Unsecured Credentials: Credentials in Registry
Other sub-techniques of Unsecured Credentials (7)
Adversaries may search the Registry on compromised systems for insecurely stored credentials. The Windows Registry stores configuration information that can be used by the system or other programs. Adversaries may query the Registry looking for credentials and passwords that have been stored for use by other programs or services. Sometimes these credentials are used for automatic logons.
Example commands to find Registry keys related to password information: (Citation: Pentestlab Stored Credentials)
* Local Machine Hive: reg query HKLM /f password /t REG_SZ /s
* Current User Hive: reg query HKCU /f password /t REG_SZ /s
Procedure Examples |
|
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Reg |
Reg may be used to find credentials in the Windows Registry.(Citation: Pentestlab Stored Credentials) |
| PowerSploit |
PowerSploit has several modules that search the Windows Registry for stored credentials: |
| APT32 |
APT32 used Outlook Credential Dumper to harvest credentials stored in Windows registry.(Citation: Cybereason Oceanlotus May 2017)(Citation: Cybereason Cobalt Kitty 2017) |
| IceApple |
IceApple can harvest credentials from local and remote host registries.(Citation: CrowdStrike IceApple May 2022) |
| TrickBot |
TrickBot has retrieved PuTTY credentials by querying the |
| Valak |
Valak can use the clientgrabber module to steal e-mail credentials from the Registry.(Citation: SentinelOne Valak June 2020) |
| Agent Tesla |
Agent Tesla has the ability to extract credentials from the Registry.(Citation: SentinelLabs Agent Tesla Aug 2020) |
Mitigations |
|
| Mitigation | Description |
|---|---|
| Password Policies |
Set and enforce secure password policies for accounts. |
| Credentials in Registry Mitigation |
Do not store credentials within the Registry. Proactively search for credentials within Registry keys and attempt to remediate the risk. If necessary software must store credentials, then ensure those accounts have limited permissions so they cannot be abused if obtained by an adversary. |
| Privileged Account Management |
Manage the creation, modification, use, and permissions associated to privileged accounts, including SYSTEM and root. |
| Audit |
Perform audits or scans of systems, permissions, insecure software, insecure configurations, etc. to identify potential weaknesses. |
Detection
Monitor processes for applications that can be used to query the Registry, such as Reg, and collect command parameters that may indicate credentials are being searched. Correlate activity with related suspicious behavior that may indicate an active intrusion to reduce false positives.
References
- netbiosX. (2017, April 19). Stored Credentials. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- CrowdStrike. (2022, May). ICEAPPLE: A NOVEL INTERNET INFORMATION SERVICES (IIS) POST-EXPLOITATION FRAMEWORK. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- Dahan, A. (2017). Operation Cobalt Kitty. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
- Dahan, A. (2017, May 24). OPERATION COBALT KITTY: A LARGE-SCALE APT IN ASIA CARRIED OUT BY THE OCEANLOTUS GROUP. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
- Reaves, J. and Platt, J. (2020, June). Valak Malware and the Connection to Gozi Loader ConfCrew. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
- Llimos, N., Pascual, C.. (2019, February 12). Trickbot Adds Remote Application Credential-Grabbing Capabilities to Its Repertoire. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
- Walter, J. (2020, August 10). Agent Tesla | Old RAT Uses New Tricks to Stay on Top. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
Связанные риски
Каталоги
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