Medium Machine Archives - Page 3 of 11

26 Jul, 2025

Hack The Box: Cypher Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficultyy

Medium Machine bbot, BurpSuite, Challenges, Cypher Injection, gobuster, HackTheBox, jadx-gui, jar, Linux, neo4j, Penetration Testing, python3

5 Jul, 2025

Hack The Box: Cat Machine Walkthrough – Medium Diffculity

Medium Machine BurpSuite, Challenges, command injection, Cross Site Scripting, git-dumper, Gitea, gobuster, HackTheBox, hashcat, Linux, Penetration Testing, port forwarding, source code review, SQL, SQL Injection, sqlite3, ssh

Hack The Box Success: Cat Machine Write-Up Published!

I’ve just published my personal write-up for the Cat machine on Hack The Box. In this challenge, I gained the user flag by exploiting a Stored XSS vulnerability to capture the admin session cookie, followed by an SQL Injection to extract credentials and gain SSH access. For the root flag, I took advantage of a vulnerable image processing script owned by root, crafting a payload to gain a root shell and retrieve the flag. The full write-up dives into each step, the logic behind the attacks, and key takeaways.

#CyberSecurity #HackTheBox #PenetrationTesting #EthicalHacking #CTF #WriteUp #XSS #SQLi #PrivilegeEscalation #InfoSec #CTFWriteup …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Cat Machine Walkthrough – Medium Diffculity

7 Jun, 2025

Hack The Box: Backfire Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine Challenges, CVE-2024-41570, HackTheBox, Havoc C2, iptables, iptables-save, jwt, Linux, Penetration Testing, port forwarding, python3, ssh

Successfully rooted another Hack The Box machine by chaining multiple vulnerabilities across custom C2 frameworks. For the user flag, we exploited an SSRF vulnerability (CVE-2024-41570) in the Havoc C2 framework to access internal services, which we then chained with an authenticated RCE to execute arbitrary commands and gain a reverse shell as the ilya user. To maintain stable access, SSH keys were added for persistence, allowing us to retrieve the user.txt flag. For the root flag, we targeted the Hardhat C2 service by forging a valid JWT with a Python script to create an admin user, which provided shell access as sergej. Upon privilege escalation analysis, we found that sergej had sudo access to the iptables-save binary. This was abused to overwrite the /etc/sudoers file and escalate to root, ultimately retrieving the root.txt flag. Another great learning experience on the path to mastering offensive security!

#HackTheBox #CyberSecurity #InfoSec #RedTeam #CTF #PrivilegeEscalation #RCE #SSRF #Linux #HTB #EthicalHacking #PenetrationTesting #HavocC2 #HardhatC2 #JWT #SudoExploit #OSCP #BugBounty …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Backfire Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

17 May, 2025

Hack The Box: Heal Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine BurpSuite, Challenges, consul, HackTheBox, hashcat, jwt, LimeSurvey, Linux, Path Traversal, Penetration Testing, port forwarding, rails, ruby, sqlite3, ssh

Writeup Summary: Heal (Hack The Box)

This box involved thorough enumeration that uncovered multiple subdomains, including a Ruby on Rails API. Initial access was gained by chaining a Local File Inclusion vulnerability with password cracking and exploiting a LimeSurvey plugin upload vulnerability. Privilege escalation was achieved by identifying and exploiting an exposed Consul service accessible through SSH port forwarding.

This challenge showcased key red teaming skills: web application exploitation, misconfiguration abuse, credential harvesting, and lateral movement.

#HackTheBox #CyberSecurity #RedTeam #PrivilegeEscalation #BugBounty #WebSecurity #Infosec #CTF #HTB #OffensiveSecurity #LinuxExploitation …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Heal Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

19 Apr, 2025

Hack The Box: Administrator Walkthrough Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine BloodHoundCE, Challenges, crackmapexec, evil-winrm, ftp, HackTheBox, hashcat, Penetration Testing, pwsafe, TargetedKerberoast, Windows

Chained privilege escalation on an AD environment via misconfigured permissions — no CVEs, just clever abuse of default rights. From Olivia to Emily to Ethan, we pivoted through user relationships using BloodHound, CrackMapExec, Kerberoasting, and WinRM access. Highlighting how overlooked configurations can lead to full domain compromise.

#ActiveDirectory #PrivilegeEscalation #BloodHound #Kerberoasting #HackTheBox #RedTeam #CyberSecurity #WindowsPentest …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Administrator Walkthrough Medium Difficulty

15 Mar, 2025

Hack The Box: Certified Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine Active Directory Exploitation, Bloodhound, Certificate Services Exploitation, Certipy, Cybersecurity, evil-winrm, Hack The Box, Penetration Testing, Privilege Escalation, Red Teaming, SMB & Kerberos Attacks, Windows, Windows Security

Access is gained using Judith Mader’s credentials, allowing enumeration of network resources. CrackMapExec identifies key accounts like management_svc and ca_operator. Privilege escalation is performed using a Shadow Credentials attack with Certipy, taking control of management_svc. With valid credentials, Evil-WinRM establishes a remote session, leading to the user flag.

For root access, the attack exploits Active Directory Certificate Services by modifying ca_operator’s User Principal Name (UPN) to Administrator, enabling a privileged certificate request. A vulnerable ESC9 certificate is issued without linking back to ca_operator, effectively granting Administrator access. The UPN is restored to avoid detection, and authentication via Kerberos retrieves the NT hash of the Administrator account. Full system control is confirmed by obtaining the root flag.

#HackTheBox #Pentesting #ActiveDirectory #PrivilegeEscalation #CyberSecurity #EthicalHacking …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Certified Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty