Viewing Results

Viewing and interpreting task execution results

The results command displays output from executed tasks, including stdout, stderr, exit codes, and execution timing.

Basic Results Usage

View all results for a session:

c2> results a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9f8e7d6c-5b4a-3210-9876-543210abcdef  0         42ms      VICTIM-PC\jdoe
8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12  0         156ms     Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 8.8.8...
7d6c5b4a-3210-9876-5432-10abcdef1234  1         87ms      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3 result(s) total.

  Enter a task_id to view full output, or press Enter to skip:

Results Table Format

The results table shows:

Column	Description	Format
TASK ID	Unique task identifier	Full UUID (36 characters)
EXIT	Command exit code	Integer (0 = success)
DURATION	Execution time	Milliseconds with “ms” suffix
STDOUT	Command output	First 60 characters (truncated)

Truncated Output

Stdout is truncated to 60 characters in the table view:

stdout_preview = (r['stdout'] or '').replace('\n', ' ')[:60]

Newlines are replaced with spaces for single-line display.

Implementation: server/api_interface.py:100

Viewing Full Output

After viewing the results table, you can enter a task ID to see the complete output:

  Enter a task_id to view full output, or press Enter to skip: 8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12

  Task ID   : 8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12
  Exit code : 0
  Duration  : 156ms
  STDOUT:
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=14ms TTL=118
Reply from 8.8.8.8: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=118

Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 13ms, Maximum = 14ms, Average = 13ms

This shows:

• Full task ID
• Exit code
• Execution duration
• Complete stdout (with original formatting)
• Complete stderr (if present)

Understanding Exit Codes

Exit codes indicate task execution status:

Success (0)

The command completed without errors:

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
9f8e7d6c-5b4a-3210-9876-543210abcdef  0         42ms      VICTIM-PC\jdoe

Note: Exit code 0 means the command ran successfully, not necessarily that it achieved the desired result.

Command Errors (1-125)

The command ran but encountered an error:

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
7d6c5b4a-3210-9876-5432-10abcdef1234  1         87ms      

  Task ID   : 7d6c5b4a-3210-9876-5432-10abcdef1234
  Exit code : 1
  Duration  : 87ms
  STDOUT:
(empty)
  STDERR:
Ping request could not find host invalid-hostname. Please check the name and try again.

Check stderr for error details.

Blocked Command (126)

The command is on the blocklist:

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
6c5b4a32-1098-7654-3210-abcdef123456  126       5ms       

  Task ID   : 6c5b4a32-1098-7654-3210-abcdef123456
  Exit code : 126
  Duration  : 5ms
  STDOUT:
(empty)
  STDERR:
BLOCKED: prohibited command

The command was rejected due to security policy.

Command Not Found (127)

The command doesn’t exist on the target system:

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
5b4a3210-9876-5432-10ab-cdef12345678  127       8ms       

  Task ID   : 5b4a3210-9876-5432-10ab-cdef12345678
  Exit code : 127
  Duration  : 8ms
  STDOUT:
(empty)
  STDERR:
COMMAND NOT FOUND

Verify the command name and availability on the target OS.

Timeout (124)

The command exceeded the 30-second timeout:

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
4a321098-7654-3210-abcd-ef1234567890  124       30001ms   

  Task ID   : 4a321098-7654-3210-abcd-ef1234567890
  Exit code : 124
  Duration  : 30001ms
  STDOUT:
(empty)
  STDERR:
TIMEOUT

The command was terminated after 30 seconds.

Exit Code Summary Table

Exit Code	Meaning	Action
0	Success	Normal operation
1-125	Command error	Check stderr for details
126	Blocked command	Review security policy
127	Command not found	Verify command exists
124	Timeout	Use shorter-running command

Result Timing

Duration is measured in milliseconds and includes:

• Command execution time
• Output capture overhead
• Subprocess management time

start_ms = time.monotonic()
# ... execute command ...
duration_ms = int((time.monotonic() - start_ms) * 1000)

Implementation: agent/executor.py:36-39

Timing Examples

# Fast command (< 100ms)
whoami                  42ms
hostname                35ms
echo hello              12ms

# Medium command (100ms - 1s)
ping -n 4 8.8.8.8      156ms
ipconfig /all          234ms

# Slow command (> 1s)
nslookup example.com   1423ms
tracert 8.8.8.8        5678ms

# Timeout (30s limit)
sleep 60               30001ms  # exit 124

Output Handling

Stdout

Standard output is captured in the stdout field:

task_result = TaskResult(
    task_id     = task_id,
    stdout      = (result.stdout or '')[:MAX_OUTPUT],
    stderr      = (result.stderr or '')[:MAX_OUTPUT],
    exit_code   = result.returncode,
    duration_ms = elapsed,
)

Implementation: agent/executor.py:89

Stderr

Standard error is captured separately and only displayed in full result view:

  STDOUT:
(empty)
  STDERR:
Ping request could not find host invalid-hostname.

Stderr is shown below stdout in the full output view.

Empty Output

Commands with no output show (empty):

  STDOUT:
(empty)

Implementation: server/api_interface.py:119

Output Size Limit

Both stdout and stderr are capped at 64 KB:

MAX_OUTPUT = 65536  # 64 KB cap

Output exceeding this limit is silently truncated to prevent memory issues.

Implementation: agent/executor.py:9

Result Persistence

All results are stored in the database when received from the agent:

await db.insert_result(
    result_id   = str(uuid.uuid4()),
    task_id     = task_id,
    stdout      = result.get('stdout', ''),
    stderr      = result.get('stderr', ''),
    exit_code   = result.get('exit_code', -1),
    duration_ms = result.get('duration_ms', 0),
)

Implementation: server/command_queue.py:142

Database Schema

Results are stored in the results table:

CREATE TABLE results (
    result_id   TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
    task_id     TEXT NOT NULL,
    stdout      TEXT,
    stderr      TEXT,
    exit_code   INTEGER,
    duration_ms INTEGER,
    FOREIGN KEY(task_id) REFERENCES tasks(task_id)
);

Result Retrieval

Results are fetched from the database by session ID:

results = await db.get_results_for_session(session_id)

This returns all results for tasks executed on that session, ordered by task creation time.

Results Display Implementation

The results command uses two display functions:

Table View

def _print_results(results: list) -> None:
    if not results:
        print('  No results for this session.')
        return

    header = (
        'TASK ID'.ljust(COL_ID) + '  ' +
        'EXIT'.ljust(COL_NARROW) + '  ' +
        'DURATION'.ljust(COL_NARROW) + '  ' +
        'STDOUT'
    )
    print()
    print(DIVIDER)
    print(header)
    print(DIVIDER)

    for r in results:
        stdout_preview = (r['stdout'] or '').replace('\n', ' ')[:60]
        row = (
            r['task_id'].ljust(COL_ID) + '  ' +
            str(r['exit_code']).ljust(COL_NARROW) + '  ' +
            f'{r["duration_ms"]}ms'.ljust(COL_NARROW) + '  ' +
            stdout_preview
        )
        print(row)

    print(DIVIDER)
    print(f'  {len(results)} result(s) total.')
    print()

Implementation: server/api_interface.py:81

Full Output View

def _print_full_result(result) -> None:
    print(f'\n  Task ID   : {result["task_id"]}')
    print(f'  Exit code : {result["exit_code"]}')
    print(f'  Duration  : {result["duration_ms"]}ms')
    print(f'  STDOUT:\n{result["stdout"] or "(empty)"}')
    if result['stderr']:
        print(f'  STDERR:\n{result["stderr"]}')
    print()

Implementation: server/api_interface.py:114

Result Interpretation Examples

Successful Reconnaissance

c2> task <id> whoami
c2> results <id>

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
9f8e7d6c-5b4a-3210-9876-543210abcdef  0         42ms      VICTIM-PC\jdoe

Analysis: Command succeeded, user is jdoe on VICTIM-PC.

Network Connectivity Test

c2> task <id> ping -n 4 8.8.8.8
c2> results <id>

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
8e7d6c5b-4a32-1098-7654-3210abcdef12  0         156ms     Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data: Reply from 8.8.8...

Analysis: Network connectivity confirmed, avg latency ~14ms.

Failed Command

c2> task <id> ping invalid-hostname
c2> results <id>

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
7d6c5b4a-3210-9876-5432-10abcdef1234  1         87ms      

  STDERR:
Ping request could not find host invalid-hostname.

Analysis: DNS resolution failed, hostname doesn’t exist.

Blocked Operation

c2> task <id> nmap 192.168.1.0/24
c2> results <id>

TASK ID                               EXIT      DURATION  STDOUT
6c5b4a32-1098-7654-3210-abcdef123456  126       5ms       

  STDERR:
BLOCKED: prohibited command

Analysis: Command blocked by security policy.

Result Management Best Practices

1. Check Results Regularly

Always verify task completion:

c2> task <id> <command>
c2> results <id>

2. Investigate Non-Zero Exit Codes

Any exit code other than 0 indicates an issue:

# Check stderr for error details
Enter a task_id to view full output: <task-id>

3. Monitor Execution Times

Slow commands may indicate:

• Network latency
• System resource constraints
• Command hanging

4. Review Stderr

Always check stderr for warnings and errors, even if exit code is 0.

5. Archive Important Results

Copy critical output for documentation:

# Use console output redirection (if supported)
c2> results <id> > session_results.txt

Error Handling

Session Not Found

c2> results nonexistent-id
  ERROR: session nonexistent-id not found.

Verify the session ID with list.

No Results Available

c2> results <id>
  No results for this session.

Either:

• No tasks have been executed
• Tasks are still pending/dispatched
• Agent hasn’t returned results yet

Invalid Task ID

  Enter a task_id to view full output: invalid-id
  Task invalid-id not found in results.

Enter a valid task ID from the results table.

Logging

Result operations are logged:

logger.info('task complete', extra={
    'task_id': task_id,
    'exit_code': result.get('exit_code'),
})

Check logs/ for detailed execution history and troubleshooting.