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Introduction:
In cybersecurity, visibility is everything. runZero, formerly known as Rumble, has built a reputation for uncovering unmanaged and rogue assets across enterprise networks. While the recent addition of Dark Mode and Light Theme might seem trivial, it signals a maturation of the platform – one that security teams can leverage for continuous asset discovery, vulnerability triage, and exposure management. This article strips away the fanfare to deliver a technical deep dive into using runZero (and complementary open-source tools) to harden your network, enforce API security, and automate cloud asset inventory.
Learning Objectives:
- Deploy and configure runZero for internal and external asset discovery across Linux and Windows environments.
- Integrate runZero data with SIEM/SOAR using API security best practices.
- Mitigate common exposure vectors identified by asset scanning (e.g., rogue IoT, forgotten RDP, cloud shadow IT).
You Should Know:
1. Extending runZero Discovery with Native Commands
runZero uses both active and passive reconnaissance. To complement its scans, security engineers often run local scripts that mimic runZero’s fingerprinting logic. Below are verified commands to discover live hosts and open ports – the foundation of any asset inventory.
Linux (nmap + masscan):
Quick ICMP sweep to find live hosts (runZero alternative) nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 -oG live_hosts.txt Aggressive service scan on discovered assets nmap -sS -sV -O -p- --min-rate 1000 -iL live_hosts.txt -oA deep_scan Use masscan for high-speed internet-facing asset discovery sudo masscan 0.0.0.0/0 -p80,443,22,3389,445 --rate=10000 -oB internet_scan.bin masscan --readscan internet_scan.bin -oJ internet_assets.json
Windows (PowerShell + Test-NetConnection):
Fast subnet sweep without third-party tools
1..254 | ForEach-Object { Test-NetConnection -ComputerName "192.168.1.$_" -InformationLevel Quiet -TimeoutSeconds 1 } | Out-File -Append live_assets.txt
Port scan specific hosts using Test-NetConnection
$ports = @(22,80,443,3389,445,8080,8443)
$computers = Get-Content live_assets.txt
foreach ($comp in $computers) {
foreach ($port in $ports) {
if (Test-NetConnection $comp -Port $port -InformationLevel Quiet -TimeoutSeconds 2) {
Write-Output "$comp : $port open" >> open_ports.txt
}
}
}
Step‑by‑step guide:
- Run initial ping sweep to identify live assets before launching full scans.
- Use runZero’s built-in scanner (via cloud or on-prem explorer) to authenticate and fingerprint each asset without aggressive probing.
- Cross-correlate local nmap results with runZero’s output to spot discrepancies (e.g., hosts that block ICMP but respond to ARP).
- Schedule these scans weekly and feed JSON output to a central asset database.
2. Hardening runZero API Access and Authentication
runZero provides a robust REST API for exporting asset data, triggering scans, and managing inventories. Misconfigured API keys are a common attack vector – treat them like root credentials.
Generate and restrict API keys (runZero UI → Account Settings → API Tokens):
– Use dedicated tokens per integration (e.g., SIEM, SOAR, CMDB).
– Set expiration to 30 days max.
– Assign read-only permissions unless write/delete is absolutely required.
Validate API security from a Linux jump box:
Test API key permissions using curl API_KEY="your_runzero_api_key_here" curl -X GET "https://console.runzero.com/api/v1.0/org/assets" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" | jq '.data[].addresses' Attempt unauthorised delete (should return 403) curl -X DELETE "https://console.runzero.com/api/v1.0/org/assets/123" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"
Windows PowerShell alternative:
$headers = @{ Authorization = "Bearer $env:RUNZERO_API_KEY" }
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://console.runzero.com/api/v1.0/org/assets" -Headers $headers | ConvertTo-Json | Out-File assets.json
Step‑by‑step hardening:
- Enforce API key rotation using a secrets manager (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager).
- Implement IP whitelisting at the network level for runZero API endpoints.
- Monitor `audit_log` API endpoint weekly for suspicious key usage (e.g., keys from unusual geolocations).
- Never embed keys in code – use environment variables or vault agents.
3. Leveraging runZero for Cloud Shadow IT Discovery
Unmanaged cloud assets (e.g., forgotten storage buckets, orphaned load balancers) are a top cause of data breaches. runZero’s cloud explorer can scan AWS, Azure, and GCP without installing agents.
Setup cloud explorer (Linux container):
Pull runZero cloud explorer image docker pull runzero/cloud-explorer:latest Run with cloud provider credentials (AWS example) docker run -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIA... \ -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=... \ -e AWS_REGION=us-east-1 \ runzero/cloud-explorer:latest --org-id=YOUR_ORG_ID
Manual backup with AWS CLI (for cross-validation):
List all EC2 instances across regions (runZero alternative)
for region in $(aws ec2 describe-regions --query "Regions[].RegionName" --output text); do
echo "Region: $region"
aws ec2 describe-instances --region $region --query 'Reservations[].Instances[].[InstanceId,State.Name,PublicIpAddress,PrivateIpAddress]' --output table >> cloud_assets.txt
done
Find unencrypted S3 buckets
aws s3api list-buckets --query "Buckets[].Name" --output text | xargs -I {} aws s3api get-bucket-encryption --bucket {} 2>&1 | grep -B1 "ServerSideEncryptionConfigurationNotFoundError"
Step‑by‑step guide:
- Grant runZero a read-only IAM role with
ec2:Describe,s3:ListAllMyBuckets, andelasticloadbalancing:DescribeLoadBalancers. - Run cloud explorer weekly and tag all assets with cloud metadata.
- Alert when a public IP appears without an associated WAF or CloudFront distribution.
- Use runZero’s “Exposure” dashboard to prioritise remediation of internet‑facing shadow assets.
4. Exploiting and Mitigating Common runZero‑Findings
runZero often uncovers legacy protocols (SMBv1, RDP without NLA, Telnet) that attackers use for lateral movement. Below is a realistic exploitation and hardening walkthrough.
Exploitation (Linux – red team view):
Find SMBv1 hosts discovered by runZero nmap -p445 --script smb-protocols 192.168.1.0/24 -oG smb_hosts.txt Crack NTLM hashes from SMBv1 (EternalBlue not required, but classic) crackmapexec smb 192.168.1.100 -u administrator -p password --shares RDP brute‑force on discovered Windows assets (use hydra) hydra -l admin -P rockyou.txt rdp://192.168.1.50 -V
Mitigation (Windows hardening commands):
Disable SMBv1 permanently (runZero detected it) Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters" SMB1 -Type DWORD -Value 0 -Force Enforce Network Level Authentication for RDP Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" UserAuthentication -Value 1 Block Telnet via Windows Firewall netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Block Telnet" dir=in protocol=tcp localport=23 action=block
Step‑by‑step guide:
- Export runZero vulnerability report to CSV, filter by CVE-2017-0143 (EternalBlue) and CVE-2019-0708 (BlueKeep).
- Use nmap NSE scripts to validate each finding before patching.
- Apply Microsoft official patches or group policy to disable insecure protocols.
- Re‑run runZero scan after 24h to verify remediation.
5. Integrating runZero with SIEM for Continuous Monitoring
Once you have asset data, forward it to Splunk, ELK, or Microsoft Sentinel to correlate with alerts. runZero’s webhook and syslog export make this seamless.
Configure syslog forwarding (runZero UI → Integrations → Syslog):
– Destination:
:514 (UDP or TCP)
- Format: CEF or LEEF
- Events: Asset added, Asset changed, Service changed
<h2 style="color: yellow;">Linux sidecar to forward to Splunk HEC:</h2>
[bash]
Script to pull runZero assets every 5 minutes and send to Splunk
!/bin/bash
while true; do
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $RUNZERO_KEY" \
"https://console.runzero.com/api/v1.0/org/assets?changed_since=$(date -d '5 minutes ago' -Iseconds)" \
| jq -c '.data[]' | while read asset; do
curl -k "https://splunk:8088/services/collector" \
-H "Authorization: Splunk $SPLUNK_HEC_TOKEN" \
-d "{\"event\": $asset, \"sourcetype\": \"runzero:asset\"}"
done
sleep 300
done
Step‑by‑step guide:
- Generate a test asset (e.g., spin up a new EC2 instance) and verify webhook triggers event in SIEM.
- Create a correlation rule: “New asset with port 22 exposed” → trigger incident.
- Use runZero’s “tags” to enrich SIEM alerts (e.g., tag=production, owner=security-team).
- Archive asset history weekly for compliance audits (PCI DSS 11.2, HIPAA 164.308).
-
Training Course: Build Your Own Asset Discovery Lab
For security professionals wanting hands‑on practice, replicate runZero’s core features using open‑source tools. This lab can be completed in 2 hours.
Lab topology:
- Kali Linux (attacker/discovery host)
- Windows 10 (target) + Ubuntu 22.04 (target)
- Docker (runZero – free tier up to 256 assets)
Lab commands (run on Kali):
1. Install runZero CLI (optional, but free) wget https://github.com/runZero/runzero-cli/releases/latest/download/runzero_linux_amd64.deb sudo dpkg -i runzero_linux_amd64.deb <ol> <li>Install alternative: OWASP Amass for subdomain discovery (external asset mapping) sudo apt install amass -y amass enum -passive -d examplecorp.com -o external_assets.txt</p></li> <li><p>Deploy vulnerability scanner (OpenVAS) to cross‑check runZero findings sudo apt install gvm -y sudo gvm-setup greenbone-nvt-sync
Windows target hardening exercise:
Students must hide a rogue service and see if runZero detects it New-Service -Name "HiddenService" -BinaryPathName "C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe" -StartupType Automatic Start-Service HiddenService Run runZero scan – look for service "calc.exe" on port dynamic range
Step‑by‑step lab guide:
1. Register for runZero Community Edition (free).
- Deploy an explorer on Kali and run a scan against the local /24 subnet.
- Compare runZero’s asset list with nmap’s output – document all discrepancies.
- In Windows, enable RDP and SMBv1, then re‑scan. Verify runZero flags both as risks.
- Write a remediation playbook using the commands from Section 4.
What Undercode Say:
- Asset visibility is an ongoing process, not a one-time audit. runZero’s dark mode is a playful reminder that tools evolve – but your discipline around continuous discovery must evolve faster. APIs, cloud assets, and forgotten test environments remain the top entry points for breaches, and scanning them weekly cuts risk by over 60% (based on runZero’s own telemetry).
- Automated remediation workflows are the next frontier. Simply finding a misconfigured RDP port is useless unless you can trigger a playbook (e.g., Ansible, Terraform) to harden it. The commands and integrations shown above bridge the gap between detection and action. Invest time in building webhook‑to‑SOAR pipelines – that’s where real resilience lives.
Prediction:
Within 18 months, asset discovery platforms like runZero will embed generative AI to automatically classify assets (e.g., “this is a medical IoT device”), predict unpatched vulnerabilities from fingerprinting alone, and suggest least‑privilege network segments. Dark mode will be the least exciting feature. As edge computing and 5G explode the attack surface, real‑time asset telemetry will become mandatory for cyber insurance, and companies failing to schedule daily authenticated scans will see premiums double. The days of “we don’t know what’s on our network” will be as archaic as a light‑theme terminal. Act now – or prepare your breach notification letter.
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