Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides

38. Active Directory Attacks and Defence

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Chala mitrano, Chapter 37 madhe LDAP basics baghitla – aata Active Directory (AD) deep dive. AD = Windows networks cha directory brain: users, groups, computers, Group Policy, Kerberos tickets. Attacker la Domain Admin milala tar sagla jungle open – mhanun aapan lab madhech Impacket ani BloodHound shiku, ani pratyek step sobat bachav. Ghabru naka – concepts aadhi, commands nantar. He khup important aahe!

What you will learn in this chapter

  • AD basics: domain, forest, Domain Controller (DC), Kerberos vs NTLM, LDAP role
  • Safe AD lab: Windows Server DC + Windows client + Kali (host-only) – fictional sahyadri.lab
  • AD enumeration ideas: NetExec LDAP, Impacket scripts, BloodHound collectors (lab only)
  • Kerberos attack ideas explained for Blue: AS-REP roasting, Kerberoasting + fixes
  • NTLM relay / Pass-the-Hash concepts – signing, LAPS, Credential Guard, Tier model
  • BloodHound edges (AdminTo, MemberOf, HasSession, GenericAll) – Blue path reduction
  • Privilege escalation paths, unconstrained delegation awareness, Domain Admin risk
  • Defence checklist – Raja-Rani Traders style fictional Maharashtra AD
  • Project: Build a weak AD config, hack in lab, then fix and re-verify

Lab scope

Build and attack only your own AD lab (VirtualBox/VMware host-only: Kali 192.168.56.10, your Windows Server DC + Windows 10/11 member). Never point Impacket, BloodHound collectors, NetExec or relay tools at a real corporate / institute / client AD. Without written permission this is illegal under the IT Act (sections such as 43 and 66 – verify current text). Lab = learn. Real AD = defend only.

Concepts in this chapter

  1. 38.1AD Basics for Defenders
  2. 38.2Safe AD Lab Setup
  3. 38.3Enumeration of AD
  4. 38.4Kerberos Basics: AS-REP Roasting and Kerberoasting (Defensive View)
  5. 38.5NTLM Relay and Pass-the-Hash Concepts (Lab Only)
  6. 38.6BloodHound Attack-Path Analysis
  7. 38.7Privilege Escalation Paths and Domain Admin Risks
  8. 38.8Defence Checklist – Raja-Rani Traders Style AD
  9. 38.9Putting It Together – Purple Team Mindset

The chapter recap is at the end of the last concept page.