By name: pt-maintaining-access description: Evaluates whether an attacker could retain foothold and move laterally after initial compromise, within strict authorization limits. Use when testing persistence, session resilience, and detection/response effectiveness during a pen test.
Pen Test Maintaining Access
Authorized Use Only
Persistence simulation requires explicit approval. Prefer temporary, reversible techniques and remove all artifacts during cleanup. Never leave backdoors, accounts, or scheduled tasks in place after testing.
Objectives
- Determine whether access can survive control changes and reboots.
- Assess lateral movement opportunities from compromised context.
- Measure detection and response effectiveness.
Workflow
- Confirm persistence permissions:
- Allowed mechanisms
- Maximum dwell time
- Mandatory cleanup expectations
- Simulate persistence safely:
- Use low-risk, reversible methods appropriate to target class
- Validate whether persistence survives expected environmental changes
- Evaluate lateral movement opportunities:
- Trust relationships, token reuse, shared credentials, weak segmentation
- Keep movement minimal and auditable
- Test detection/response:
- Document whether controls trigger and how quickly teams react
- Capture gaps in telemetry and containment
- Cleanup and verify:
- Remove all test artifacts
- Recheck system state to confirm rollback
Output Template
# Maintaining Access Output
## Persistence Simulation
- Technique class:
- Target:
- Result:
- Reversibility check:
## Lateral Movement Assessment
- Starting context:
- Reachable systems:
- Constraints encountered:
## Detection and Response
- Alerts triggered:
- Time to detect:
- Time to contain:
- Gaps observed:
## Cleanup Verification
- Artifacts removed:
- Validation method:
Quality Checks
- All persistence actions were pre-approved and reversible.
- Evidence includes timeline from initial foothold to cleanup.
- Detection gaps are mapped to concrete control improvements.