A fully documented, enterprise-inspired cybersecurity lab built on Proxmox for practicing penetration testing, Active Directory exploitation, privilege escalation, pivoting, web application attacks, and professional reporting.

Overview

This repository documents the design, deployment, and operation of a reusable cybersecurity lab that closely resembles a small enterprise network.

The primary goal is to create a repeatable environment where attacks can be practiced safely and reset to a known-good state using Proxmox snapshots.

Unlike many "vulnerable VM" collections, this lab emphasizes realistic infrastructure and attack paths. Machines exist for a reason, users belong to departments, and services are deployed similarly to what an internal penetration tester would encounter.

Objectives

Learn enterprise networking
Build an Active Directory environment
Practice OSCP-style methodology
Learn Windows and Linux privilege escalation
Practice web application testing
Practice buffer overflow exploitation
Learn lateral movement and pivoting
Build professional documentation habits
Maintain a reusable cyber range

Lab Architecture

                     Internet
                         |
                    Home Router
                         |
                      Proxmox
                         |
                    vmbr0 (WAN)
                         |
                      pfSense
             +-----------+-----------+
             |                       |
      vmbr1 (Attack)          vmbr2 (Corporate)
             |                       |
          Kali Linux           Active Directory
                               Windows Clients
                               SQL Server
                               File Server
                               Linux Targets
                               Buffer Overflow VM

                     vmbr3 (DMZ)
                         |
                 Public Web Targets

Repository Layout

homelab/
├── README.md
├── diagrams/
├── docs/
├── playbooks/
└── assets/

Documentation

File	Purpose
01-proxmox.md	Proxmox installation and virtualization
02-pfsense.md	Firewall and routing
03-networking.md	Network design and IP addressing
04-active-directory.md	Domain deployment
05-kali.md	Attacker workstation
06-vulnerable-machines.md	Windows/Linux targets
07-pivoting.md	Internal routing and tunneling
08-buffer-overflow.md	Dedicated BOF machine
09-web-attacks.md	Web application testing
10-privilege-escalation.md	Windows/Linux PrivEsc
11-attack-methodology.md	Full penetration testing workflow
12-resetting-the-lab.md	Snapshots and restoration
troubleshooting.md	Common issues

IP Addressing

Network	Purpose
192.168.1.0/24	Home LAN
10.10.10.0/24	Attacker Network
10.10.20.0/24	Internal Corporate LAN
10.10.30.0/24	DMZ

Virtual Machines

Machine	Purpose
pfSense	Firewall and routing
Kali Linux	Attacker workstation
DC01	Active Directory
WIN10-01	Domain workstation
WIN10-02	Domain workstation
FILE01	SMB enumeration
SQL01	MSSQL attacks
WEB01	Web exploitation
LINUX01	Linux privilege escalation
BOF-WIN7	Buffer overflow practice
PIVOT01	Pivoting and tunneling

Learning Workflow

Each exercise should follow the same methodology:

Reconnaissance
Enumeration
Vulnerability Identification
Initial Access
Privilege Escalation
Credential Harvesting
Pivoting
Lateral Movement
Domain Compromise
Documentation
Restore Snapshot

Snapshot Philosophy

Every virtual machine should maintain at least one baseline snapshot.

Recommended naming convention:

BASE_INSTALL
DOMAIN_JOINED
VULNERABLE
READY_FOR_ATTACK

Rollback should always return the machine to a known state within seconds.

Documentation Standards

Every completed attack should include:

Objective
Enumeration
Exploitation
Privilege Escalation
Screenshots
Commands Used
Lessons Learned
Detection Opportunities
Mitigations

Long-Term Goals

Future improvements include:

SIEM integration
Wazuh
Sysmon
BloodHound
Elastic Stack
Terraform
Ansible
Automated lab deployment
Continuous lab documentation through Wiki.js