu)
• Bug bounty program rules and scope
• Tool dependencies installed (Go, Python, Ruby)
• API keys for various services (Shodan, Censys, etc.)

Outputs/Deliverables

• Comprehensive subdomain enumeration
• Live host discovery and technology fingerprinting
• Identified vulnerabilities and attack vectors
• Automated recon pipeline outputs
• Documented findings for reporting

Core Workflow

1. Project Tracking and Acquisitions

Set up reconnaissance tracking:

# Create project structure
mkdir -p target/{recon,vulns,reports}
cd target

# Find acquisitions using Crunchbase
# Search manually for subsidiary companies

# Get ASN for targets
amass intel -org "Target Company" -src

# Alternative ASN lookup
curl -s "https://bgp.he.net/search?search=targetcompany&commit=Search"

2. Subdomain Enumeration

Comprehensive subdomain discovery:

# Create wildcards file
echo "target.com" > wildcards

# Run Amass passively
amass enum -passive -d target.com -src -o amass_passive.txt

# Run Amass actively
amass enum -active -d target.com -src -o amass_active.txt

# Use Subfinder
subfinder -d target.com -silent -o subfinder.txt

# Asset discovery
cat wildcards | assetfinder --subs-only | anew domains.txt

# Alternative subdomain tools
findomain -t target.com -o

# Generate permutations with dnsgen
cat domains.txt | dnsgen - | httprobe > permuted.txt

# Combine all sources
cat amass_*.txt subfinder.txt | sort -u > all_subs.txt

3. Live Host Discovery

Identify responding hosts:

# Check which hosts are live with httprobe
cat domains.txt | httprobe -c 80 --prefer-https | anew hosts.txt

# Use httpx for more details
cat domains.txt | httpx -title -tech-detect -status-code -o live_hosts.txt

# Alternative with massdns
massdns -r resolvers.txt -t A -o S domains.txt > resolved.txt

4. Technology Fingerprinting

Identify technologies for targeted attacks:

# Whatweb scanning
whatweb -i hosts.txt -a 3 -v > tech_stack.txt

# Nuclei technology detection
nuclei -l hosts.txt -t technologies/ -o tech_nuclei.txt

# Wappalyzer (if available)
# Browser extension for manual review

5. Content Discovery

Find hidden endpoints and files:

# Directory bruteforce with ffuf
ffuf -ac -v -u https://target.com/FUZZ -w /usr/share/seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-medium-directories.txt

# Historical URLs from Wayback
waybackurls target.com | tee wayback.txt

# Find all URLs with gau
gau target.com | tee all_urls.txt

# Parameter discovery
cat all_urls.txt | grep "=" | sort -u > params.txt

# Generate custom wordlist from historical data
cat all_urls.txt | unfurl paths | sort -u > custom_wordlist.txt

6. Application Analysis (Jason Haddix Method)

Heat Map Priority Areas:

1. File Uploads - Test for injection, XXE, SSRF, shell upload
2. Content Types - Filter Burp for multipart forms
3. APIs - Look for hidden methods, lack of auth
4. Profile Sections - Stored XSS, custom fields
5. Integrations - SSRF through third parties
6. Error Pages - Exotic injection points

Analysis Questions:

• How does the app pass data? (Params, API, Hybrid)
• Where does the app talk about users? (UID, UUID endpoints)
• Does the site have multi-tenancy or user levels?
• Does it have a unique threat model?
• How does the site handle XSS/CSRF?
• Has the site had past writeups/exploits?

7. Automated XSS Hunting

# ParamSpider for parameter extraction
python3 paramspider.py --domain target.com -o params.txt

# Filter with Gxss
cat params.txt | Gxss -p test

# Dalfox for XSS testing
cat params.txt | dalfox pipe --mining-dict params.txt -o xss_results.txt

# Alternative workflow
waybackurls target.com | grep "=" | qsreplace '"><script>alert(1)</script>' | while read url; do
    curl -s "$url" | grep -q 'alert(1)' && echo "$url"
done > potential_xss.txt

8. Vulnerability Scanning

# Nuclei comprehensive scan
nuclei -l hosts.txt -t ~/nuclei-templates/ -o nuclei_results.txt

# Check for common CVEs
nuclei -l hosts.txt -t cves/ -o cve_results.txt

# Web vulnerabilities
nuclei -l hosts.txt -t vulnerabilities/ -o vuln_results.txt

9. API Enumeration

Wordlists for API fuzzing:

# Enumerate API endpoints
ffuf -u https://target.com/api/FUZZ -w /usr/share/seclists/Discovery/Web-Content/api/api-endpoints.txt

# Test API versions
ffuf -u https://target.com/api/v1/FUZZ -w api_wordlist.txt
ffuf -u https://target.com/api/v2/FUZZ -w api_wordlist.txt

# Check for hidden methods
for method in GET POST PUT DELETE PATCH; do
    curl -X $method https://target.com/api/users -v
done

10. Automated Recon Script

#!/bin/bash
domain=$1

if [[ -z $domain ]]; then
    echo "Usage: ./recon.sh <domain>"
    exit 1
fi

mkdir -p "$domain"

# Subdomain enumeration
echo "[*] Enumerating subdomains..."
subfinder -d "$domain" -silent > "$domain/subs.txt"

# Live host discovery
echo "[*] Finding live hosts..."
cat "$domain/subs.txt" | httpx -title -tech-detect -status-code > "$domain/live.txt"

# URL collection
echo "[*] Collecting URLs..."
cat "$domain/live.txt" | waybackurls > "$domain/urls.txt"

# Nuclei scanning
echo "[*] Running Nuclei..."
nuclei -l "$domain/live.txt" -o "$domain/nuclei.txt"

echo "[+] Recon complete!"

Quick Reference

Essential Tools

Tool	Purpose
Amass	Subdomain enumeration
Subfinder	Fast subdomain discovery
httpx/httprobe	Live host detection
ffuf	Content discovery
Nuclei	Vulnerability scanning
Burp Suite	Manual testing
Dalfox	XSS automation
waybackurls	Historical URL mining

Key API Endpoints to Check

/api/v1/users
/api/v1/admin
/api/v1/profile
/api/users/me
/api/config
/api/debug
/api/swagger
/api/graphql

XSS Filter Testing

<!-- Test encoding handling -->
<h1><img><table>
<script>
%3Cscript%3E
%253Cscript%253E
%26lt;script%26gt;

Constraints

• Respect program scope boundaries
• Avoid DoS or fuzzing on production without permission
• Rate limit requests to avoid blocking
• Some tools may generate false positives
• API keys required for full functionality of some tools

Examples

Example 1: Quick Subdomain Recon

subfinder -d target.com | httpx -title | tee results.txt

Example 2: XSS Hunting Pipeline

waybackurls target.com | grep "=" | qsreplace "test" | httpx -silent | dalfox pipe

Example 3: Comprehensive Scan

# Full recon chain
amass enum -d target.com | httpx | nuclei -t ~/nuclei-templates/

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Rate limited	Use proxy rotation, reduce concurrency
Too many results	Focus on specific technology stacks
False positives	Manually verify findings before reporting
Missing subdomains	Combine multiple enumeration sources
API key errors	Verify keys in config files
Tools not found	Install Go tools with go install