〰️Dumping & Cracking Windows Hashes (NTLM Hashes)
Windows Password Hashes
The Windows OS stores hashed user account passwords locally in the SAM (Security Accounts Manager) database.
Hashing is the process of converting a piece of data into another value. A hashing function or algorithm is used to generate the new value. The result of a hashing algorithm is known as a hash or hash value.
Authentication and verification of user credentials is facilitated by the Local Security Authority (LSA).
Windows versions up to Windows Server 2003 utilize two different types of hashes:
LM
NTLM
Windows disables LM hashing and utilizes NTLM hashing from Windows Vista onwards.
SAM Database
SAM (Security Account Manager) is a database file that is responsible for managing user accounts and passwords on Windows. All user account passwords stored in the SAM database are hashed.
The SAM database file cannot be copied while the operating system is running.
The Windows NT kernel keeps the SAM database file locked and as a result, attackers typically utilize in-memory techniques and tools to dump SAM hashes from the LSASS process.
In modern versions of Windows, the SAM database is encrypted with a syskey.
NTLM (NTHash)
NTLM is a collection of authentication protocols that are utilized in Windows to facilitate authentication between computers. The authentication process involves using a valid username and password to authenticate successfully.
From Windows Vista onwards, Windows disables LM hashing and utilizes NTLM hashing.
When a user account is created, it is encrypted using the MD4 hashing algorithm, while the original password is disposed of.
NTLM improves upon LM in the following ways:
Does not split the hash in to two chunks.
Case sensitive.
Allows the use of symbols and unicode characters.
Dumping & Cracking NTLM Hashes
We can dump Windows password hashes by leveraging various utilities like:
The inbuilt meterpreter “
hashdump” command
After we have dumped the hashes, we can crack them through the use of the following utilities:
Meterpreter Commands:
pgrep lsass– Find the process ID (PID) of the "lsass" process.migrate 708– Migrate to another process with the PID 708.hashdump– Dump password hashes from memory.
Cracking Password Hashes with John the Ripper:
To crack password hashes using John the Ripper, you can use the following command:
This command attempts to crack password hashes stored in the "hashes.txt" file using John the Ripper, with the specified hash format.
Cracking Password Hashes with Hashcat:
To crack password hashes using Hashcat, you can use the following command:
This command uses Hashcat with attack mode 3 and hash mode 1000 to attempt to crack password hashes stored in the "hashes.txt" file using the "rockyou.txt" wordlist.
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