**Note: The content in this article is only for educational purposes and understanding of cybersecurity concepts. It should enable people and organizations to have a better grip on threats and know how to protect themselves against them. Please use this information responsibly.**
DoS: Denial of Service Attack has an impact on normal operations of a server, service, or network. It overwhelms the target with huge internet traffic. This attack can block the service and prevent genuine users from using it.
A Slowloris attack is a type of Denial of Service (DoS) attack. It targets web servers . It operates on layer 7 of OSI.
The goal is to establish numerous open connections to the target server and maintain them for as long as possible. Slowloris accomplishes this by sending partial HTTP requests to the server at regular intervals. This method ties up the server’s resources making it difficult to close these connections and serve real users .
Slowloris uses a different and quieter method than typical DoS attacks.
DoS attacks try to flood a server with tons of traffic requiring massive bandwidth and computing power. They often stick out and DDoS protection systems can detect and block them .
On the other hand, Slowloris attacks take a “low-and-slow” approach. They use little bandwidth and often appear as normal legitimate traffic.
Regular DoS attacks hit the whole network affecting various services and ports. But Slowloris attacks zero in on the web server. This narrow focus makes Slowloris attacks tougher to spot and more challenging to block.
Slowloris attacks exploit a specific flaw in the HTTP protocol’s operation. A DoS attack, in contrast, uses a more general high-volume strategy. Businesses should grasp these distinctions and shield their web applications and servers from smart targeted attacks like Slowloris as well as common DoS threats.
How a Slowloris Attack Works
Slowloris has an impact on HTTP protocol behavior to carry out its attack. During a typical HTTP request, the server processes the request and maintains a session slot until the request ends. Slowloris takes advantage of this by beginning an HTTP request without finishing it.
The attack begins when Slowloris establishes numerous connections to the target web server. It sends HTTP headers without completing them, which keeps the connection open for extended periods. People refer to this as a “partial request.” Slowloris sends the HTTP headers often enough to keep the connection alive but not enough to finish the request and free up the slot.
As the hacker maintains these connections, the web server’s maximum concurrent connection pool gets full. The server behaves as if it’s handling heavy traffic blocking new connections from real users and causing a denial of service attack. Unlike typical DoS attacks that require lots of bandwidth, Slowloris needs few resources to carry out the attack. The gradual and covert approach makes it tough to detect, and standard timeouts don’t work because each incomplete request keeps the sessions active.
Why are Slowloris Attacks Dangerous?
Slowloris attacks put a digital business’s operations at risk for several reasons:
Stealth: Slowloris attacks are tough to detect because they operate and . Unlike typical DDoS attacks that bombard servers with numerous requests, Slowloris attacks employ a more subtle approach.
Efficiency: Slowloris attacks require minimal resources to execute. A single computer with a standard internet connection can carry out a Slowloris attack. It doesn’t demand high bandwidth or computing power. This means any malicious actor with intent can launch a Slowloris attack.
Few Footprints: Slowloris attacks target web servers but don’t mess with other services. This means they don’t leave many clues behind. This makes it hard to stop these attacks and handle them after they occur.
Service Disruption: Slowloris attacks try to block service. These attacks can interrupt services causing companies to lose money and hurt their image.
Step 1: $ ifconfig
STEP 2: As we have got the IP address now, Make kali as your server, start the apache server using the following command.
$ service apache2 start
Use the command below to see your server’s current status.
$ service apache 2 status
STEP 3: open this ip address on your windows
STEP 4: Now it’s time to run the command, open another kali on your VM and open the slowloris tool.
$ slowloris
STEP 5: write the comment
$ Python3 slowloris.py -s <ip of the victim> machine.
STEP 6: When the attack starts, open your browser and attempt to reload the page. You’ll see it takes a while to refresh. This indicates the tool has begun to attack the IP address you entered. The page continues loading without displaying. This shows how the slowloris tool operates.
Check out this example. The browser can’t show the page because it’s waiting to get an IP address. This happens when a Slowloris tool attack is running behind the scenes. If you’re aiming at a real website, you can use its domain name instead of an IP address with the Slowloris tool. The tool will then start its attack on that specific domain. Keep in mind, these actions are against the law, and we don’t back or promote them. This guide is just for learning.
Step 7 : Now return to your Kali and end the attack by pressing ctrl^c.
