Granted Patent B1

US 12,204,959 · App. 17/682,179 · Granted Jan 21, 2025

Inventors: Emmett Kelly (Belfast, GB); Paul Miseiko (Mississauga, CA)

Assignee: Rapid7, Inc.

G06F9/547H04L63/0428H04L67/02

Abstract

Claims (88)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device and from a client that implements a scan engine that scans computers for security vulnerabilities, a high-level command to collect machine characteristics data about the computing device for a vulnerability assessment of the computing device, wherein the high-level command is a remote procedure call made by the scan engine to the computing device, wherein the high-level command is received via a network implemented over Internet and by a software agent executing on the computing device;

converting, by the software agent, the high-level command into a plurality of low-level commands executable to collect the machine characteristics data about the computing device, wherein the low-level commands include operating system commands executable to collect:

(a) contents of individual files of a plurality of files stored on the computing device,

(b) metadata associated with the plurality of files, and

(c) a plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

executing, by the software agent, the plurality of low-level commands on the computing device;

determining, by the software agent, a result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device; and

sending, over the network and by the software agent, the result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device to the client.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-level commands are executable to collect an operating system version of the computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the result comprises one of:

the contents of the individual files stored on the computing device;

the metadata associated with the files;

the plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

a plurality of user permissions associated with users having access to the computing device;

a plurality of group names associated with groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group identifiers associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group permissions associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

group membership data associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

registry data associated with an operating system registry of the computing device; or

an output of executing a command line application on the computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software agent executes the low-level commands on the computing device as a shell script.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a single roundtrip across the network that connects the client to the computing device comprises:

receiving, by the software agent executing on the computing device, the high-level command from the client; and

sending, by the software agent, the result to the client.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the result is sent to the client as a response to the remote procedure call.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the result is sent to the client as a second remote procedure call invoked by the software agent.

8. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at the computing device and from a client that implements a scan engine that scans computers for security vulnerabilities, a high-level command to collect machine characteristics data about the computing device for a vulnerability assessment of the computing device, wherein the high-level command is a remote procedure call made by the scan engine to the computing device, wherein the high-level command is received via a network implemented over Internet and by a software agent executing on the computing device;

converting the high-level command into a plurality of low-level commands executable to collect the machine characteristics data about the computing device, wherein the low-level commands include operating system commands executable to collect:

(a) contents of individual files of a plurality of files stored on the computing device,

(b) metadata associated with the plurality of files, and

(c) a plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

executing the plurality of low-level commands on the computing device;

determining a result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device; and

sending, over the network and by the software agent, the result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device to the client.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the low-level commands are executable to collect an operating system version of the computing device.

10. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein receiving, by the software agent executing on the computing device, the high-level command from the client comprises:

receiving the high-level command at a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) endpoint on the computing device.

11. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the result comprises one of:

the contents of the individual files stored on the computing device;

the metadata associated with the files;

the plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

a plurality of user permissions associated with users that are permitted to access the computing device;

a plurality of group names associated with groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group identifiers associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group permissions associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

group membership data associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

registry data associated with an operating system registry of the computing device; or

an output of executing a command line application on the computing device.

12. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein:

the result is sent to the client as a response to the remote procedure call.

13. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein a single roundtrip across the network that connects the client to the computing device comprises:

receiving, by the software agent executing on the computing device, the high-level command from the client; and

sending, by the software agent, the result to the client.

14. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing instructions executable by one or more processors of a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a computing device and from a client that implements a scan engine that scans computers for security vulnerabilities, a high-level command to collect machine characteristics data about the computing device for a vulnerability assessment of the computing device, wherein the high-level command is a remote procedure call made by the scan engine to the computing device, wherein the high-level command is received via a network implemented over Internet and by a software agent executing on the computing device;

converting the high-level command into a plurality of low-level commands executable to collect the machine characteristics data about the computing device, wherein the low-level commands include operating system commands_executable to collect:

(a) contents of individual files of a plurality of files stored on the computing device,

(b) metadata associated with the plurality of files, and

(c) a plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

executing the plurality of low-level commands on the computing device;

determining a result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device; and

sending, over the network and by the software agent, the result of executing the low-level commands on the computing device to the client.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the low-level commands are executable to collect an operating system version of the computing device.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein:

the result is sent to the client as a second remote procedure call invoked by the software agent.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the result comprises one of:

the contents of the individual files stored on the computing device;

the metadata associated with the files;

the plurality of user identifiers of users that are permitted to access the computing device;

a plurality of user permissions associated with users that are permitted to access the computing device;

a plurality of group names associated with groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group identifiers associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

a plurality of group permissions associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

group membership data associated with one or more groups defined on the computing device;

registry data associated with an operating system registry of the computing device; or

an output of executing a command line application.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the software agent executes the low-level commands on the computing device as a shell script.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein a single roundtrip across the network that connects the client to the computing device comprises:

receiving, by the software agent executing on the computing device, the high-level command from the client; and

sending, by the software agent, the result to the client.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein:

the result is sent to the client as a response to the remote procedure call.

Assignments (2)

References Cited (19)

Cited By (1)

US 12,470,565