The Importance of Application Security Before Infrastructure Hacking

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James E.’s post highlights a critical shift in cybersecurity learning paths—prioritizing application security (AppSec) before diving into infrastructure hacking. His recommended certification path—CBBH, BSCP, CWEE, and OSWE—focuses on coding, reverse engineering, and web exploitation before tackling infrastructure like networks or systems.

Why AppSec First?

  1. Job Demand: Application vulnerabilities (e.g., APIs, web apps) dominate modern attack surfaces.
  2. Tool Building: Proficiency in coding lets you create custom exploits/evasion tools.
  3. Evasion Mastery: Elite adversaries bypass defenses at the code level (e.g., memory corruption, API unhooking).

You Should Know: Practical AppSec Commands & Code

1. Web App Testing (CWEE/OSWE Focus)

  • SQL Injection Payload:
    ' OR 1=1-- -

Test with `curl`:

curl -X GET "http://example.com/search?q=' OR 1=1-- -"
  • File Inclusion:
    curl http://example.com/?page=../../../etc/passwd

2. Binary Exploitation (BSCP/CBBH Focus)

  • Buffer Overflow in C:
    include <string.h>
void vulnerable(char input) {
char buffer[bash];
strcpy(buffer, input); // No bounds checking!
}

Exploit with Python:

python -c 'print("A"  104 + "\xef\xbe\xad\xde")' | ./vulnerable_app
  • GDB Debugging:
    gdb -q ./binary
run $(python -c 'print("A"  200)')

3. Evasion Techniques (OSWE Focus)

  • API Unhooking (Windows):
    Import-Module ./Invoke-UNHook.ps1
Invoke-UNHook -DLL ntdll.dll

  • Linux Process Injection:

    gcc -shared -fPIC -o inject.so inject.c
LD_PRELOAD=./inject.so /bin/ls

What Undercode Say

Mastering AppSec first transforms you into a versatile hacker. Infrastructure attacks often rely on pre-built tools (e.g., Metasploit), but AppSec skills let you:
– Write custom exploits for zero-days.
– Bypass EDR/AV by manipulating code flow.
– Understand malware at the assembly level.

Key Commands to Practice:

  • Linux: strace -f ./binary, `objdump -d ./elf`
  • Windows: `!peb` in WinDbg, `sc query type= driver`
  • Networking: tcpdump -i eth0 'port 80', `ngrep -q “password”`

Expected Output:

A hacker who starts with AppSec can:

1. Reverse engineer malware.

2. Patch vulnerabilities in custom apps.

3. Evade modern defenses via code-level tricks.

Prediction: The future of offensive security will demand deeper coding skills as defenses (e.g., AI-based EDR) evolve. Raw infrastructure attacks will decline in efficacy.

(No cyber/IT URLs found in the original post to extract.)

References:

Reported By: Activity 7325720919648153601 – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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