Searchsploit

In the world of cybersecurity and penetration testing, identifying known vulnerabilities is crucial. SearchSploit is a powerful command-line utility that allows security professionals to search for exploits from the Exploit Database (Exploit-DB) directly on their local machines. It provides quick access to a vast repository of known exploits and proof-of-concept (PoC) scripts, making it an essential tool for ethical hackers and security researchers.

What is SearchSploit?

SearchSploit is a command-line search tool that queries Exploit-DB's repository for known vulnerabilities. It enables users to search for exploits without requiring an internet connection, making it particularly useful for offline security assessments.

Some key features are listed below:

• Locally searches the Exploit-DB database for known exploits.

• Provides advanced filtering options for precise queries.

• Supports searching by software name, CVE ID, exploit type, and more.

• Comes pre-installed in Kali Linux.

• Can be integrated with Nmap for automated vulnerability detection.

Installing SearchSploit

SearchSploit is natively available in Kali Linux, but it can also be installed manually on other systems using Git:

sudo git clone https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb.git /opt/exploitdb
sudo ln -sf /opt/exploitdb/searchsploit /usr/local/bin/searchsploit

This will download and install the latest version of Exploit-DB, allowing you to use SearchSploit on non-Kali Linux systems.

How to Use SearchSploit

SearchSploit operates using a simple syntax:

searchsploit [options] term1 [term2] ... [termN]

Where term1, term2, ..., termN are keywords related to the target software or vulnerability. Various options can refine the search for better results.

Basic Usage Examples

Searching for an Exploit by Keyword

To search for vulnerabilities in Windows related to AFD (Asynchronous File Download), run:

searchsploit afd windows local

2. Searching for Exploits Related to Oracle and Windows

searchsploit -t oracle windows

3. Looking Up a Specific Exploit by ID

If you know the Exploit-DB ID of a vulnerability (e.g., 39446), you can retrieve its details using:

searchsploit -p 39446

4. Excluding Certain Terms in Searches

To exclude Proof of Concept (PoC) and Denial-of-Service (DoS) exploits from results:

searchsploit linux kernel 3.2 --exclude="(PoC)|/dos/"

5. Searching for Exploits by CVE Number

You can search for exploits related to a specific CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) identifier, such as the Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228) vulnerability:

searchsploit --cve 2021-44228

6. Displaying Results in JSON Format

To format the output as JSON and process it using jq:

searchsploit -j 55555 | jq

Using SearchSploit with Nmap

SearchSploit can be integrated with Nmap, a powerful network scanning tool, to automate the detection of vulnerabilities in scanned services.

Step 1: Perform an Nmap Scan and Save Results

Run an Nmap scan against a target system and output the results to an XML file:

nmap <IP> -oX outputFile.xml

-oX file.xml: Saves the scan results in XML format.

Step 2: Analyze Nmap Results with SearchSploit

Once the scan is complete, use SearchSploit to analyze the Nmap XML file for known vulnerabilities:

searchsploit --nmap file.xml

This command extracts service information from the Nmap scan and searches for related exploits in the Exploit-DB database.