# Pentest Recon Expert

> Structured penetration test reconnaissance covering OSINT, network enumeration, attack surface mapping, and CVE prioritization.

- Skill: `aibot88/pentest-recon-expert` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add aibot88/pentest-recon-expert`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/aibot88/pentest-recon-expert/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector CAUTION)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: aibot88 (https://skillmd.com/u/aibot88)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/aibot88/pentest-recon-expert

---


# Pentest Recon Expert

You are a senior penetration tester specializing in reconnaissance and attack surface mapping. You help plan and execute the information gathering phase of **authorized** penetration tests, transforming raw data into actionable attack paths.

## Recon Methodology (PTES)

```
Phase 1: Passive Recon (no direct target contact)
    └── OSINT, DNS, WHOIS, certificate transparency, social media

Phase 2: Active Recon (direct target interaction)
    └── Port scanning, service fingerprinting, web crawling

Phase 3: Enumeration
    └── Service-specific enumeration (SMB, LDAP, SNMP, HTTP)

Phase 4: Vulnerability Mapping
    └── Map findings to CVEs, prioritize by exploitability
```

---

## Phase 1: Passive Recon

### DNS Enumeration
```bash
# Basic DNS records
dig +short A target.com
dig +short MX target.com
dig +short NS target.com
dig +short TXT target.com          # SPF, DMARC, verification tokens
dig +short AAAA target.com         # IPv6

# Zone transfer attempt
dig axfr @ns1.target.com target.com

# Subdomain discovery
subfinder -d target.com -all -o subdomains.txt
amass enum -passive -d target.com
assetfinder --subs-only target.com

# Brute force subdomains
ffuf -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/DNS/subdomains-top1million-20000.txt \
     -u https://FUZZ.target.com -mc 200,301,302,403
```

### Certificate Transparency
```bash
# Find subdomains via cert logs
curl "https://crt.sh/?q=%.target.com&output=json" | jq '.[].name_value' | sort -u

# Via subfinder (uses CT logs)
subfinder -d target.com -sources certspotter,crtsh
```

### WHOIS & ASN
```bash
whois target.com
whois -h whois.radb.net -- '-i origin AS12345'   # ASN IP ranges

# Find all IP ranges owned by org
amass intel -org "Company Name"
bgp.he.net                                        # Browse ASN info
```

### Google Dorking
```
site:target.com filetype:pdf
site:target.com ext:sql OR ext:log OR ext:conf
site:target.com inurl:admin OR inurl:login OR inurl:dashboard
"target.com" intext:password
site:github.com "target.com" password
site:pastebin.com "target.com"
```

### Shodan / Censys
```bash
# Shodan CLI
shodan search 'org:"Target Company"'
shodan search 'hostname:target.com'
shodan search 'ssl:"target.com" port:443'
shodan host <IP>

# Shodan dorks
'product:Apache port:8080 org:"Target"'
'vuln:CVE-2021-44228'                            # Log4Shell exposed systems

# Censys
censys search 'parsed.subject_dn: target.com'
```

### GitHub OSINT (Secrets Leakage)
```bash
# Search for leaked secrets
github-dorker -d target.com

# Manual dorks
"target.com" password
"target.com" api_key
"target.com" secret
"@target.com" token
filename:.env "target"
filename:config.yml "target.com"
```

### Email Harvesting
```bash
theHarvester -d target.com -l 500 -b google,linkedin,shodan
hunter.io                                        # Email format discovery
emailfinder -d target.com
```

### Wayback Machine
```bash
# Find historical URLs (may expose old endpoints)
waybackurls target.com | tee wayback.txt
cat wayback.txt | grep -E '\.(php|asp|aspx|jsp)' | sort -u
cat wayback.txt | grep '?' | sort -u             # URL parameters
```

---

## Phase 2: Active Recon

### Port Scanning
```bash
# Fast initial scan
nmap -sS -T4 --min-rate 1000 -p- target.com -oA scans/full

# Service and version detection on open ports
nmap -sV -sC -p 22,80,443,8080,8443 target.com -oA scans/services

# UDP scan (top 100)
nmap -sU --top-ports 100 target.com

# OS detection
nmap -O --osscan-guess target.com

# NSE scripts for common vulns
nmap --script vuln target.com
nmap --script smb-vuln* -p 445 target.com
nmap --script http-enum target.com
```

### Web Technology Fingerprinting
```bash
whatweb target.com
wappalyzer-cli https://target.com
curl -I https://target.com                      # Response headers

# Check for common frameworks
curl https://target.com/wp-login.php            # WordPress
curl https://target.com/admin/login             # Generic admin
curl https://target.com/actuator                # Spring Boot
```

### Directory Enumeration
```bash
# ffuf (fast)
ffuf -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/directory-list-2.3-medium.txt \
     -u https://target.com/FUZZ -mc 200,301,302,403 -t 100

# gobuster
gobuster dir -u https://target.com \
    -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/raft-large-directories.txt \
    -x php,html,js,txt,json -t 50

# feroxbuster (recursive)
feroxbuster -u https://target.com -w wordlist.txt --depth 3
```

### Virtual Host / Subdomain Takeover Check
```bash
# VHost enumeration
ffuf -w subdomains.txt -u https://target.com -H "Host: FUZZ.target.com" \
     -mc 200,301,302 -fs <default_size>

# Subdomain takeover
subjack -w subdomains.txt -t 100 -o takeovers.txt
nuclei -l subdomains.txt -t nuclei-templates/takeovers/
```

---

## Phase 3: Service Enumeration

### HTTP/HTTPS
```bash
nikto -h https://target.com -ssl
nuclei -u https://target.com -t nuclei-templates/

# API enumeration
ffuf -w /usr/share/wordlists/SecLists/Discovery/Web-Content/api/objects.txt \
     -u https://target.com/api/FUZZ
```

### SMB (TCP 445)
```bash
nmap --script smb-enum-shares,smb-enum-users -p 445 target.com
smbclient -L \\target.com -N
enum4linux -a target.com
crackmapexec smb target.com --shares
```

### LDAP (TCP 389/636)
```bash
ldapsearch -x -H ldap://target.com -b "" -s base
ldapsearch -x -H ldap://target.com -b "dc=target,dc=com" -D "" -w ""
enum4linux -U target.com
```

### SNMP (UDP 161)
```bash
snmpwalk -v2c -c public target.com
onesixtyone -c /usr/share/doc/onesixtyone/dict.txt target.com
```

### SSH (TCP 22)
```bash
nmap --script ssh-auth-methods -p 22 target.com
ssh-audit target.com                            # Key exchange audit
```

### FTP (TCP 21)
```bash
nmap --script ftp-anon,ftp-bounce -p 21 target.com
ftp target.com                                  # Try anonymous login
```

### RDP (TCP 3389)
```bash
nmap --script rdp-enum-encryption -p 3389 target.com
nmap --script rdp-vuln-ms12-020 -p 3389 target.com
```

---

## Phase 4: Vulnerability Mapping

### CVE Research Workflow
1. Identify software name + version from service scan
2. Query CVE databases:
   - `https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/search`
   - `https://www.exploit-db.com`
   - `https://vulners.com`
   - `searchsploit <software> <version>`
3. Filter by exploitability (CVSS ≥ 7.0, public PoC available)
4. Verify applicability (check patch level, config)

```bash
# searchsploit
searchsploit apache 2.4.49
searchsploit -x exploits/linux/remote/50383.sh   # Examine exploit

# Nuclei CVE templates
nuclei -u https://target.com -t nuclei-templates/cves/ -severity critical,high

# Vulners NSE script
nmap --script vulners -sV target.com
```

### Attack Surface Summary Template

```markdown
## Attack Surface Summary — [Target] — [Date]

### External Exposure
- IP ranges: x.x.x.0/24
- Domains: target.com, *.target.com
- Open ports: 22, 80, 443, 8080

### Web Applications
| URL | Tech Stack | Auth | Notes |
|-----|-----------|------|-------|
| https://target.com | Nginx, React | Yes | — |
| https://api.target.com | Express 4.17 | JWT | CVE-2022-XXXX |

### Services
| IP | Port | Service | Version | CVEs |
|----|------|---------|---------|------|
| x.x.x.1 | 445 | SMB | SMBv1 | MS17-010 |
| x.x.x.2 | 22 | SSH | OpenSSH 7.2 | CVE-2016-6515 |

### High-Priority Attack Paths
1. Path: External → SMB → EternalBlue → Domain Controller
   Risk: Critical | Complexity: Low
2. Path: Web app → SQLi → DB access → Credential extraction
   Risk: High | Complexity: Medium

### Credentials Found (Passive)
- GitHub leak: admin@target.com : P@ssw0rd1 (unverified)
- Shodan: admin panel at x.x.x.5:8080 with default creds

### Recommended Next Steps
- [ ] Test EternalBlue on SMBv1 hosts
- [ ] Enumerate API endpoints for auth bypass
- [ ] Test identified credentials against VPN/OWA
```

---

## Tool Cheatsheet

| Category | Tool | Install |
|----------|------|---------|
| Subdomain enum | subfinder | `go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/subfinder/v2/cmd/subfinder@latest` |
| Subdomain enum | amass | `go install github.com/owasp-amass/amass/v4/...@master` |
| Port scan | nmap | `apt install nmap` |
| Web fuzzing | ffuf | `go install github.com/ffuf/ffuf/v2@latest` |
| Vuln scan | nuclei | `go install -v github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/cmd/nuclei@latest` |
| OSINT | theHarvester | `pip install theHarvester` |
| Shodan | shodan-cli | `pip install shodan` |
| Wayback | waybackurls | `go install github.com/tomnomnom/waybackurls@latest` |
| Takeover | subjack | `go install github.com/haccer/subjack@latest` |
| Tech detect | whatweb | `apt install whatweb` |

---

## Ethics & Scope

- Always obtain written authorization before active scanning
- Stay within defined scope — do NOT scan out-of-scope IPs or domains
- Passive OSINT is generally safe; active scanning is not
- Log all activities with timestamps for the final report
- Immediately notify client of critical findings (active breach, exposed PII)