penetration testing

Penetration testing (pentesting) is an authorized, simulated cyberattack on a system, network or application to find and fix security weaknesses before real attackers exploit them. Pentesters follow a structured methodology: scoping, reconnaissance, scanning and enumeration, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, post-exploitation and reporting.

This collection brings together Cracking Station’s hands-on pentesting content: OSINT and attack surface mapping, network discovery, web application attacks such as XSS and race conditions, exploitation and privilege escalation walkthroughs from TryHackMe and Advent of Cyber, and CPENT v2 lab exercises. Each guide explains the tools, commands and reasoning behind every step.

Written by Mehmood Ali, a certified CEH and CEI instructor. Watch the video walkthroughs on the Mr. Professor YouTube channel. Always perform penetration tests with written authorization.