Vuln Research

Vuln Research

Exploit research workflow — from software version to working exploit.

Triage Order

1. Identify exact software + version
2. Search NVD for CVEs
3. Check CVSS score — prioritize Critical (9.0+) / High (7.0+)
4. Find PoC / exploit
5. Assess exploitability (auth required, network access, mitigations)
6. Run exploit or look for Metasploit module

Step 1 — Identify Version

# On target — common version fingerprinting
uname -r                          # Kernel
lsb_release -a                    # Linux distro
apache2 -v / nginx -v             # Web server
php --version                     # PHP
mysql --version                   # MySQL
python3 --version
dpkg -l | grep <package>          # Debian package version
rpm -qa | grep <package>          # RHEL/CentOS

Step 2 — CVE Lookup

NVD (authoritative)

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/search?query=<product>+<version>

CLI via nvdlib (Python)

pip install nvdlib
python3 -c "
import nvdlib
cves = nvdlib.searchCVE(keywordSearch='apache 2.4.49', limit=10)
for c in cves:
    print(c.id, c.score, c.descriptions[0].value[:120])
"

Via curl (NVD API v2)

curl -s "https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?keywordSearch=OpenSSH+8.2&resultsPerPage=5" \
  | jq '.vulnerabilities[].cve | {id: .id, score: .metrics.cvssMetricV31[0].cvssData.baseScore, desc: .descriptions[0].value[:100]}'

Step 3 — CVSS Triage

Key CVSS vectors to check:

• AV:N (Network) — remotely exploitable; highest value
• PR:N (No Privileges Required) — unauthenticated
• UI:N (No User Interaction) — autonomous exploitation
• S:C (Scope Changed) — impact beyond vulnerable component

Step 4 — Find Public Exploit / PoC

Sploitus (aggregates ExploitDB + PacketStorm + GitHub PoCs)

https://sploitus.com/?query=<CVE-ID>
https://sploitus.com/?query=<product>+<version>

PoC-in-GitHub

# Search GitHub for PoCs
curl -s "https://poc-in-github.motikan2010.net/api/v1/?cve_id=CVE-2021-44228" | jq '.pocs[]'

https://github.com/search?q=CVE-2021-44228+PoC&type=repositories&sort=updated

SearchSploit (offline)

searchsploit <product> <version>
searchsploit --cve <CVE-ID>

Exploit-DB (online)

https://www.exploit-db.com/search?cve=<CVE-ID>

Packetstorm

https://packetstormsecurity.com/search/?q=<CVE-ID>

Vulhub (Docker PoC environments)

https://github.com/vulhub/vulhub/tree/master/<product>/<CVE>
# Ready-to-deploy Docker lab for the vulnerability

Step 5 — Check Metasploit Module

msfconsole -q -x "search cve:<CVE-ID>; exit"
msfconsole -q -x "search type:exploit name:<product>; exit"

If a Metasploit module exists: prefer it over raw PoC — handles payload staging, bad chars, encoders.

Step 6 — Assess Exploitability

Before running:

# Check if target version is actually vulnerable
# Many PoCs have specific minor version requirements

# Linux: ASLR
cat /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space   # 2=full, 1=partial, 0=off

# Linux: mitigations
cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -E 'flags|bugs'  # spectre/meltdown status

# Windows: check patch level (if access)
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Version" /C:"Hotfix(s)"

# Network: verify service version matches
nmap -sV -p <port> <target>

Quick Reference: Notable CVEs by Category

Resources