Browser Exploitation Framework Project – BeEF

Introduction

The Browser Exploitation Framework (BeEF) is a powerful professional security tool. It is a penetration testing tool that focuses on the web browser.

BeEF: The Browser Exploitation Framework

Unlike other security frameworks, BeEF focuses on leveraging browser vulnerabilities to assess the security posture of a target. By using techniques similar to common drive-by malware, testers can assess the security of a target’s internal environment, bypassing the hardened perimeter.

The Browser Exploitation Framework contains numerous command modules that employ BeEF’s  powerful API, which represents the heart of BeEF’s effectiveness and efficiency.

BeEF comes pre-installed in various pentesting operating systems such as:

• Kali Linux, Parrot OS, BlackArch, Backbox, Cyborg OS, etc.

Requirements

• Operating System: Mac OSX 10.5.0 or higher / modern Linux
• Ruby 2.3 or newer
• SQLite 3.x
• Node.js 6 or newer
• The gems listed in the Gemfile: https://github.com/beefproject/beef/blob/master/Gemfile
• brew install selenium-server-standalone:  https://github.com/shvets/selenium

Prerequisites

Since BeEF requires Ruby 2.3+, make sure you install the latest stable version. Ruby installation process depends on your OS.

Redhat/Fedora:

$ sudo yum install ruby ruby-devel

Debian, and other distributions using Debian style packaging:

$ sudo apt-get install ruby-dev

Ubuntu:

$ sudo apt-get install ruby-all-dev

If your OS package manager doesn’t support Ruby 2.3+, for the latest version you can add the brightbox ppa repository:

$ sudo apt-add-repository -y ppa:brightbox/ruby-ng

BeEF Install

Download the latest version:

$ wget https://github.com/beefproject/beef/archive/master.zip

Or simply clone it from Github repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/beefproject/beef

Once you installed suitable Ruby version, you can install BeEF as follows:

$ ./install

Usage

To start BeEF, just run:

$ ./beef

Try to keep BeEF up to date. If you installed it through Github repository, for update simply run the following:

$ git pull

Jump to UI panel on http://localhost:3000/ui/authentication

Configuration

Configure BeEF in the main config file config.yaml. First of all, change credentials for the Web UI. Old default credentials:

credentials:
   username=beef 
   passwd=beef

If you don’t change the password,  BeEF will generate a new random password for you, which you’ll see in terminal when you start the framework:

$ ./beef

[15:39:59][*] Browser Exploitation Framework (BeEF) 0.4.7.0-alpha
[15:39:59] | Twit: @beefproject
[15:39:59] | Site: https://beefproject.com
[15:39:59] | Blog: http://blog.beefproject.com
[15:39:59] |_ Wiki: https://github.com/beefproject/beef/wiki
[15:39:59][*] Project Creator: Wade Alcorn (@WadeAlcorn)
[15:39:59][*] BeEF is loading. Wait a few seconds...
[15:40:04][*] 8 extensions enabled.
[15:40:04][*] 302 modules enabled.
[15:40:04][*] 2 network interfaces were detected.
[15:40:04][*] running on network interface: 127.0.0.1
[15:40:04] | Hook URL: http://127.0.0.1:3000/hook.js
[15:40:04] |_ UI URL: http://127.0.0.1:3000/ui/panel
[15:40:04][*] running on network interface: 192.168.1.3
[15:40:04] | Hook URL: http://192.168.1.3:3000/hook.js
[15:40:04] |_ UI URL: http://192.168.1.3:3000/ui/panel
[15:40:04][!] Warning: Default username and weak password in use!
[15:40:04] |_ New password for this instance: af0c38cb69023b0f828fcdcbcc911e33 [15:40:04][*] RESTful API key: 5dfcc5f7f74485df44cf442a6c557404fee8edfc [15:40:04][*] HTTP Proxy: http://127.0.0.1:6789 [15:40:04][*] BeEF server started (press control+c to stop)

Available Modules

See full list of available BeEF modules here.