Mastering Reconnaissance: The Ultimate Guide for Bug Hunters (Part 1)

Section 2:

Subdomain Enumeration — Leaving No Stone Unturned

Subdomain enumeration is vital because subdomains often host services that are overlooked or forgotten by the organization, making them prime targets for vulnerabilities.

Advanced Tools for Subdomain Enumeration:

Amass: The go-to tool for comprehensive enumeration using passive and active sources.Findomain: A fast subdomain enumerator that integrates well with other tools.Chaos API by ProjectDiscovery: Offers an up-to-date subdomain list based on certificate transparency and other sources.

Advanced Techniques:

1.Passive Subdomain Enumeration with Amass:

amass enum -passive -d target.com -o passive_subs.txtThis collects data from public sources without making direct requests, avoiding detection.

2.Active Subdomain Enumeration and Brute-forcing:

Use MassDNS for fast and large-scale DNS resolution:massdns -r resolvers.txt -t A -o S subdomains.txt -w resolved.txt

3.DNS Over HTTPS (DoH) for Stealthy Recon:

Tools like dnsx can leverage DoH, making it harder for the target to detect your enumeration efforts:dnsx -l subdomains.txt -r resolvers.txt --doh -o results.txt

Pro Tip: Combining Results for Maximum Coverage:

Use a tool like gotator to combine and mutate results from various sources, increasing the chance of finding unique subdomains.

Section 5:

Automating Recon — Speeding Up Your Workflow

Automation in recon can save time and increase efficiency, especially when dealing with large scopes.

Advanced Automation Tools:

ReconFTW: A powerful automated reconnaissance tool that combines multiple steps into one script.Nuclei: An automation tool for vulnerability scanning and templated reconnaissance.GitHub Recon: Use tools like GitHub-Dorks to automate the search for sensitive information on GitHub.

Technique: Full Automation with ReconFTW

Run a fully automated recon with ReconFTW:./reconftw.sh -d target.com -aRun recon tools in Docker containers to avoid cluttering your system and ensure a consistent environment.

Conclusion and What’s Next:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this first part of our guide, we’ve covered advanced techniques and tools for domain discovery, subdomain enumeration, DNS analysis, and asset discovery. These are the foundational steps of reconnaissance that every bug hunter should master.

In Part 2, we will dive into port scanning, service identification, content discovery, OSINT techniques, and advanced automation strategies to help you get even deeper insights into your target.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

If you found this guide helpful, please like, share, and follow me for more in-depth bug hunting and cybersecurity insights:

👉 Follow me on X (Twitter)
👉 Connect with me on LinkedIn

Stay tuned for Part 2!

#BugBounty #Reconnaissance #CyberSecurity #EthicalHacking #InfoSec #AdvancedRecon