Once our exploit and payload code are successful and
access is gained, now what? Well here is where
post‑exploitation activities come into play.
Let's talk more about the capabilities provided in
Metasploit. Post exploitation or post modules,
as they're known in Metasploit,
are useful tools once you have a compromised system. These tools can simplify
and automate the collection of information from the system, the collection of
credential data, the modification of the system, and can escalate privileges of
the current process to a higher level.
Meterpreter may be named the Metasploit interpreter,
but it has grown far beyond being just an interpreter or command shell.
It is a full‑feature toolkit for post‑exploitation activities.
It's modular and scriptable.
It has capabilities for searching, as well as downloading and uploading files.
You can examine running processes.
It can also collect hashes for cracking and for pass‑the‑hash attacks.
Meterpreter can also manipulate networking for attacking other systems.