What is Payload?

The part of an exploit that performs a specific action, such as opening a reverse shell or creating a backdoor.

Expanded Explanation

In ethical hacking, a payload is delivered after a vulnerability is exploited, and it carries out the attacker’s desired outcome. Payloads can be benign in penetration testing (e.g., for proving exploitability) or malicious in real-world scenarios. Tools like Metasploit allow testers to create and customize payloads for various attack simulations.

Related Terms

Exploit, Shell, Metasploit, Reverse Shell, Backdoor

Looking for Payload hardware? Check out our Ethical Hacking Tools Shop.

Want to learn more?

If you’re interested in Payloads, we recommend: Learn Social Engineering From Scratch Course

Check out our Online Ethical Hacking Courses.

✅ Lifetime access to lessons
✅ Learn the Fundamentals
✅ Learn at your own pace
✅ Designed for Beginner Friendly
✅ No programming or hacking experience needed.
✅ Get answers from our Support Team within a maximum of 15 hours.
✅ Unlimited Updates.
✅ Verifiable certificate of completion from zSecurity, signed by the course instructor, Zaid.

See all zSecurity Courses

Back to Glossary Index Page