How Attackers Pull the Active Directory Database (NTDS.dit) from a Domain Controller

I performed extensive research on how attackers dump AD credentials, including pulling the Active Directory database (ntds.dit) remotely. This information is covered in two newer and greatly expanded posts:

 

The original post data follows:

How Attackers Pull the Active Directory Database (NTDS.dit) from a Domain Controller:

Step 1: Create Volume Shadow Copy (VSS):

I recently performed an internal penetration test where the NTDS.dit file got me thousands of password hashes. After compromising unpatched Microsoft Windows computers on the client’s domain, I gained access to a number of domain accounts. Below I’ll explain how I did it.

The client had two domain controllers, one Windows 2003 and one Windows 2008. One of the domain accounts obtained via other means (not described by this post) had rights to log-on locally on both domain controllers.

I attempted to dump the Active Directory database, but I couldn’t get the SAM file through my usual methods. Eventually, and after much effort, I got the SAM file but found it only contained one hash.

The following actions allowed me to obtain the Active Directory password hashes. This method will work on Windows 2003, Windows 2008 and Windows 2012 servers.

The NTDS.dit file is the Active Directory database. It stores all Active Directory information including password hashes.

I recreated the scenario, to demonstrate it on a Windows 2012 server.

Read the rest at the SpiderLabs Blog

OR use PowerShell:  “Using PowerShell to Copy NTDS.dit / Registry Hives, Bypass SACL’s / DACL’s / File Locks”:

Currently there are a few ways to dump Active Directory and local password hashes. Until recently, the techniques I had seen used to get the hashes either relied on injecting code in to LSASS or using the Volume Shadow Copy service to obtain copies of the files which contain the hashes. I have created a PowerShell script called Invoke-NinjaCopy that allows any file (including NTDS.dit) to be copied without starting suspicious services, injecting in to processes, or elevating to SYSTEM. But first, a little background.

A few months back I saw this awesome blog post: http://www.josho.org/blog/blog/2013/03/07/samex/. Rather than attempting to read files using the Win32 API (which enforces things such as read handle locks, SACL, DACL, etc.), the author wrote a tool that obtains a read handle to the C volume (something an administrator account can do). This gives him the ability to read the raw bytes of the entire volume. The tool then parses the NTFS structures on the C volume, determines where on the volume the bytes for a particular file reside, scans to the location and copies the files bytes. This allows the tool to get access to files even though LSASS has the file locked, and doesn’t require starting the Volume Shadow Copy service (which might look suspicious if it isn’t normally used).

I wanted something a little more generic (SAMex only dumps files related to password hashes on the C volume): a tool that allows me to copy any file on any volume. I want to be able to make copies of NTDS.dit and registry hives, but also any other file (such as a file protected by a SACL). I also want the tool to be written in PowerShell so it can be run remotely without writing hacker tools to disk.

Initially, I was going to write a parser in PowerShell, but then I realized there are already NTFS parsers written in C++ such as this one: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/81456/An-NTFS-Parser-Lib. Rather than write an NTFS parser in PowerShell, it made a lot more sense to compile an existing NTFS parser as a DLL and load it up in Invoke-ReflectivePEInjection.

I was able to get the NTFS parser loaded up in PowerShell in several hours, which goes to show how easy and fast it is to turn existing native code applications in to sneaky PowerShell tools.

The result is Invoke-NinjaCopy. A PowerShell script capable of copying NTDS.dit, Registry hives, and any other file sitting on an NTFS volume by obtaining a read handle to the volume and parsing NTFS. This does not require elevating to SYSTEM, injecting in to SYSTEM processes, or starting new services/suspicious programs.

Read the rest at Joe Bialok’s Blog about Invoke-NinjaCopy that is part of PowerSploit

 

 

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