6️⃣Windows Post Exploitation

Windows Post Exploitation Methodology

Understanding post-exploitation methodologies in a Windows environment is crucial for cybersecurity professionals.

Here's an overview of the Windows post-exploitation methodology:

1. Information Gathering

   • System Identification: Identify the Windows version, architecture, and patch level.

   • User Enumeration: Enumerate users and their privileges on the compromised system.

2. Privilege Escalation

   • Exploiting Vulnerabilities: Identify and exploit vulnerabilities to escalate privileges.

   • Abusing Service Permissions: Exploit misconfigurations or vulnerabilities in services to gain higher privileges.

   • Token Manipulation: Manipulate access tokens to escalate privileges.

3. Maintaining Persistence

   • Registry Modifications: Make registry changes to ensure persistence across reboots.

   • Scheduled Tasks: Create scheduled tasks for continuous access.

   • Service Installation: Install a malicious service to ensure persistence.

4. Lateral Movement

   • Pass-the-Ticket (PtT): Use Kerberos tickets for lateral movement.

   • Pass-the-Hash (PtH): Use compromised credentials to move laterally within the network.

   • Exploiting Trust Relationships: Leverage trust relationships between systems to move across the network.

5. Data Exfiltration

   • Compression and Encryption: Compress and encrypt sensitive data before exfiltration.

   • Covert Channels: Use covert channels for stealthy data transfer.

6. Covering Tracks

   • Log Tampering: Modify or delete logs to erase traces of the compromise.

   • Clearing Event Logs: Erase event logs to hide actions performed on the system.

   • Rootkit Installation: Install rootkits to hide malicious activities.

7. Exploiting Services

   • Database Exploitation: Exploit databases for data retrieval and manipulation.

   • Web Application Attacks: Identify and exploit vulnerabilities in web applications hosted on the server.

   • MS Office Macro Exploitation: Exploit macros in Microsoft Office documents for code execution.

8. Resource Abuse

   • CPU and Memory Usage: Exploit resources for cryptocurrency mining or denial-of-service attacks.

   • Network Scanning: Scan the internal network for potential targets.