Leo McCavana - Red and Purple Team Offensive Security Professional

Leo McCavana

Sign in Subscribe

Adobe Firefly AI generated image: Red Teaming bear unhappy that their initial access payload isn't working! :-(

AI Image Generation - The Fun Stuff and a Few Ethical Questions.

I’ve started taking a closer look at AI generated imagery more recently, firstly out of a sense of fun, but also due to a curiosity of the ethical issues. Spoiler alert ... I didn't create any of the images 'from scratch' for this post. I faked

Lazy Sysadmin Vulnhub Writeup

Lazy Sysadmin Vulnhub Writeup

'Lazysysadmin' is another of the targets as recommended by the excellent TJnull, in preparation for the OSCP.. Lazysysadmin is considered an 'easy' machine. Just for fun, we'll take a look at a number of different exploitation routes as well as take a look at

Create a Wordpress Webshell Plugin

Create a Wordpress Webshell Plugin

Webshells are a really useful stepping stone on the path to a proper reverse shell. The idea is that they use popular scripting based approaches such as PHP to accept some parameters in a GET request. That data then gets executed as a system level command - i.e. against

Another hotel room safe with a default manufacturer reset code - by leomccavana.com

Another hotel room safe with a default manufacturer reset code

Why is this sort of thing still happening? Finding a hotel room safe with a default code is not a particularly new security issue, which begs the question as to why it is still happening today if the issue is incredibly easy to fix. I encountered this issue recently when

My BSIDES Belfast 2019 Talk

My BSides Belfast 2019 Talk: Offensive Ansible for Red teams Attack, Build, Learn

BSidesBelfast (October 31st 2019) was the first time that I actually presented at a major conference. I've been to quite a few other BSides events, but always as an attendee, never as a speaker. That all changed when I got the opportunity to present a talk on '

Wintermute Part 2 Neuromancer Vulnhub Writeup - by leomccavana.com

Wintermute Part 2 Neuromancer (Vulnhub Writeup)

This VulnHub writeup is based on Neuromancer - part two of the excellent 'Wintermute 1' challenge, created by creosote I'll spare you all the detail, but as a quick recap, after having rooted Straylight we find that it is dual-homed - i.e. it is part

Wintermute Part 1 Straylight Vulnhub Writeup - by leomccavana.com

Wintermute Part 1 Straylight (Vulnhub Writeup)

This VulnHub writeup is based on Straylight - part one of the excellent Wintermute 1 series found on Vulnhub, created by creosote. The Wintermute 1 series is designed to be similar to some of the challenges presented by the 'OSCP' (Offensive Security Certified Professional) labs. Skills such as

Toppo Vulnhub Writeup - by leomcavana.com

Toppo Vulnhub Writeup

Back in early 2019 (before the pandemic), I had been approached to help introduce some new folk to the wonderful world of ethical hacking. The assumption was that they may have known about the basic theory behind the stages of rooting a target, but had little by way of hands-on

Stapler Vulnhub Writeup - by leomccavana.com - article banner graphic

Stapler Vulnhub Writeup

'Stapler' is the second machine from Vulnhub.com that I looked at as part of my OSCP preparations. This one just requires good enumeration skills and leaving no stone unturned. This is a lesson I learned after discovering two different ways for privesc. I had been reading other

Fristileaks Vulnhub writeup by leomccavana.com

Fristileaks Vulnhub Writeup

'Fristileaks' is the first of my efforts to exploit Vulnhub.com machines as part of my OSCP preparations.