• 👉 Overview
• 👀 What ?
• 🧐 Why ?
• ⛏️ How ?
• ⏳ When ?
• ⚙️ Technical Explanations
• 🖇️ References

👉 Overview

👀 What ?

Windows Abusing Tokens is a technique used by attackers to manipulate or misuse tokens in a Windows environment. This technique takes advantage of the way Windows handles privilege escalation and user impersonation, allowing the attacker to execute actions with the same permissions as the owner of the token.

🧐 Why ?

Understanding and detecting Windows Abusing Tokens is crucial for cybersecurity professionals. This technique is often used in advanced persistent threats (APTs) and insider attacks, where the attacker has already gained initial access to the system and is attempting to elevate their privileges or impersonate another user. The ability to detect and prevent this technique is vital for protecting sensitive data and maintaining the integrity of the system.

⛏️ How ?

To take advantage of Windows Abusing Tokens, attackers typically follow these steps: \n1. Gain initial access to the system, often through phishing, exploiting vulnerabilities, or using stolen credentials. \n2. Once inside the system, the attacker locates a process with higher privileges. \n3. The attacker then duplicates the token of this process using specific API calls. \n4. Finally, the attacker uses the duplicated token to launch a new process with the same permissions as the original process.

⏳ When ?

The abuse of tokens in Windows environments has been a known issue for many years. However, it has become more prevalent with the rise of sophisticated cyber threats and the widespread use of cloud services and virtualization technologies. These advancements have increased the number of potential entry points for attackers and made it easier for them to move laterally within networks.

⚙️ Technical Explanations

At a technical level, Windows Abusing Tokens involves interacting with the Windows Security Access Manager (SAM) and Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). These Windows components are responsible for managing user authentication and access control. By duplicating a token from a process with higher privileges, the attacker can effectively 'impersonate' that user, inheriting their access rights and permissions. This is made possible through the use of APIs such as DuplicateTokenEx and CreateProcessWithTokenW.

🖇️ References