Terna Engineering College
Computer Engineering Department
Class: TE Sem.: VI
Course: System Security Lab
PART A
(PART A : TO BE REFFERED BY STUDENTS)
Experiment No.06
A.1 Aim: Implement ARP Spoofing using Ettercap.
A.2 Prerequisite:
1. Basic Knowledge of IP addresses, Port numbers, ARP
A.3 Outcome:
After successful completion of this experiment students will be able to
To explore and use tools like sniffers, port scanners and other related tools for analyzing packets in a
network.
A.4 Theory:
ARP spoofing is an attack against an Ethernet or Wi-Fi network to get between the router and the target
user. In an ARP spoofing attack, messages meant for the target are sent to the attacker instead, allowing
the attacker to spy on, deny service to, or man-in-the-middle a target. One of the most popular tools for
performing this attack is Ettercap, which comes preinstalled on Kali Linux.
On a regular network, messages are routed over Ethernet or Wi-Fi by associating the MAC address of a
connected device with the IP address used to identify it by the router. Usually, this happens via an address
resolution protocol (ARP) message indicating which device's MAC address goes with which IP address. It
lets the rest of the network know where to send traffic — but it can be easily spoofed to change the way
traffic is routed.
In an ARP spoofing attack, a program like Ettercap will send spoofed messages attempting to get nearby
devices to associate the hacker's MAC address with the IP address of the target. When successful, they're
stored temporarily in a configuration setting on other network devices. If the rest of the network starts
delivering packets intended for the target to the attacker instead, the attacker effectively controls the
target's data connection.
Types of ARP Spoofing Attacks
There can be three primary outcomes after an attacker gains initial success in poisoning the ARP cache of
other hosts on the network:
The attacker can spy on traffic. They can lurk in the shadows, seeing everything that the target
user does on the network. It's pretty self-explanatory.
The attacker can intercept and modify the packets in a man-in-the-middle attack. They can
intercept passwords typed into an HTTP website, see DNS requests, and resolve IP addresses the
target is navigating to in order to see what websites the target is visiting. In a man-in-the-middle
attack, the attacker has the opportunity to not only see what's happening on the network but
manipulate it as well. For instance, they can attempt to downgrade the encryption the connection
is using by deliberately requesting insecure versions of webpages in an effort to make the
attacker's job of sniffing passwords easier. In addition, a hacker can simply be a nuisance. For
example, they can replace words in the text of a website, flip or replace images, or modify other
types of data flowing to and from the target.
The attacker can drop the packets meant for the target to create a denial-of-service attack. This is
possibly the most frustrating to a target. While a Wi-Fi authentication attack is by far the more
common cause of a Wi-Fi network being attacked, ARP spoofing can be much more difficult to
figure out. If the attacker chooses not to forward on the packets now being sent to it instead of the
target, the target will never receive them. The Wi-Fi network can be jammed from the inside,
getting between the target and the router and then dropping the packets flowing between.
A5. Procedure
Steps to perform ARP spoofing
Ettercap Graphical
One of the most intriguing programs installed by default in Kali Linux is Ettercap. Unlike many of the
programs that are command line only, Ettercap features a graphical interface that's very beginner-friendly.
While the results may sometimes vary, Ettercap is a great tool for newbies to get the hang of network
attacks like ARP spoofing. If you don't already have it (like if you downloaded a light version of Kali),
you can get it by typing the following into a terminal window.
apt install ettercap-graphical
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
ettercap-graphical is already the newest version (1:0.8.2-10+b2).
Ettercap isn't the only tool for this, nor is it the most modern. Other tools, such as Bettercap, claim to do
what Ettercap does but more effectively. However, Ettercap proves effective enough to feature for our
demonstration. The general workflow of an Ettercap ARP spoofing attack is to join a network you want to
attack, locate hosts on the network, assign targets to a "targets" file, and then execute the attack on the
targets.
Once we do all of that, we can figuratively watch over the target's shoulder as they browse the internet,
and we can even kill the connection from websites we want to steer them away from. We can also run
various payloads, like isolating a host from the rest of the network, denying them service by dropping all
packets sent to them, or running scripts to attempt to downgrade the security of the connection.
Step 1Connect to the Network
The first step of ARP spoofing is to connect to the network you want to attack. If you're attacking an
encrypted WEP, WPA, or WPA2 network, you'll need to know the password. This is because we're
attacking the network internally, so we need to be able to see some information about the other hosts on
the network and the data passing within it.
You can connect to a network for ARP spoofing in two ways. The first is to connect via Eithernet, which
is very effective but may not always be practical and is almost never subtle. Instead, many people prefer
to use a wireless network adapter and perform the ARP spoofing over Wi-Fi.
Step 2: Start Ettercap
In Kali, click on "Applications," then "Sniffing & Spoofing," followed by "ettercap-graphical."
Alternatively, click on the "Show Applications" option in the dock, then search for and select "Ettercap."
Once it starts up, you should find yourself on the Ettercap main screen. You'll see the spooky Ettercap
logo, and a few drop-down menus to start the attack from. In the next step, we'll start exploring the
"Sniff" menu.
At this point, make sure you have an active connection to the network before you continue.
Step 3: Select Network Interface to Sniff On
Click on the "Sniff" menu item, and then select "Unified sniffing." A new window will open asking you
to select which network interface you want to sniff on. You should select the network interface that is
currently connected to the network you're attacking.
Now, you'll see some text confirming that sniffing has started, and you'll be able to access more advanced
menu options such as Targets, Hosts, Mitm, Plugins, etc. Before we get started using any of them, we'll
need to identify our target on the network.
Step 4: Identify Hosts on a Network
To find the device we want to attack on the network, Ettercap has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, we can
do a simple scan for hosts by clicking "Hosts," then "Scan for hosts." A scan will execute, and after it
finishes, you can see the resulting hosts Ettercap has identified on the network by clicking "Hosts," then
"Hosts list."
We can now see a list of targets we've discovered on the network. Want to see what they're doing or
narrow down the targets? Click on "View," then "Connections" to start snooping on connections.
Once in the Connections view, you can filter the connections by IP address, type of connection, and
whether the connection is open, closed, active, or killed. This gives you a lot of snooping power, which
can be augmented by clicking the "View," then "Resolve IP addresses." This means Ettercap will try to
resolve the IP addresses it sees other devices on the network connecting to.
If you want to identify a target on a network and know what they're browsing, look over their shoulder at
what website they're on, and match the website to an IP address with an active connection to the same
website. Otherwise, you can usually tell by the MAC address, as you can look it up online to see the
manufacturer.
Step 5: Select Hosts to Target with ARP Spoofing
Now that we've identified our target's IP address, it's time to add them to a target list. Once we do this,
we'll be telling Ettercap that we want to designate that IP address as one we want to pretend to be, so that
we're receiving messages from the router that were meant to be sent to the target.
Go back to the "Hosts" screen, and select the IP address of the target you want to target. Click the IP
address to highlight it, then click on"Targets," followed by "Target list," to see a list of devices that have
been targeted for ARP spoofing.
Now, we can go to the "Mitm" menu to start our attack on this target.
Step 6: Launch Attack on Targets
Click on the "Mitm" menu, and select "ARP poisoning." A popup will open, and you'll select "Sniff
remote connections" to begin the sniffing attack.
Once this attack has begun, you'll be able to intercept login credentials if the user you're targeting enters
them into a website that doesn't use HTTPS. This could be a router or a device on the network or even a
website that uses poor security.
To try another attack, you can click on "Plugins," then "Load plugins," to show the plugin menu. If you
select the DOS attack, it will begin dropping the packets sent to this target, cutting off their internet
access.
Step 7: Try Intercepting a Password
Now, let's actually try intercepting a password. A website that's great for testing is aavtain.com, which
deliberately uses bad security so that you can intercept credentials. On the target device, navigate
to aavtrain.com. Once it loads, you'll see a login screen you can enter a fake login and password into.
Enter a username and password, then hit "Submit." If Ettercap is successful, you should see the login and
password you typed appear on the attacker's screen!
In this result above, we can see that Ettercap successfully ARP poisoned the target and intercepted an
HTTP login request the target was sending to an insecure website.
ARP Poisoning Is a Powerful Tool with Some Limitations
The major obvious limitation of ARP spoofing is that it only works if you're connected to a Wi-Fi
network. This means it works on open networks but may not work well against networks that have more
sophisticated monitoring or firewalls that may detect this sort of behavior.
ARP spoofing attacks is another example of why it's so important to pick strong passwords for your
networks and limit access to those you trust. You're giving away a lot of trust when you give someone
your network password or an Ethernet connection, so remember to carefully pick your passwords and
who you share them with.
PART B
(PART B : TO BE COMPLETED BY STUDENTS)
(Students must submit the soft copy as per following segments within two hours of the practical. The
soft copy must be uploaded on the Blackboard or emailed to the concerned lab in charge faculties at
the end of the practical in case the there is no Black board access available)
Roll No. Name:
Class : Batch :
Date of Experiment: Date of Submission
Grade :
B.1 Output
(add snapshot of output )
B.2. Commands / tools used with syntax:
B.3 Question of Curiosity:
1. What is ARP?
2. What is MAC address?
3. What is the difference between ARP spoofing and packet sniffing.
B.4 Conclusion:
(Write appropriate conclusion.)