MITRE ATT&CK Tactics
Requirements
Coercion
- Valid Active Directory domain credentials
- Connectivity to SMB (TCP/445) on a coercion target:
- ELEVATE-1.1: Primary site server
- ELEVATE-1.2: Passive site server
- Connectivity from the coercion target to SMB (TCP/445) on the relay server
- Coercion target settings:
BlockNTLM=0or not present, or =1andBlockNTLMServerExceptionListcontains attacker relay server [DEFAULT]RestrictNTLMInDomain=0or not present, or =XandDCAllowedNTLMServerscontains attacker relay server [DEFAULT]RestrictSendingNTLMTraffic=0or not present, or =1andClientAllowedNTLMServerscontains attacker relay server [DEFAULT]
- Domain controller settings:
RestrictNTLMInDomain=0or not present, or is configured with any value andDCAllowedNTLMServerscontains coercion target [DEFAULT]
Relay
- Relay target settings:
- Connectivity from the relay server to SMB (TCP/445) on the relay target
RequireSecuritySignature=0or not present [DEFAULT]RestrictReceivingNTLMTraffic=0or not present [DEFAULT]- Coercion target is local admin (to access RPC/admin shares)
- Domain controller settings:
RestrictNTLMInDomain=0or not present, or is configured with any value andDCAllowedNTLMServerscontains relay target [DEFAULT]LmCompatibilityLevel<5or not present, or =5and LmCompatibilityLevel >=3on the coercion target [DEFAULT]
Summary
SCCM uses the site system installation account to install and maintain roles on new or existing site system servers. By default, this account is the site server’s domain computer account and requires local administrator permissions for and network access to the target systems, and site servers require this permission for ongoing operations regardless of the site system installation account. An attacker could coerce NTLM authentication from the site server’s domain computer account and relay it to SMB on remote site systems in the same site to move laterally and elevate privileges.Impact
Impact for these scenarios is difficult to quantify. In some cases a compromised site system role could lead to hierarchy takeover, while in others a successful attack is simply a lateral movement opportunity.Defensive IDs
- DETECT-1: Monitor site server domain computer accounts authenticating from another source
- PREVENT-12: Require SMB signing on site systems
- PREVENT-20: Block unnecessary connections to site systems
Subtechniques
- ELEVATE-1.1: NTLM relay primary site server SMB to SMB on remote site systems
- ELEVATE-1.2: NTLM relay passive site server SMB to SMB on remote site systems
- ELEVATE-1.3: NTLM relay central administration site server SMB to SMB on remote site systems
Examples
- On the attacker host, identify and profile SCCM assets with
SCCMhunter. The output below is snipped from the output of the SMB module. From the results, SCCM.INTERNAL.LAB is identified as a site server in the LAB site with multiple hosts from the same site hosting various site system roles:
- Start
ntlmrelayx, targeting all of the discovered LAB site systems. For this example, no additional flags are provided and the tool will simply attempt to dump hashes on the target system:
- Coerce authentication from the target site server to the attacker host’s IP address:
- Authentication is captured and relayed in the context of the SCCM.INTERNAL.LAB site sever and SAM hashes recovered from the target systems:
References
- Microsoft, Install site system roles for Configuration Manager
- Microsoft, Site system installation account