July 2026
Intermediate
729 pages
33h 9m
English
Content preview from Ethical Hacking
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15.2 What Is a Reverse Shell and How Does It Work?
A widely used technique for unauthorized access to IT systems is the reverse shell, also known as a connect-back shell. This is a network connection that the target system establishes to the attacker’s system in order to provide a shell there. This approach allows attackers to bypass firewalls and other protective mechanisms that block incoming connections. In other words, the victim comes to the perpetrator.
The typical sequence of a reverse shell session can be divided into four steps (see Figure 15.2):
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The attacker opens a specific port on their system and listens for incoming TCP connections, such as with the command nc -lvnp 1337.
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A command is executed on the target system via a ...
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