Lateral Movement

Lateral movement in penetration testing refers to the techniques used by penetration testers (or attackers in a malicious scenario) to move through a network after gaining initial access. The goal is to expand access to more systems and potentially increase privileges, to reach high-value targets like data servers, Domain Controller|domain controllers, or administrative systems.

Some techniques for lateral movement:

  1. Exploiting Weak Credentials: Using default or weak credentials to access other systems on the network.
  2. Pass-the-Hash Attacks|Pass-the-Hash/Pass-the-Ticket Attacks|Pass-the-Ticket: Using captured hash values or Kerberos tickets from one machine to authenticate to others.
  3. Remote Services Exploitation: Utilizing services like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Secure Shell (SSH), or WinRM|Windows Remote Management (WinRM) to access and control other systems.
  4. Session Hijacking: Taking over existing user sessions on other machines.
  5. Privilege Escalation: Gaining higher-level privileges to access more secured parts of the network.

Some tools also include:

  1. Mimikatz: Used for extracting credentials, such as plaintext passwords, NTLM hashes, and Kerberos tickets, from memory.
  2. Microsoft PsExec|PsExec: A part of Sysinternals Suite, it's used to execute processes remotely, leveraging administrative credentials.
  3. Empire|PowerShell Empire: A post-exploitation framework that allows extended control over compromised machines and can be used for moving laterally.
  4. Metasploit Framework: Contains various modules to exploit vulnerabilities, execute payloads, and move laterally in a network.
  5. BloodHound: Uses graph theory to reveal hidden and often unintended relationships within Active Directory environments, helpful in planning lateral movement paths.

Some examples include:

  • Using PsExec with Stolen Credentials: A penetration tester, after obtaining administrative credentials from one workstation, uses PsExec to remotely execute commands on another workstation or server.
  • Pass-the-Hash Attack: The tester uses a captured NTLM hash from one machine to authenticate to another machine on the network.
  • Exploiting Vulnerabilities: If a vulnerability like SMB Relay Attacks|SMB Relay or EternalBlue is found on another machine in the network, it could be exploited to gain unauthorized access.