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  • Lab
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    • Cloud
    • Security
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Labs

Write a Script to Perform a Vulnerability Scan of the Listed Services

This time we need to write an automated vulnerability scan of the server using Python. This Python script will make use of Nmap. The must do the following: * Perform a broad full vulnerability sweep. * Generatea report and send it to the admin by email. * Be scheduled to run every week.

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Lab platform
Lab Info
Level
Intermediate
Last updated
Sep 11, 2025
Duration
30m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Install EPEL repos, Nmap, sendemail, python36, python36-devel, and git
    sudo yum install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm
    
    sudo yum install nmap python36 python36-devel
    sudo yum install git
    sudo yum install sendemail
    
  2. Challenge

    Get vulnersCom and Perform a Vulnerability Scan of httpd, mariadb, and sshd
    git clone https://github.com/vulnersCom/nmap-vulners.git
    
    sudo mv /home/cloud_user/nmap-vulners/ /usr/share/nmap/scripts/
    
    nmap -sV --script nmap-vulners <IP> -p22,80,3306
    
  3. Challenge

    Write a Python Script to Incorporate the Scans and Send Results via Email
    vim /home/cloud_user/scan.py
    
    #!/bin/python3.6
    
    import subprocess
    
    p = subprocess.Popen(["nmap", "-sV", "--script", "nmap-vulners", "[IP_ADDRESS]", "-p22,80,3306"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
    (output, err) = p.communicate()
    msg = output.decode('utf-8').strip()
    
    subprocess.check_output(['sendemail', '-f', '[FROM_EMAIL]', '-u', 'AUTH_NOTIFICATION', '-t', '[TO_EMAIL]', '-s', 'smtp.gmail.com:587', '-o', 'tls=yes', '-xu', '[USER_NAME]', '-xp', '[PASSWORD]', '-m', msg], stdin=None, stderr=None, shell=False, universal_newlines=False)
    
    ESC
    :wq
    ENTER
    
    chmod +x /home/cloud_user/scan.py
    
  4. Challenge

    Configure the Script to Run Once a Week
    sudo crontab -e
    
    @weekly /home/cloud_user/scan.py
    
    ESC 
    :wq
    ENTER
    
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