Beginning my OSCP Journey

TreySong

saraguru wrote: »

Hi All,

I took up my exam this Sunday and Offsec beat me this time!!!

I thought I'll briefly describe my experience here...My exam started at around 2:30pm and in about 2hrs i got a 25 point machine. Next I started to attack the next 25 pointer but couldn't make any progress. So, I decided to go on with the 20 pointer machine and even there I couldn't get a shell. It was around 6:00pm at the time and I was really really sad to an extent that I thought of giving up at that moment. Then, I took a shower, had some snack and started attacking 10 pointer. It fell within just 30 min and I began gaining my confidence again. And about 8:30pm I got a low privilege shell on another 20 pointer machine. So, within 6hrs or so I got full shell on one 25 pointer, one 10 pointer and low privilege shell on another 20 pointer. I still had my Metasploit lifeline left at this point. So, I thought that I can definitely make it this time. But my bad time started from there. I tried everything I knew on the remaining 2 machines, but every path I took led me to a block. I tried taking breaks and switching between the machines. But nothing worked for me. About 12:30pm the next day, I decided to give up and let Offsec win me this time.

But this was a good experience for me and I am planning to buy extension for 15 days and take up the exam again sometime in June.

Result after Round #1: Offsec (1) - Me (0)

Let me see if I can win Offsec in the 2nd round of the Match.

Good effort Saraguru! Well done.

saraguru

Hello All,

I am realllllly happy to say that I have successfully tamed the Offsec beast and I am an OSCP now.

The two months journey has been awesome and I enjoyed rooting each and every machine in the lab. After facing failure in my first attempt, I did some practicing with Vulnhub machines, doing nearly 1 VM per day on weekdays and 2 machines on the weekends.

I was mentally more prepared for the second round and had some idea of what to expect and how to tackle them. Just when there was about an hour left for the exam to end, I escalated a linux machine and obtained enough points to pass the exam. The moment when I saw the # for that linux machine it is just unforgettable . I got 4 out of 5 machines and couldn't manage to get the fat 25 pointer.

Next, I am gonna have fun for some days and think about doing SLAE soon, followed by OSCE may be at the end of this year or in the beginning of next year ( not having enough money now ). Anybody doing SLAE now or about to start OSCE may be in a month or two??!

fabostrong

Congrats on passing. Can you list the vulnhub machines you did? I'm hoping to go after OSCP after I finish the GCIH.

saraguru

fabostrong wrote: »

Congrats on passing. Can you list the vulnhub machines you did? I'm hoping to go after OSCP after I finish the GCIH.

Thanks a lot fabostrong. I started doing more of Vulnhub only after I failed in my first attempt. First I did the VMs suggested by Sheiko37 which you can find in the below link:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/security-certifications/116262-oscp-starting-13-12-2015-a-6.html
After doing those, I practiced few other things:
Hackfest ( Tri-series )
DC416: 2016 ( i did only 1 from this )
SkyDog 2016: Catch me IF you can
PwnLab: Init
Tommy Boy: 1
6Days Lab: 1.1
The Necromancer: 1
Mr. Robot: 1
Stapler: 1

Note: I did some of these VMs and few others not listed here, even before registering for OSCP.

Vulnhub is a great place to get a feel of what we are gonna face in OSCP lab. It is where I gained much knowledge in a short term as we have walkthrough available ( though it is against offsec style of learning I think one can learn a great deal by this method, I rarely see walkthrough now ).

fabostrong

saraguru wrote: »

Thanks a lot fabostrong. I started doing more of Vulnhub only after I failed in my first attempt. First I did the VMs suggested by Sheiko37 which you can find in the below link:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/security-certifications/116262-oscp-starting-13-12-2015-a-6.html
After doing those, I practiced few other things:
Hackfest ( Tri-series )
DC416: 2016 ( i did only 1 from this )
SkyDog 2016: Catch me IF you can
PwnLab: Init
Tommy Boy: 1
6Days Lab: 1.1
The Necromancer: 1
Mr. Robot: 1
Stapler: 1

Note: I did some of these VMs and few others not listed here, even before registering for OSCP.

Vulnhub is a great place to get a feel of what we are gonna face in OSCP lab. It is where I gained much knowledge in a short term as we have walkthrough available ( though it is against offsec style of learning I think one can learn a great deal by this method, I rarely see walkthrough now ).

Thanks a lot and congrats again!

Dr. Fluxx

*Applauds*

VoyagerOne

Hey Saraguru,

Congrats man u really did a great in cracking the OSCP and detailing your journey for us. Finally all the best for your future endeavors.

saraguru

VoyagerOne wrote: »

Hey Saraguru,

Congrats man u really did a great in cracking the OSCP and detailing your journey for us. Finally all the best for your future endeavors.

Thanks a lotttt VoyagerOne!!

saraguru

Dr. Fluxx wrote: »

*Applauds*

Thanks a lot Dr.Fluxx!!