Network Penetration Testing Checklist – 2025

Network penetration testing is a cybersecurity practice that simulates cyberattacks on an organization’s network to identify vulnerabilities and improve security defenses.

Ethical hackers, or penetration testers, use tools and techniques to mimic real-world hacking attempts, targeting network components like routers, firewalls, servers, and endpoints.

The goal is to uncover weaknesses before malicious actors exploit them, ensuring the organization’s network is secure against threats such as malware, phishing, and DDoS attacks.

The goal of a network penetration test is to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the network’s defenses that malicious actors could potentially exploit.

Network penetration testing is a critical process for evaluating the security of a computer network by simulating an attack from malicious outsiders or insiders. Here is a comprehensive checklist for conducting network penetration testing:

Pre-Engagement Activities

  1. Define Scope: Clearly define the scope of the test, including which networks, systems, and applications will be assessed.
  2. Get Authorization: Obtain written permission from the organization’s management to conduct the test.
  3. Legal Considerations: Ensure compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.
  4. Set Objectives: Establish what the penetration test aims to achieve (e.g., identifying vulnerabilities, testing incident response capabilities).
  5. Plan and Schedule: Develop a testing schedule that minimizes impact on normal operations.

Reconnaissance

  1. Gather Intelligence: Collect publicly available information about the target network (e.g., via WHOIS, DNS records).
  2. Network Mapping: Identify the network structure, IP ranges, domain names, and accessible systems.
  3. Identify Targets: Pinpoint specific devices, services, and applications to target during the test.

Threat Modeling

  1. Identify Potential Threats: Consider possible threat actors and their capabilities, objectives, and methods.
  2. Assess Vulnerabilities: Evaluate which parts of the network might be vulnerable to attack.

Vulnerability Analysis

  1. Automated Scanning: Use tools to scan for known vulnerabilities (e.g., Nessus, OpenVAS).
  2. Manual Testing Techniques: Perform manual checks to complement automated tools.
  3. Document Findings: Keep detailed records of identified vulnerabilities.

Exploitation

  1. Attempt Exploits: Safely attempt to exploit identified vulnerabilities to gauge their impact.
  2. Privilege Escalation: Test if higher levels of access can be achieved.
  3. Lateral Movement: Assess the ability to move across the network from the initial foothold.

Post-Exploitation

  1. Data Access and Exfiltration: Evaluate what data can be accessed or extracted.
  2. Persistence: Check if long-term access to the network can be maintained.
  3. Cleanup: Remove any tools or scripts installed during the testing.

Analysis and Reporting

  1. Compile Findings: Gather all data, logs, and evidence.
  2. Risk Assessment: Analyze the risks associated with the identified vulnerabilities.
  3. Develop Recommendations: Propose measures to mitigate or eliminate vulnerabilities.
  4. Prepare Report: Create a detailed report outlining findings, risks, and recommendations.

Review and Feedback

  1. Present Findings: Share the report with relevant stakeholders.
  2. Discuss Remediation Strategies: Work with the IT team to discuss ways to address vulnerabilities.
  3. Plan for Re-Testing: Schedule follow-up tests to ensure vulnerabilities are effectively addressed.

Continuous Improvement

  1. Update Security Measures: Implement the recommended security enhancements.
  2. Monitor for New Vulnerabilities: Regularly scan and test the network as new threats emerge.
  3. Educate Staff: Train staff on new threats

and security best practices.

Tools and Techniques

  1. Select Tools: Choose appropriate tools for scanning, exploitation, and analysis (e.g., Metasploit, Wireshark, Burp Suite).
  2. Custom Scripts and Tools: Sometimes custom scripts or tools are required for specific environments or systems.

Ethical and Professional Conduct

  1. Maintain Confidentiality: All findings should be kept confidential and shared only with authorized personnel.
  2. Professionalism: Conduct all testing with professionalism, ensuring no unnecessary harm is done to the systems.

Post-Engagement Activities

  1. Debrief Meeting: Conduct a meeting with the stakeholders to discuss the findings and next steps.
  2. Follow-Up Support: Provide support to the organization in addressing the vulnerabilities.

Documentation and Reporting

  1. Detailed Documentation: Ensure that every step of the penetration test is well-documented.
  2. Clear and Actionable Reporting: The final report should be understandable to both technical and non-technical stakeholders and provide actionable recommendations.

Compliance and Standards

  1. Adhere to Standards: Follow industry standards and best practices (e.g., OWASP, NIST).
  2. Regulatory Compliance: Ensure the testing process complies with relevant industry regulations (e.g., HIPAA, PCI-DSS).

Final Steps

  1. Validation of Fixes: Re-test to ensure vulnerabilities have been properly addressed.
  2. Lessons Learned: Analyze the process for any lessons that can be learned and applied to future tests.

Awareness and Training

  1. Organizational Awareness: Increase awareness about network security within the organization.
  2. Training: Provide training to staff on recognizing and preventing security threats.

By following this checklist, organizations can conduct thorough and effective network penetration tests, identifying vulnerabilities and strengthening their network security posture.

Let’s see how we conduct step-by-step Network penetration testing using famous network scanners.

1. Host Discovery

Footprinting is the first and most important phase where one gathers information about their target system.

DNS footprinting helps to enumerate DNS records like (A, MX, NS, SRV, PTR, SOA, and CNAME) resolving to the target domain.

  • A – A record is used to point the domain name such as gbhackers.com to the IP address of its hosting server.
  •  MX – Records responsible for Email exchange.
  • NS – NS records are to identify DNS servers responsible for the domain.
  • SRV – Records to distinguish the service hosted on specific servers.
  • PTR – Reverse DNS lookup, with the help of IP you can get domains associated with it.
  • SOA – Start of record, it is nothing but the information in the DNS system about DNS Zone and other DNS records.
  • CNAME – Cname record maps a domain name to another domain name.

We can detect live hosts, and accessible hosts in the target network by using network scanning tools such as Advanced IP scanner, NMAP, HPING3, and NESSUS.

Ping&Ping Sweep:

  • root@kali:~# nmap -sn 192.168.169.128
  • root@kali:~# nmap -sn 192.168.169.128-20 To ScanRange of IP
  • root@kali:~# nmap -sn 192.168.169.* Wildcard
  • root@kali:~# nmap -sn 192.168.169.128/24 Entire Subnet

Whois Information 

To obtain Whois information and the name server of a website

root@kali:~# whois testdomain.com

  1. http://whois.domaintools.com/
  2. https://whois.icann.org/en

Traceroute

Network Diagonastic tool that displays route path and transit delay in packets

root@kali:~# traceroute google.com

Online Tools

  1. http://www.monitis.com/traceroute/
  2. http://ping.eu/traceroute/

2. Port Scanning

Perform port scanning using Nmap, Hping3, Netscan tools, and Network monitor. These tools help us probe a server or host on the target network for open ports.

Open ports allow attackers to enter and install malicious backdoor applications.

  • root@kali:~# nmap –open gbhackers.com            
  • To find all open ports root@kali:~# nmap -p 80 192.168.169.128          
  • Specific Portroot@kali:~# nmap -p 80-200 192.168.169.128  
  • Range of ports root@kali:~# nmap -p “*” 192.168.169.128          

Online Tools

  1. http://www.yougetsignal.com/
  2. https://pentest-tools.com/information-gathering/find-subdomains-of-domain

3. Banner Grabbing/OS Fingerprinting

Perform banner grabbing or OS fingerprinting using tools such as Telnet, IDServe, and NMAP to determine the operating system of the target host.

Once you know the version and operating system of the target, you need to find the vulnerabilities and exploit them. Try to gain control over the system.

root@kali:~# nmap -A 192.168.169.128
root@kali:~# nmap -v -A 192.168.169.128 with high verbosity level

IDserve is another good tool for banner grabbing.

Online Tools

  1. https://www.netcraft.com/
  2. https://w3dt.net/tools/httprecon
  3. https://www.shodan.io/

4. Scan For Vulnerabilities

Scan the network using vulnerabilities using GIFLanguard, Nessus, Ratina CS, SAINT.

These tools help us find vulnerabilities in the target system and operating systems. With these steps, you can find loopholes in the target network system.

GFILanguard

It acts as a security consultant and offers patch management, vulnerability assessment, and network auditing services.

Nessus

Nessus is a vulnerability scanner tool that searches for bugs in the software and finds a specific way to violate the security of a software product.

  • Data gathering.
  • Host identification.
  • Port scan.
  • Plug-in selection.
  • Reporting of data.

5. Draw Network Diagrams

Draw a network diagram about the organization that helps you to understand the logical connection path to the target host in the network.

The network diagram can be drawn by LANmanager, LANstate, Friendly pinger, and Network View.

6. Prepare Proxies

Proxies act as an intermediary between two networking devices. A proxy can protect the local network from outside access.

With proxy servers, we can anonymize web browsing and filter unwanted content, such as ads.

Proxies such as Proxifier, SSL Proxy, Proxy Finder, etc., are used to hide from being caught.

6. Document All Findings

The last and very important step is to document all the findings from penetration testing.

This document will help you find potential vulnerabilities in your network. Once you determine the vulnerabilities, you can plan counteractions accordingly.

You can download the rules and scope Worksheet here – Rules and Scope sheet 

Thus, penetration testing helps assess your network before it gets into real trouble that may cause severe loss in value and finance.

Important Tools Used For Network Pentesting

Frameworks

Kali Linux, Backtrack5 R3, Security Onion

Reconnaisance

Smartwhois, MxToolbox, CentralOps, dnsstuff, nslookup, DIG, netcraft

Discovery

Angry IP scanner, Colasoft ping tool, nmap, Maltego, NetResident,LanSurveyor, OpManager

Port Scanning

Nmap, Megaping, Hping3, Netscan tools pro, Advanced port scannerService Fingerprinting Xprobe, nmap, zenmap

Enumeration

Superscan, Netbios enumerator, Snmpcheck, onesixtyone, Jxplorer, Hyena, DumpSec, WinFingerprint, Ps Tools, NsAuditor, Enum4Linux, nslookup, Netscan

Scanning

Nessus, GFI Languard, Retina, SAINT, Nexpose

Password Cracking

Ncrack, Cain & Abel, LC5, Ophcrack, pwdump7, fgdump, John The Ripper,Rainbow Crack

Sniffing

Wireshark, Ettercap, Capsa Network Analyzer

MiTM Attacks

Cain & Abel, Ettercap

Exploitation

 Metasploit, Core Impact

You should concentrate on These most important checklists with Network Penetration Testing.

Network Penetration Testing Checklist – 2024

Performing a comprehensive network penetration test is crucial to identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring the security of an organization’s infrastructure. Below is an up-to-date checklist for network penetration testing in 2024.

Pre-Engagement Phase:

  1. Define Scope:

Identify systems, networks, applications, and devices within the scope.

Clarify out-of-scope assets and restricted areas.

Determine timeframes and availability for testing.

Obtain permissions and necessary legal agreements (NDA, consent forms).

  1. Gather Requirements:

Review compliance requirements (PCI-DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.).

Collect network architecture documentation.

Identify business-critical services to avoid disruption.

  1. Risk and Objective Definition:

Define key business risks (e.g., data exfiltration, service disruptions).

Outline the objectives of the test (vulnerability identification, compliance, etc.).

Define whether testing will be internal, external, or a mix of both.X

Reconnaissance & Intelligence Gathering:

  1. Passive Reconnaissance:

Use publicly available information (WHOIS, DNS records, job postings, social media) to collect insights.

Identify potential entry points or misconfigurations.

  1. Network Mapping:

Identify live hosts using ICMP ping sweeps, port scanning (Nmap, Masscan).

Map network topology and key infrastructure components (firewalls, routers, switches, etc.).

  1. Service and Port Scanning:

Perform detailed scanning to identify open ports, services, and operating systems.

Identify versions of services (FTP, SSH, HTTP, DNS, etc.).

  1. Fingerprint Operating Systems and Applications:

Gather detailed information about server operating systems and running services.

Use tools like Nmap’s OS detection feature.

Vulnerability Analysis:

  1. Vulnerability Scanning:

Use automated tools (Nessus, OpenVAS, Qualys) to scan for known vulnerabilities.

Focus on outdated software, misconfigurations, weak protocols (SSL/TLS issues), etc.

  1. Verify Findings:
  • Manually validate and investigate false positives.
  • Perform further research into any potential zero-day vulnerabilities.

Exploitation:

Test for Common Vulnerabilities:

Web-related:

SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).

Network-related:

Exploit weak protocols (SMBv1, FTP), insecure services, or default credentials.

Password Attacks:

Brute-force and dictionary attacks on exposed services (SSH, RDP, etc.).

Privilege Escalation:

Test for local privilege escalation on compromised machines (kernel vulnerabilities, unpatched systems).

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks (MITM):

Test for insecure communications and sniff sensitive traffic (ARP spoofing, DNS spoofing).

Post-Exploitation:

Check for data exfiltration opportunities.

Evaluate persistence mechanisms (scheduled tasks, backdoors).

Pivot to other systems or networks once initial access is gained.

Lateral Movement & Internal Testing:

Network Segmentation Testing:

Validate segmentation controls to prevent lateral movement.

Attempt to access unauthorized zones, e.g., internal financial systems.

Privilege Escalation:

Escalate privileges from a compromised user account to an administrative level.

Active Directory Testing:

Test for weak Active Directory configurations (e.g., Kerberos attacks, password spray).

Test for misconfigurations in Group Policy or excessive privileges.

Wireless Network Testing:

Wireless Reconnaissance:

Identify wireless networks (SSID, encryption types).

Assess weak encryption protocols (WEP, WPA2).

Wireless Exploitation:

Test for weak passwords and authentication bypasses.

Test for rogue access points or evil twin attacks.

Post-Exploitation:

Sensitive Data Discovery:

Search for Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Payment Card Industry (PCI) data, and other sensitive data.

Test for weak encryption methods protecting sensitive data.

Exfiltration Testing:

Test the ability to exfiltrate data from the network without detection (DLP evasion, covert channels).

Persistence Techniques:

Test for persistence mechanisms (scheduled tasks, backdoors, etc.).

Reporting and Remediation:

Document Findings:

Provide detailed reports on vulnerabilities identified, exploit methods used, and potential impact.

Classify risks based on severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low).

Provide reproducible steps for identified vulnerabilities.

Remediation Recommendations:

Offer mitigation strategies for each finding (patches, configuration hardening, etc.).

Provide guidance on improving defenses (e.g., enhanced monitoring, threat detection tools).

Re-Test Vulnerabilities:

After remediation, re-test to verify vulnerabilities have been patched or mitigated.

Post-Engagement:

Lessons Learned:

Conduct a debriefing session to review testing outcomes with the client.

Discuss any challenges and future improvements for penetration testing procedures.

Continuous Improvement:

Suggest implementation of continuous monitoring and vulnerability management.

Recommend regular penetration tests, especially after major network changes.

This checklist ensures a comprehensive approach to network penetration testing in 2024, providing a thorough assessment of network vulnerabilities, potential exploit paths, and recommendations for securing the environment.

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