“gobuster” is a popular open-source tool used for brute-forcing hidden paths on web servers and more. It is commonly used in penetration testing and security assessments to identify hidden or non-publicly accessible paths and directories on a target web server.
The main purpose of “gobuster” is to perform directory and file enumeration by attempting to guess and brute-force common directory and file names. This allows testers to discover hidden or sensitive areas of a website that are not intended to be publicly accessible.
The tool works by sending HTTP requests to the target server, checking for valid responses, and analyzing the server’s responses to infer the existence of hidden paths or files. It supports various wordlists and can be configured to use different HTTP methods (GET, HEAD, POST, etc.) and specify different extensions to search for. This allows testers to customize the brute-forcing process based on their specific requirements.
In addition to brute-forcing directories and files, “gobuster” can also be used to brute-force subdomains and DNS records. It supports multiple DNS resolution techniques and can generate DNS wordlists to guess common subdomains for a target domain.
The “gobuster” tool offers a command-line interface and provides useful features like coloring, progress reporting, timeouts, and rate limiting. It generates detailed reports with the discovered paths and can output the results in various formats.
It’s important to note that “gobuster” should be used responsibly and only on systems that you have permission to test. Unauthorized or excessive brute-forcing can potentially lead to legal consequences.
gobuster Command Examples
1. Discover directories and files that match in the wordlist:
# gobuster dir --url [https://example.com/] --wordlist [path/to/file]
2. Discover subdomains:
# gobuster dns --domain [example.com] --wordlist [path/to/file]
3. Discover Amazon S3 buckets:
# gobuster s3 --wordlist [path/to/file]
4. Discover other virtual hosts on the server:
# gobuster vhost --url [https://example.com/] --wordlist [path/to/file]
5. Fuzz the value of a parameter:
# gobuster fuzz --url [https://example.com/?parameter=FUZZ] --wordlist [path/to/file]
6. Fuzz the name of a parameter:
# gobuster fuzz --url [https://example.com/?FUZZ=value] --wordlist [path/to/file]
Summary
“gobuster” is an open-source tool used in penetration testing and security assessments. It brute-forces hidden paths on web servers to discover non-publicly accessible directories and files. It can also be used for subdomain and DNS record brute-forcing. “gobuster” supports various wordlists, HTTP methods, and extensions. It provides a command-line interface, progress reporting, and generates detailed reports. Responsible and authorized usage is important.