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HackTricks - Boitatech
  • HackTricks
  • About the author
  • Getting Started in Hacking
  • Pentesting Methodology
  • External Recon Methodology
    • Github Leaked Secrets
  • Phishing Methodology
    • Clone a Website
    • Detecting Phising
    • Phishing Documents
  • Exfiltration
  • Tunneling and Port Forwarding
  • Brute Force - CheatSheet
  • Search Exploits
  • Shells
    • Shells (Linux, Windows, MSFVenom)
      • MSFVenom - CheatSheet
      • Shells - Windows
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      • Full TTYs
  • Linux/Unix
    • Checklist - Linux Privilege Escalation
    • Linux Privilege Escalation
      • PAM - Pluggable Authentication Modules
      • SELinux
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      • Containerd (ctr) Privilege Escalation
      • Docker Breakout
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      • Cisco - vmanage
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      • Interesting Groups - Linux PE
        • lxd/lxc Group - Privilege escalation
      • ld.so exploit example
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      • RunC Privilege Escalation
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  • MacOS
    • MacOS Security & Privilege Escalation
      • Mac OS Architecture
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        • Enrolling Devices in Other Organisations
      • MacOS Protocols
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      • MacOS Apps - Inspecting, debugging and Fuzzing
  • Windows
    • Checklist - Local Windows Privilege Escalation
    • Windows Local Privilege Escalation
      • AppendData/AddSubdirectory permission over service registry
      • Create MSI with WIX
      • DPAPI - Extracting Passwords
      • SeImpersonate from High To System
      • Access Tokens
      • ACLs - DACLs/SACLs/ACEs
      • Dll Hijacking
      • From High Integrity to SYSTEM with Name Pipes
      • Integrity Levels
      • JAWS
      • JuicyPotato
      • Leaked Handle Exploitation
      • MSI Wrapper
      • Named Pipe Client Impersonation
      • PowerUp
      • Privilege Escalation Abusing Tokens
      • Privilege Escalation with Autoruns
      • RottenPotato
      • Seatbelt
      • SeDebug + SeImpersonate copy token
      • Windows C Payloads
    • Active Directory Methodology
      • Abusing Active Directory ACLs/ACEs
      • AD information in printers
      • ASREPRoast
      • BloodHound
      • Constrained Delegation
      • Custom SSP
      • DCShadow
      • DCSync
      • DSRM Credentials
      • Golden Ticket
      • Kerberos Authentication
      • Kerberoast
      • MSSQL Trusted Links
      • Over Pass the Hash/Pass the Key
      • Pass the Ticket
      • Password Spraying
      • Force NTLM Privileged Authentication
      • Privileged Accounts and Token Privileges
      • Resource-based Constrained Delegation
      • Security Descriptors
      • Silver Ticket
      • Skeleton Key
      • Unconstrained Delegation
    • NTLM
      • Places to steal NTLM creds
      • PsExec/Winexec/ScExec
      • SmbExec/ScExec
      • WmicExec
      • AtExec / SchtasksExec
      • WinRM
    • Stealing Credentials
      • Credentials Protections
      • Mimikatz
    • Authentication, Credentials, UAC and EFS
    • Basic CMD for Pentesters
    • Basic PowerShell for Pentesters
      • PowerView
    • AV Bypass
  • Mobile Apps Pentesting
    • Android APK Checklist
    • Android Applications Pentesting
      • Android Applications Basics
      • Android Task Hijacking
      • ADB Commands
      • APK decompilers
      • AVD - Android Virtual Device
      • Burp Suite Configuration for Android
      • content:// protocol
      • Drozer Tutorial
        • Exploiting Content Providers
      • Exploiting a debuggeable applciation
      • Frida Tutorial
        • Frida Tutorial 1
        • Frida Tutorial 2
        • Frida Tutorial 3
        • Objection Tutorial
      • Google CTF 2018 - Shall We Play a Game?
      • Inspeckage Tutorial
      • Intent Injection
      • Make APK Accept CA Certificate
      • Manual DeObfuscation
      • React Native Application
      • Reversing Native Libraries
      • Smali - Decompiling/[Modifying]/Compiling
      • Spoofing your location in Play Store
      • Webview Attacks
    • iOS Pentesting Checklist
    • iOS Pentesting
      • Basic iOS Testing Operations
      • Burp Suite Configuration for iOS
      • Extracting Entitlements From Compiled Application
      • Frida Configuration in iOS
      • iOS App Extensions
      • iOS Basics
      • iOS Custom URI Handlers / Deeplinks / Custom Schemes
      • iOS Hooking With Objection
      • iOS Protocol Handlers
      • iOS Serialisation and Encoding
      • iOS Testing Environment
      • iOS UIActivity Sharing
      • iOS Universal Links
      • iOS UIPasteboard
      • iOS WebViews
  • Pentesting
    • Pentesting Network
      • Spoofing LLMNR, NBT-NS, mDNS/DNS and WPAD and Relay Attacks
      • Spoofing SSDP and UPnP Devices with EvilSSDP
      • Wifi Attacks
        • Evil Twin EAP-TLS
      • Pentesting IPv6
      • Nmap Summary (ESP)
      • Network Protocols Explained (ESP)
      • IDS and IPS Evasion
      • DHCPv6
    • Pentesting JDWP - Java Debug Wire Protocol
    • Pentesting Printers
      • Accounting bypass
      • Buffer Overflows
      • Credentials Disclosure / Brute-Force
      • Cross-Site Printing
      • Document Processing
      • Factory Defaults
      • File system access
      • Firmware updates
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      • Physical Damage
      • Software packages
      • Transmission channel
      • Print job manipulation
      • Print Job Retention
      • Scanner and Fax
    • Pentesting SAP
    • Pentesting Kubernetes
      • Enumeration from a Pod
      • Hardening Roles/ClusterRoles
      • Pentesting Kubernetes from the outside
    • 7/tcp/udp - Pentesting Echo
    • 21 - Pentesting FTP
      • FTP Bounce attack - Scan
      • FTP Bounce - Download 2ºFTP file
    • 22 - Pentesting SSH/SFTP
    • 23 - Pentesting Telnet
    • 25,465,587 - Pentesting SMTP/s
      • SMTP - Commands
    • 43 - Pentesting WHOIS
    • 53 - Pentesting DNS
    • 69/UDP TFTP/Bittorrent-tracker
    • 79 - Pentesting Finger
    • 80,443 - Pentesting Web Methodology
      • 403 & 401 Bypasses
      • AEM - Adobe Experience Cloud
      • Apache
      • Artifactory Hacking guide
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      • IIS - Internet Information Services
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      • Joomla
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      • Laravel
      • Moodle
      • Nginx
      • PHP Tricks (SPA)
        • PHP - Useful Functions & disable_functions/open_basedir bypass
          • disable_functions bypass - php-fpm/FastCGI
          • disable_functions bypass - dl function
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP 7.0-7.4 (*nix only)
          • disable_functions bypass - Imagick <= 3.3.0 PHP >= 5.4 Exploit
          • disable_functions - PHP 5.x Shellshock Exploit
          • disable_functions - PHP 5.2.4 ionCube extension Exploit
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP <= 5.2.9 on windows
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP 5.2.4 and 5.2.5 PHP cURL
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP safe_mode bypass via proc_open() and custom environment Exploit
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP Perl Extension Safe_mode Bypass Exploit
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP 5.2.3 - Win32std ext Protections Bypass
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP 5.2 - FOpen Exploit
          • disable_functions bypass - via mem
          • disable_functions bypass - mod_cgi
          • disable_functions bypass - PHP 4 >= 4.2.0, PHP 5 pcntl_exec
      • Python
      • Special HTTP headers
      • Spring Actuators
      • Symphony
      • Tomcat
      • Uncovering CloudFlare
      • VMWare (ESX, VCenter...)
      • Web API Pentesting
      • WebDav
      • werkzeug
      • Wordpress
      • XSS to RCE Electron Desktop Apps
    • 88tcp/udp - Pentesting Kerberos
      • Harvesting tickets from Windows
      • Harvesting tickets from Linux
    • 110,995 - Pentesting POP
    • 111/TCP/UDP - Pentesting Portmapper
    • 113 - Pentesting Ident
    • 123/udp - Pentesting NTP
    • 135, 593 - Pentesting MSRPC
    • 137,138,139 - Pentesting NetBios
    • 139,445 - Pentesting SMB
    • 143,993 - Pentesting IMAP
    • 161,162,10161,10162/udp - Pentesting SNMP
      • SNMP RCE
    • 194,6667,6660-7000 - Pentesting IRC
    • 264 - Pentesting Check Point FireWall-1
    • 389, 636, 3268, 3269 - Pentesting LDAP
    • 500/udp - Pentesting IPsec/IKE VPN
    • 502 - Pentesting Modbus
    • 512 - Pentesting Rexec
    • 513 - Pentesting Rlogin
    • 514 - Pentesting Rsh
    • 515 - Pentesting Line Printer Daemon (LPD)
    • 548 - Pentesting Apple Filing Protocol (AFP)
    • 554,8554 - Pentesting RTSP
    • 623/UDP/TCP - IPMI
    • 631 - Internet Printing Protocol(IPP)
    • 873 - Pentesting Rsync
    • 1026 - Pentesting Rusersd
    • 1080 - Pentesting Socks
    • 1098/1099/1050 - Pentesting Java RMI - RMI-IIOP
    • 1433 - Pentesting MSSQL - Microsoft SQL Server
    • 1521,1522-1529 - Pentesting Oracle TNS Listener
      • Oracle Pentesting requirements installation
      • TNS Poison
      • Remote stealth pass brute force
      • Oracle RCE & more
    • 1723 - Pentesting PPTP
    • 1883 - Pentesting MQTT (Mosquitto)
    • 2049 - Pentesting NFS Service
    • 2301,2381 - Pentesting Compaq/HP Insight Manager
    • 2375, 2376 Pentesting Docker
    • 3128 - Pentesting Squid
    • 3260 - Pentesting ISCSI
    • 3299 - Pentesting SAPRouter
    • 3306 - Pentesting Mysql
    • 3389 - Pentesting RDP
    • 3632 - Pentesting distcc
    • 3690 - Pentesting Subversion (svn server)
    • 4369 - Pentesting Erlang Port Mapper Daemon (epmd)
    • 5000 - Pentesting Docker Registry
    • 5353/UDP Multicast DNS (mDNS)
    • 5432,5433 - Pentesting Postgresql
    • 5601 - Pentesting Kibana
    • 5671,5672 - Pentesting AMQP
    • 5800,5801,5900,5901 - Pentesting VNC
    • 5984,6984 - Pentesting CouchDB
    • 5985,5986 - Pentesting WinRM
    • 6000 - Pentesting X11
    • 6379 - Pentesting Redis
    • 8009 - Pentesting Apache JServ Protocol (AJP)
    • 8089 - Splunkd
    • 9000 - Pentesting FastCGI
    • 9001 - Pentesting HSQLDB
    • 9042/9160 - Pentesting Cassandra
    • 9100 - Pentesting Raw Printing (JetDirect, AppSocket, PDL-datastream)
    • 9200 - Pentesting Elasticsearch
    • 10000 - Pentesting Network Data Management Protocol (ndmp)
    • 11211 - Pentesting Memcache
    • 15672 - Pentesting RabbitMQ Management
    • 27017,27018 - Pentesting MongoDB
    • 44818/UDP/TCP - Pentesting EthernetIP
    • 47808/udp - Pentesting BACNet
    • 50030,50060,50070,50075,50090 - Pentesting Hadoop
  • Pentesting Web
    • Web Vulnerabilities Methodology
    • Reflecting Techniques - PoCs and Polygloths CheatSheet
      • Web Vulns List
    • 2FA/OTP Bypass
    • Abusing hop-by-hop headers
    • Bypass Payment Process
    • Captcha Bypass
    • Cache Poisoning and Cache Deception
    • Clickjacking
    • Client Side Template Injection (CSTI)
    • Command Injection
    • Content Security Policy (CSP) Bypass
    • Cookies Hacking
    • CORS - Misconfigurations & Bypass
    • CRLF (%0D%0A) Injection
    • Cross-site WebSocket hijacking (CSWSH)
    • CSRF (Cross Site Request Forgery)
    • Dangling Markup - HTML scriptless injection
    • Deserialization
      • NodeJS - __proto__ & prototype Pollution
      • Java JSF ViewState (.faces) Deserialization
      • Java DNS Deserialization, GadgetProbe and Java Deserialization Scanner
      • Basic Java Deserialization (ObjectInputStream, readObject)
      • CommonsCollection1 Payload - Java Transformers to Rutime exec() and Thread Sleep
      • Basic .Net deserialization (ObjectDataProvider gadget, ExpandedWrapper, and Json.Net)
      • Exploiting __VIEWSTATE knowing the secrets
      • Exploiting __VIEWSTATE without knowing the secrets
    • Domain/Subdomain takeover
    • Email Header Injection
    • File Inclusion/Path traversal
      • phar:// deserialization
    • File Upload
      • PDF Upload - XXE and CORS bypass
    • Formula Injection
    • HTTP Request Smuggling / HTTP Desync Attack
    • H2C Smuggling
    • IDOR
    • JWT Vulnerabilities (Json Web Tokens)
    • NoSQL injection
    • LDAP Injection
    • Login Bypass
      • Login bypass List
    • OAuth to Account takeover
    • Open Redirect
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    • Rate Limit Bypass
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    • Regular expression Denial of Service - ReDoS
    • Reset/Forgotten Password Bypass
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      • SAML Basics
    • Server Side Inclusion/Edge Side Inclusion Injection
    • SQL Injection
      • MSSQL Injection
      • Oracle injection
      • PostgreSQL injection
        • dblink/lo_import data exfiltration
        • PL/pgSQL Password Bruteforce
        • Network - Privesc, Port Scanner and NTLM chanllenge response disclosure
        • Big Binary Files Upload (PostgreSQL)
        • RCE with PostgreSQL Extensions
      • MySQL injection
        • Mysql SSRF
      • SQLMap - Cheetsheat
        • Second Order Injection - SQLMap
    • SSRF (Server Side Request Forgery)
    • SSTI (Server Side Template Injection)
      • EL - Expression Language
    • Reverse Tab Nabbing
    • Unicode Normalization vulnerability
    • Web Tool - WFuzz
    • XPATH injection
    • XSLT Server Side Injection (Extensible Stylesheet Languaje Transformations)
    • XXE - XEE - XML External Entity
    • XSS (Cross Site Scripting)
      • PDF Injection
      • DOM XSS
      • Server Side XSS (Dynamic PDF)
      • XSS Tools
    • XSSI (Cross-Site Script Inclusion)
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  • Forensics
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      • Memory dump analysis
        • Volatility - CheatSheet
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        • File/Data Carving & Recovery Tools
        • NTFS
      • Pcap Inspection
        • DNSCat pcap analysis
        • USB Keystrokes
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        • Wireshark tricks
      • Specific Software/File-Type Tricks
        • .pyc
        • Browser Artifacts
        • Desofuscation vbs (cscript.exe)
        • Local Cloud Storage
        • Office file analysis
        • PDF File analysis
        • PNG tricks
        • Video and Audio file analysis
        • ZIPs tricks
      • Windows Artifacts
        • Windows Processes
        • Interesting Windows Registry Keys
  • A.I. Exploiting
    • BRA.I.NSMASHER Presentation
      • Basic Bruteforcer
      • Basic Captcha Breaker
      • BIM Bruteforcer
      • Hybrid Malware Classifier Part 1
  • Blockchain
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        • Angr - Examples
      • Z3 - Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT)
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      • Blobrunner
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      • Unpacking binaries
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  • Exploiting
    • Linux Exploiting (Basic) (SPA)
      • Format Strings Template
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        • ROP - Leaking LIBC template
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  • Cryptography
    • Certificates
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    • Electronic Code Book (ECB)
    • Hash Length Extension Attack
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  • BACKDOORS
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    • Esoteric languages
  • MISC
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  • TODO
    • More Tools
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    • Pentesting DNS
  • Burp Suite
  • Other Web Tricks
  • Interesting HTTP
  • Emails Vulnerabilities
  • Android Forensics
  • TR-069
  • 6881/udp - Pentesting BitTorrent
  • CTF Write-ups
    • challenge-0521.intigriti.io
    • Try Hack Me
      • hc0n Christmas CTF - 2019
      • Pickle Rick
  • 1911 - Pentesting fox
  • Online Platforms with API
  • Stealing Sensitive Information Disclosure from a Web
  • Post Exploitation
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  • WMIC
  • Scheduled Tasks
  • Folders
  • Registry
  • Runs
  • Startup Path
  • Winlogon Keys
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  • AlternateShell
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  1. Windows
  2. Windows Local Privilege Escalation

Privilege Escalation with Autoruns

PreviousPrivilege Escalation Abusing TokensNextRottenPotato

Last updated 3 years ago

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WMIC

Wmic can be used to run programs on startup. See which binaries are programmed to run is startup with:

wmic startup get caption,command 2>nul & ^
Get-CimInstance Win32_StartupCommand | select Name, command, Location, User | fl

Scheduled Tasks

Tasks can be schedules to run with certain frequency. See which binaries are scheduled to run with:

schtasks /query /fo TABLE /nh | findstr /v /i "disable deshab"
schtasks /query /fo LIST 2>nul | findstr TaskName
schtasks /query /fo LIST /v > schtasks.txt; cat schtask.txt | grep "SYSTEM\|Task To Run" | grep -B 1 SYSTEM
Get-ScheduledTask | where {$_.TaskPath -notlike "\Microsoft*"} | ft TaskName,TaskPath,State

#Schtask to give admin access
#You can also write that content on a bat file that is being executed by a scheduled task
schtasks /Create /RU "SYSTEM" /SC ONLOGON /TN "SchedPE" /TR "cmd /c net localgroup administrators user /add"

Folders

All the binaries located in the Startup folders are going to be executed on startup. The common startup folders are the ones listed a continuation, but the startup folder is indicated in the registry.

dir /b "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" 2>nul
dir /b "C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" 2>nul
dir /b "%programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" 2>nul
dir /b "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" 2>nul
Get-ChildItem "C:\Users\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
Get-ChildItem "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"

Registry

Note: The Wow6432Node registry entry indicates that you are running a 64-bit Windows version. The operating system uses this key to display a separate view of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE for 32-bit applications that run on 64-bit Windows versions.

Runs

Commonly known AutoRun registry:

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

  • HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • HKCU\Software\Wow6432Npde\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunonceEx

Run and RunOnce registry keys cause programs to run each time that a user logs on. The data value for a key is a command line no longer than 260 characters.

Service runs (can control automatic startup of services during boot):

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

  • HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

  • HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

RunOnceEx:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

It's not created by default on Windows Vista and newer. Registry run key entries can reference programs directly or list them as a dependency. For example, it is possible to load a DLL at logon using a "Depend" key with RunOnceEx: reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx\0001\Depend /v 1 /d "C:\temp\evil[.]dll"

Exploit 1: If you can write inside any of the mentioned registry inside HKLM you can escalate privileges when a different user logs in.

Exploit 2: If you can overwrite any of the binaries indicated on any of the registry inside HKLM you can modify that binary with a backdoor when a different user logs in and escalate privileges.

#CMD
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
reg query HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
reg query HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
reg query HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
reg query HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunE

reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
reg query HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
reg query HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
reg query HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
reg query HKCU\Software\Wow5432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx
reg query HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx
reg query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx
reg query HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx

#PowerShell
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunE'

Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices'

Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\RunOnceEx'

Startup Path

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

Any shortcut created to the location pointed by subkey Startup will launch the service during logon/reboot. Start up location is specified both at Local Machine and Current User.

If you can overwrite any [User] Shell Folder under HKLM, you will e able to point it to a folder controlled by you and place a backdoor that will be executed anytime a user logs in the system escalating privileges.

reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v "Common Startup"
reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Common Startup"
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Common Startup"
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders" /v "Common Startup"

Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders' -Name "Common Startup"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders' -Name "Common Startup"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders' -Name "Common Startup"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders' -Name "Common Startup"

Winlogon Keys

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Usually, Userinit key points to userinit.exe but if this key can be altered, then that exe will also launch by Winlogon. Shell key should point to explorer.exe.

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v "Userinit"
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v "Shell"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name "Userinit"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon' -Name "Shell"

If you can overwrite the registry value or the binary you will be able to escalate privileges.

Policy Settings

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

  • HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Check Run key.

reg query "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v "Run"
reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /v "Run"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer' -Name "Run"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer' -Name "Run"

AlternateShell

Path: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot

Under the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot is the value AlternateShell, which by default is set to cmd.exe (the command prompt). When you press F8 during startup and select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt," the system uses this alternate shell. You can, however, create a boot option so that you don't have to press F8, then select "Safe Mode with Command Prompt."

  1. Edit the boot.ini (c:\boot.ini) file attributes to make the file nonread-only, nonsystem, and nonhidden (attrib c:\boot.ini -r -s -h).

  2. Open boot.ini.

  3. Add a line similar to the following: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /SAFEBOOT:MINIMAL(ALTERNATESHELL)

  4. Save the file.

  5. Reapply the correct permissions (attrib c:\boot.ini +r +s +h).

Exploit 1: If you can modify this registry key you can point your backdoor

Exploit 2 (PATH write permissions): If you have write permission on any folder of the system PATH before C:\Windows\system32 (or if you can change it) you can create a cmd.exe file and if someone initiates the machine in Safe Mode your backdoor will be executed.

Exploit 3 (PATH write permissions and boot.ini write permissions): If you can write boot.ini, you can automate the startup in safe mode for the next reboot.

reg query HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot /v AlternateShell
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot' -Name 'AlternateShell'

Installed Component

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

  • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

  • HKCU\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components

Active Setup runs before the Desktop appears. Commands started by Active Setup run synchronously, blocking the logon while they are executing. Active Setup is executed before any Run or RunOnce registry entries are evaluated.

Inside those keys you will find more keys and each for those will home some interesting key-values. The most interesting ones are:

  • IsInstalled:

    • 0: The component’s command will not run.

    • 1: The component’s command will be run once per user. This is the default (if the IsInstalled value does not exist).

  • StubPath

    • Format: Any valid command line, e.g. “notepad”

    • This is the command that is executed if Active Setup determines this component needs to run during logon.

If you could write/overwrite on any Key with IsInstalled == "1" the key StubPath, you could point it to a backdoor and escalate privileges. Also, if you could overwrite any binary pointed by any StubPath key you could be able to escalate privileges.

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components" /s /v StubPath
reg query "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components" /s /v StubPath
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components" /s /v StubPath
reg query "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components" /s /v StubPath

Browser Helper Objects

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects

A Browser Helper Object (BHO) is a DLL module designed as a plugin for Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser to provide added functionality. These modules are executed for each new instance of Internet Explorer and for each new instance of Windows Explorer. However, a BHO can be prevented to be executed by each instance of Explorer setting the key NoExplorer to 1.

BHOs are still supported as of Windows 10, through Internet Explorer 11, while BHOs are not supported in the default web browser Microsoft Edge.

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects" /s
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects" /s

Note that the registry will contain 1 new registry per each dll and it will be represented by the CLSID. You can find the CLSID info in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{<CLSID>}

Internet Explorer Extensions

  • HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions

  • HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions

Note that the registry will contain 1 new registry per each dll and it will be represented by the CLSID. You can find the CLSID info in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{<CLSID>}

Font Drivers

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers"
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers"
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers'
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Font Drivers'

Open Command

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command

  • HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command" /v ""
reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command" /v ""
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command' -Name ""
Get-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Classes\htmlfile\shell\open\command' -Name ""

Image File Execution Options

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Wow6432Node\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options

SysInternals

autorunsc.exe -m -nobanner -a * -ct /accepteula

More

References

Info from .

Note that all the sites where you can find autoruns are already searched by. However, for a more comprehensive list of auto-executed file you could use from systinternals:

Find more Autoruns like registries in

here
winpeas.exe
autoruns
https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2762082&seqNum=2
https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/common-malware-persistence-mechanisms/#gref
https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1547/001/
https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2762082&seqNum=2
Read this to learn where.