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h0n3yp0t 4ud1t0r in actionReal-World Scenario: The Banner Spoofing Trap
Consider a modern SSH decoy (like Cowrie,dd-honeypot and others) configured to mimic a standard production Linux server:
Naive Banner Grabber:
Connects to port 22 and reads the string:
`SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_8.9p1 Ubuntu-3ubuntu0.1`Concludes: “Standard production server (0% Honeypot).”
Honeypot-Auditor:
Banner Check: Sees OpenSSH claim. (Weight: 0%)
Than we add KEXINIT Inspection: Extracts the raw SSH_MSG_KEXINIT byte sequence. It detects Paramiko/Twisted-specific key exchange algorithms and rigid cipher preferences that real OpenSSH binaries never advertise.
Corroboration Gate Unlocked: Combining the application-layer banner claim with the KEXINIT algorithm mismatch triggers a high-confidence indicator.
Result: Honeyscore leaps to 85.0% [HIGH LIKELIHOOD DECOY] with Tactical Action `SKIP_TARGET`.
And this is by checking only port 22; usually we will find more open ports on honeypots and combining checks on them will increase the detection even further.