Windows Archives - Page 2 of 7

22 Nov, 2025

Hack The Box: Mirage Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulity

Hard Machine autologon, BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, Certipy, Challenges, HackTheBox, hashcat, impacket, john the ripper, nats, nfs, nxc, Penetration Testing, Windows, winpeas

Compromising the Mirage domain started with a simple clue hidden in an exposed NFS share. Inside a PDF report was a missing DNS record—just enough to pivot. By hijacking the DNS entry, I intercepted NATS JetStream traffic and captured real authentication logs, including valid credentials. After fixing the system time and obtaining a Kerberos TGT, I gained my first foothold on the domain controller and captured the user flag.

From there, the path to domain dominance unfolded through Active Directory weaknesses. An SPN ticket leak led to a cracked password, which opened the door to BloodHound reconnaissance and more credentials. I reset a disabled user’s password, extracted a service account’s managed password, and used Certipy to transform certificate abuse into full machine-level impersonation. With Resource-Based Constrained Delegation enabled, I forged Kerberos tickets, dumped every domain hash, and finally authenticated as Administrator—securing the root flag.

#CyberSecurity #PenetrationTesting #Kerberos #ActiveDirectory #RedTeam #HackTheBox #Infosec #PrivilegeEscalation …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Mirage Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulity

1 Nov, 2025

Hack The Box: Voleur Machinen Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine Active Directory, BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, Challenges, DPAPI, HackTheBox, hashcat, impacket, john the ripper, office2john, Penetration Testing, smbclient, Windows

18 Oct, 2025

Hack The Box: DarkCorp Machine Walkthrough – Insane Difficulity

Insane Machine BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, BurpSuite, Challenges, evil-winrm, HackTheBox, hashcat, impacket, NetExec, Penetration Testing, sharpdpapi, ssh, Windows

Finished the Insane-level DarkCorp box on Hack The Box. Initial foothold came from registering on a webmail portal and abusing a contact form to deliver a payload that resulted in a reverse shell. From there I enumerated the app and DB, identified SQL injection and extracted hashes (cracked one to thePlague61780), recovered DPAPI master key material and additional credentials (Pack_beneath_Solid9!), and used those artifacts to escalate to root and retrieve root.txt. Valuable practice in web vectors, SQLi exploitation, credential harvesting, DPAPI analysis, and Windows privilege escalation. Happy to share high-level notes or mitigations.

#HackTheBox #Infosec #RedTeam #Pentesting #WindowsSecurity #CredentialHunting #CTF …

Learn MoreHack The Box: DarkCorp Machine Walkthrough – Insane Difficulity

11 Oct, 2025

Hack The Box: Tombwatcher Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, Certipy, Challenges, ESC15, HackTheBox, hashcat, Penetration Testing, TargetKerboasting, Windows

I cracked a Kerberos TGS for Alfred (password: basketballl), used BloodHound-guided enumeration and account takeover to obtain John’s machine credentials and retrieved the user flag (type user.txt); then I abused a misconfigured certificate template (ESC15) with Certipy to request an Administrator certificate, obtained a TGT (administrator.ccache), extracted the Administrator NT hash and used it to access the DC and read the root flag (type root.txt).

#HackTheBox #RedTeam #ActiveDirectory #Kerberos #CertAuth #BloodHound #OffensiveSecurity #Infosec #PrivilegeEscalation …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Tombwatcher Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

4 Oct, 2025

Hack The Box: Certificate Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

Hard Machine BloodHoundCE, Certipy, certutil, Challenges, ESC3, evil-winrm, HackTheBox, hashcat, kerberos, MySQL, Penetration Testing, python3, SeManageVolumePrivilege, Windows, Wireshark, zip slip

I recently completed the “Certificate” challenge on Hack The Box: after extracting and cracking a captured authentication hash I gained access to a user account (lion.sk) and retrieved the user flag, then progressed to full system compromise by responsibly exploiting weak certificate‑based authentication controls—obtaining and converting certificate material into elevated credentials to capture the root flag. The exercise reinforced how misconfigurations in certificate services and poor time synchronization can create powerful escalation paths, and highlighted the importance of least‑privilege, strict enrollment policies, and monitoring certificate issuance. Great hands‑on reminder that defensive hygiene around PKI and identity services matters.

#CyberSecurity #HTB #Infosec #ADCS #Certificates #PrivilegeEscalation #RedTeam #Pentesting …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Certificate Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

27 Sep, 2025

Hack The Box: Puppy Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Medium Machine BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, Challenges, evil-winrm, HackTheBox, impacket, KDBX, ldapmodify, ldapsearch, Penetration Testing, rpcclient, smbclient, Windows

Crushed the Puppy machine on HTB with surgical precision! Unlocked the user flag by leveraging levi.james credentials to access the DEV share, cracking recovery.kdbx with “Liverpool,” and using ant.edwards:Antman2025! to reset ADAM.SILVER’s password, followed by a swift WinRM login to grab user.txt. For the root flag, extracted steph.cooper:ChefSteph2025! from C:\Backups, accessed a WinRM shell, and exfiltrated DPAPI keys via SMB. Impacket unveiled steph.cooper_adm:FivethChipOnItsWay2025!, opening the Administrator directory to claim root.txt.

#Cybersecurity #HackTheBox #CTF #Pentesting #PrivilegeEscalation …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Puppy Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

20 Sep, 2025

Hack The Box: Fluffy Machine Walkthrough – Easy Difficulity

Easy Machine BloodHoundCE, bloodyAD, Certify, Challenges, CVE-2025-24071, ESC16, HackTheBox, hashcat, NetExec, Penetration Testing, python3, smbclient, Windows

23 Aug, 2025

Hack The Box: TheFrizz Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulity

Medium Machine BloodHoundCE, BurpSuite, Challenges, CVE-2023-34598, faketime, Gibbon, HackTheBox, hashcat, impacket, Local Fle Inclusion, Penetration Testing, python3, SharpGPOAbuse, sqlite3, ssh, Windows

I successfully captured both user and root flags by exploiting a file upload vulnerability to gain a web shell, extracting database credentials from config.php, and cracking the user hash to reveal the password Jenni_Luvs_Magic23. Using these credentials, I accessed the web application, discovered an SSH migration hint, and leveraged a Kerberos ticket (f.frizzle.ccache) to gain SSH access and retrieve the user flag with type user.txt. For the root flag, I escalated privileges using M.SchoolBus and SharpGPOAbuse to manipulate SleepGPO, applied changes with gpupdate.exe /force, extracted credentials with secretdump, and used wmiexec to secure a root-level shell, ultimately reading the root flag with type root.txt.

#Cybersecurity #CTF #EthicalHacking #PenetrationTesting …

Learn MoreHack The Box: TheFrizz Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulity

9 Aug, 2025

Hack The Box: University Machine Walkthrough – Insane Walkthrough

Insane Machine Bloodhound, BurpSuite, Challenges, CVE-2023-33733, evil-winrm, HackTheBox, LocalPotato, Penetration Testing, python3, ssh, SSH key, Windows

Compromised university.htb by exploiting ReportLab RCE (CVE-2023-33733) to gain initial access as wao. Forged a professor certificate to impersonate george, then uploaded a malicious lecture to compromise Martin.T.

Escalated privileges by exploiting a scheduled task with a malicious .url file, used LocalPotato (CVE-2023-21746) for elevation on WS-3, and abused SeBackupPrivilege to extract NTDS.dit, ultimately retrieving Domain Admin credentials.

🔍 A great hands-on challenge combining web exploitation, privilege escalation, and Active Directory abuse.

#CyberSecurity #RedTeam #CTF #PrivilegeEscalation #HTB #InfoSec #WindowsExploitation #PenetrationTesting #EthicalHacking #HackTheBox …

Learn MoreHack The Box: University Machine Walkthrough – Insane Walkthrough

19 Jul, 2025

Hack The Box: Scepter Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

Hard Machine ADCS, Bloodhound, bloodyAD, Certipy, Challenges, ESC14, ESC9, evil-winrm, HackTheBox, hashcat, ldapsearch, nfs, openssl, Penetration Testing, showmount, Windows

I conquered the “Scepter” machine on Hack The Box, a challenging Active Directory exploit! Initially, I cracked weak .pfx certificate passwords using pfx2john and rockyou.txt. After syncing time, I extracted D.BAKER’s NTLM hash via Certipy and used BloodHound to reveal A.CARTER’s password reset privileges, exploiting ESC9 to capture the user flag. Subsequently, H.BROWN’s access to P.ADAMS’s altSecurityIdentities enabled an ESC14 attack, forging a certificate for passwordless authentication. Consequently, P.ADAMS’s DCSync rights allowed domain hash extraction, securing the root flag via Evil-WinRM.

#Cybersecurity #HackTheBox #ActiveDirectory #PrivilegeEscalation #CTF #EthicalHacking …

Learn MoreHack The Box: Scepter Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

Threatninja.net

Threatninja.net

Hack The Box: Mirage Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulity

Hack The Box: Voleur Machinen Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Hack The Box: DarkCorp Machine Walkthrough – Insane Difficulity

Hack The Box: Tombwatcher Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Hack The Box: Certificate Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

Hack The Box: Puppy Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulty

Hack The Box: Fluffy Machine Walkthrough – Easy Difficulity

Hack The Box: TheFrizz Machine Walkthrough – Medium Difficulity

Hack The Box: University Machine Walkthrough – Insane Walkthrough

Hack The Box: Scepter Machine Walkthrough – Hard Difficulty

Threatninja.net

Threatninja.net

Tag Archives: Windows