CAPEC Definitions

    CAPEC Definitions / CAPEC-561

    CAPEC-561: Windows Admin Shares with Stolen Credentials

    An adversary guesses or obtains (i.e. steals or purchases) legitimate Windows administrator credentials (e.g. userID/password) to access Windows Admin Shares on a local machine or within a Windows domain.

    Severity:
    Possibility:

    Extended Description

    Windows systems within the Windows NT family contain hidden network shares that are only accessible to system administrators. These shares allow administrators to remotely access all disk volumes on a network-connected system and further allow for files to be copied, written, and executed, along with other administrative actions. Example network shares include: C$, ADMIN$ and IPC$. If an adversary is able to obtain legitimate Windows credentials, the hidden shares can be accessed remotely, via server message block (SMB) or the Net utility, to transfer files and execute code. It is also possible for adversaries to utilize NTLM hashes to access administrator shares on systems with certain configuration and patch levels.

    Mitigations

    Do not reuse local administrator account credentials across systems.

    Deny remote use of local admin credentials to log into domain systems.

    Do not allow accounts to be a local administrator on more than one system.

    Relationships with other CAPECs

    CAPEC-653: Use of Known Operating System Credentials

    CAPEC-151: Identity Spoofing

    CAPEC-165: File Manipulation

    CAPEC-549: Local Execution of Code

    CAPEC-545: Pull Data from System Resources

    Prerequisites

    The system/application is connected to the Windows domain.

    The target administrative share allows remote use of local admin credentials to log into domain systems.

    The adversary possesses a list of known Windows administrator credentials that exist on the target domain.

    Related Weaknesses

    CWE-522: Insufficiently Protected Credentials

    CWE-308: Use of Single-factor Authentication

    CWE-309: Use of Password System for Primary Authentication

    CWE-294: Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay

    CWE-263: Password Aging with Long Expiration

    CWE-262: Not Using Password Aging

    CWE-521: Weak Password Requirements