Timelapse
Executive summary — Timelapse is an Active Directory chain built from four chained credential-hygiene mistakes, without exploiting a single CVE: the
guestaccount (no password) reads a share holding a WinRM certificate backup protected by two weak-password layers (zip and.pfx, both cracked withrockyou); the certificate authenticates over WinRM over HTTPS (5986) aslegacyy— user.txt;legacyy's PowerShell history stores the plaintext password of thesvc_deployservice account; andsvc_deploybelongs to theLAPS_Readersgroup, which can read the local administrator password of the Domain Controller itself — root.txt and de-facto Domain Admin. The common thread: secrets reachable by whoever shouldn't be able to see them.
| Platform | Hack The Box |
| Operating system | Windows Server 2019 (Build 17763) |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Status | Retired |
| Target IP | 10.129.227.113 |
Attack map
[SMB/guest] \\Shares\Dev -> winrm_backup.zip
| two encrypted layers: zip (John -> supremelegacy) + .pfx (John -> thuglegacy)
v
[cert legacyy] WinRM/SSL :5986 (evil-winrm -S -c -k) -> user.txt
|
v
[PSReadLine] ConsoleHost_history.txt -> svc_deploy : E3R$Q62^12p7PLlC%KWaxuaV
|
v
[LDAP] svc_deploy in LAPS_Readers -> ms-Mcs-AdmPwd of DC01
|
v
[ROOT] Administrator (LAPS) -> root.txt + DCSync confirms the NT hash
1. Reconnaissance
sudo nmap -p- --min-rate 3000 -T4 -Pn -oN nmap-allports.txt 10.129.227.113
sudo nmap -p53,88,135,139,389,445,464,593,636,3268,5986,9389 -sCV -Pn -oN nmap-services.txt 10.129.227.113
A TTL of 127 confirms a Windows stack. The port spread — 53/88/389/445/464/636/3268/9389 — is the unmistakable signature of a Domain Controller: DNS, Kerberos, LDAP/LDAPS, SMB, kpasswd, Global Catalog and the AD DS web service. What stands out is that the exposed WinRM port is 5986 (HTTPS) instead of the usual 5985 (HTTP), with a CN=dc01.timelapse.htb certificate in the TLS handshake — already pointing at client certificate authentication instead of username/password.
echo "10.129.227.113 timelapse.htb dc01.timelapse.htb DC01" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
Resumen ejecutivo — Timelapse es una cadena de Active Directory de cuatro descuidos de higiene de credenciales encadenados sin explotar ningún CVE: la cuenta
guest(sin contraseña) lee un share que contiene un backup de certificado WinRM protegido por dos capas de contraseña débil (zip y.pfx, ambas enrockyou); el certificado autentica por WinRM sobre HTTPS (5986) comolegacyy— user.txt; el historial de PowerShell delegacyyguarda en texto plano la contraseña de la cuenta de serviciosvc_deploy; ysvc_deploypertenece al grupoLAPS_Readers, que puede leer la contraseña del administrador local del propio Domain Controller — root.txt y Domain Admin de facto. El hilo conductor: secretos accesibles a quien no debería poder verlos.
| Plataforma | Hack The Box |
| Sistema operativo | Windows Server 2019 (Build 17763) |
| Dificultad | Easy |
| Estado | Retired |
| IP objetivo | 10.129.227.113 |
Mapa del ataque
[SMB/guest] \\Shares\Dev -> winrm_backup.zip
| doble capa cifrada: zip (John -> supremelegacy) + .pfx (John -> thuglegacy)
v
[cert legacyy] WinRM/SSL :5986 (evil-winrm -S -c -k) -> user.txt
|
v
[PSReadLine] ConsoleHost_history.txt -> svc_deploy : E3R$Q62^12p7PLlC%KWaxuaV
|
v
[LDAP] svc_deploy en LAPS_Readers -> ms-Mcs-AdmPwd de DC01
|
v
[ROOT] Administrator (LAPS) -> root.txt + DCSync confirma el NT hash
1. Reconocimiento
sudo nmap -p- --min-rate 3000 -T4 -Pn -oN nmap-allports.txt 10.129.227.113
sudo nmap -p53,88,135,139,389,445,464,593,636,3268,5986,9389 -sCV -Pn -oN nmap-services.txt 10.129.227.113
Un TTL de 127 confirma pila Windows. El abanico de puertos — 53/88/389/445/464/636/3268/9389 — es la firma inequívoca de un Domain Controller: DNS, Kerberos, LDAP/LDAPS, SMB, kpasswd, Global Catalog y el servicio web de AD DS. El detalle que destaca es que el WinRM expuesto es el 5986 (HTTPS) y no el habitual 5985 (HTTP) — con certificado CN=dc01.timelapse.htb en la negociación TLS, lo que ya apunta a autenticación por certificado de cliente en vez de usuario/contraseña.
echo "10.129.227.113 timelapse.htb dc01.timelapse.htb DC01" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts
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