Comprehensive Guide on Netcat

his article will provide you with the basic guide of Netcat and how to get a session from it using different methods.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Features
• Getting start with NC
• Connecting to a Server
• Fetching HTTP header
• Chatting
• Creating a Backdoor
• Verbose Mode
• Save Output to Disk
• Port Scanning
• TCP Delay Scan
• UDP Scan
• Reverse TCP Shell Exploitation
• Randomize Port
• File Transfer
• Reverse Netcat Shell Exploitation
• Banner grabbing

Introduction to Netcat

Netcat or nc is a utility tool that uses TCP and UDP connections to read and write in a network. It can be used for both attacking and security. In the case of attacking, it can be driven by scripts which makes it quite dependable back-end. and if we talk about security, it helps us to debug the network along with investing it.

Features

• Act as a simple TCP/UDP/SCTP/SSL client for interacting with web servers, telnet servers, mail servers, and other TCP/IP network services. Often the best way to understand a service (for fixing problems, finding security flaws, or testing custom commands) is to interact with it using Netcat. This lets you control every character sent and view the raw, unfiltered responses.
• Redirect or proxy TCP/UDP/SCTP traffic to other ports or hosts. This can be done using simple redirection (everything sent to a port is automatically relayed somewhere else you specify in advance) or by acting as a SOCKS or HTTP proxy so clients specify their own destinations. In client mode, Netcat can connect to destinations through a chain of anonymous or authenticated proxies.
• Run on all major operating systems. We distribute Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X binaries, and Netcat compiles on most other systems. A trusted tool must be available whenever you need it, no matter what computer you’re using.
• Encrypt communication with SSL, and transport it over IPv4 or IPv6.
• Act as a network gateway for execution of system commands, with I/O redirected to the network. It was designed to work like the Unix utility cat, but for the network.
• Act as a connection broker, allowing two (or far more) clients to connect to each other through a third (brokering) server. This enables multiple machines hidden behind NAT gateways to communicate with each other, and also enables the simple Netcat chat mode.

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