tollan/benign-client repository overview

⁠Benign Client Container

⁠Overview

This container provides a standard Ubuntu client with basic networking tools for testing and simulation purposes. It's designed to represent a normal, non-malicious client in network security testing scenarios.

⁠Features

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS base image
• SSH access (root:pass)
• Basic networking utilities
• DNS tools
• Network scanning tools (nmap, netcat)
• Logging enabled (rsyslog)
• Python 3 with venv for ad-hoc scripting
• Traffic scripts for ping, nmap, HTTP, and FTP (2-second interval by default)

⁠Installed Packages

• SSH: openssh-server
• Logging: rsyslog
• Network Tools: net-tools, iproute2, iputils-ping, traceroute, telnet, tcpdump, isc-dhcp-client
• Text Editors: vim, nano
• Utilities: curl, wget, procps, ca-certificates
• DNS: bind9-dnsutils (dig, nslookup)
• Security Tools: nmap, netcat-openbsd
• Python: python3, python3-venv (python points to python3)

⁠Usage in GNS3

⁠Starting the Container

1. Import the container into GNS3
2. Connect to network interfaces as needed
3. Start the container

⁠Accessing the Container

# SSH access
ssh root@<container_ip>
# Password: pass

# Or use GNS3 console

⁠Manual Service Startup (if needed)

# Start logging service
rsyslogd

# Start SSH service
/usr/sbin/sshd -D

⁠Testing Network Connectivity

# Test basic connectivity
ping <target_ip>

# DNS resolution
nslookup <domain>
dig <domain>

# Network scanning
nmap -sn <network_range>
nmap -p 22,80,443 <target_ip>

# Port connectivity
nc -zv <target_ip> <port>

⁠Traffic Generation Scripts

All scripts accept target parameters and run continuously with a default 2-second interval. You can override the interval by passing a second argument where applicable.

# Ping continuously
./run_ping.sh <target_ip> [interval_seconds]

# Nmap lightweight scans repeatedly
./run_nmap.sh <target_ip_or_cidr> [interval_seconds]

# HTTP GET to root path repeatedly
./run_http.sh <server_ip> [interval_seconds]

# FTP list and upload test file repeatedly
./run_ftp.sh <server_ip> <username> [password] [interval_seconds]

⁠Python

Ubuntu 24.04 blocks system-wide pip install (PEP 668), so install packages into a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv ~/venv
~/venv/bin/pip install <package>

⁠Logging

• System logs: /var/log/syslog
• Auth logs: /var/log/auth.log
• Custom logs: /var/log/

⁠Configuration

• SSH is configured to allow root login with password authentication
• All basic networking tools are pre-installed and ready to use
• Logging is enabled for troubleshooting and monitoring

⁠Troubleshooting

• If SSH doesn't work, check if the service is running: ps aux | grep sshd
• For network issues, verify interface configuration: ip addr show
• Check logs for errors: tail -f /var/log/syslog