Windows Local Privilege Escalation Cookbook

Table of Contents

• Windows Local Privilege Escalation Cookbook
  • Table of Contents
  • Description (Keynote)
  • Useful Tools
  • Vulnerabilities
  • References

Description (Keynote)

This Cookbook was created with the main purpose of helping people understand local privilege escalation techniques on Windows environments. Moreover, it can be used for both attacking and defensive purposes.

ℹ️ This Cookbook focuses only on misconfiguration vulnerabilities on Windows workstations/servers/machines.

⚠️ Evasion techniques to bypass security protections, endpoints, and antivirus are not included in this cookbook. I created this PowerShell script, TurnOffAV.ps1, which permanently disables Windows Defender. Run this with local Administrator privileges.

The main structure of this Cookbook includes the following sections:

• Description (of the vulnerability)
• Lab Setup
• Enumeration
• Exploitation
• Mitigation
• (Useful) References

I hope to find this CookBook useful and learn new stuff 😉.

Useful Tools

In the following table, some popular and useful tools for Windows local privilege escalation are presented:

Name	Language	Author	Description
SharpUp	C#	@harmj0y	SharpUp is a C# port of various PowerUp functionality
PowerUp	PowerShell	@harmj0y	PowerUp aims to be a clearinghouse of common Windows privilege escalation
BeRoot	Python	AlessandroZ	BeRoot(s) is a post exploitation tool to check common Windows misconfigurations to find a way to escalate our privilege
Privesc	PowerShell	enjoiz	Windows PowerShell script that finds misconfiguration issues which can lead to privilege escalation
Winpeas	C#	@hacktricks_live	Windows local Privilege Escalation Awesome Script
PrivescCheck	PowerShell	@itm4n	Privilege Escalation Enumeration Script for Windows

Vulnerabilities

This Cookbook presents the following Windows vulnerabilities:

• AlwaysInstallElevated
• Answer files (Unattend files)
• Logon Autostart Execution (Registry Run Keys)
• Logon Autostart Execution (Startup Folder)
• Leaked Credentials (GitHub Repository)
• Leaked Credentials (Hardcoded Credentials)
• Leaked Credentials (PowerShell History)
• SeBackupPrivilege
• SeImpersonatePrivilege
• Stored Credentials (Runas)
• UAC Bypass
• Unquoted Service Path
• Weak Service Binary Permissions
• Weak Service Permissions
• Weak Registry Permissions

References

• Privilege Escalation Wikipedia
• SharpCollection GitHub by Flangvik
• Metasploit Official Website
• CrackMapExec GitHub by byt3bl33d3r
• NetExec GitHub by Pennyw0rth
• Evil-WinRM GitHub by Hackplayers
• Windows Privilege Escalation Youtube Playlist by Conda
• Windows Privilege Escalation by Bordergate
• Seatbelt GitHub by GhostPack
• Sysinternals Suite Microsoft
• Impacket GitHub by Forta
• dnSpy GitHub by dnSpyEx
• Java Decompiler Official Website
• CS-Situational-Awareness-BOF GitHub by TrustedSec
• HavocFramework GitHub by C5pider