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Default credentials

Theory

Default credentials are a really simple and extremely common way to get initial access to a system. Many devices (especially in the Internet of Things) come with default non-random passwords that are often left unchanged. Below is a list of very common credentials :

UsernamePassword
adminadmin
rootroot
tomcattomcat
passwordpassword

Practice

Default passwords can be found through the following means

This technique is not to be confused with credential bruteforcing which aims at sending multiple login+password attempts until valid credentials are found. The "default credentials" technique aims at finding potential valid creds depending on the information gathered during the reconnaissance phase.

Resources

https://owasp.org/www-project-web-security-testing-guide/latest/4-Web_Application_Security_Testing/04-Authentication_Testing/02-Testing_for_Default_Credentials