Password Audits Part 3: Cracking Hashes

Introduction If you feel like experimenting yourself, the NT hash dataset can be generated using this creatively-named script. In Part 1 we retrieved NTDS and in Part 2 we organised it using hash-organiser. We are now ready to move to the next part of the process: recovering hashes. Extract NTDS → Clean/Organise NTDS → Crack hashes → Analyse results “Cracking hashes” sounds a bit abstract, so let’s try narrowing it down. At this stage, the goal is not to crack as many hashes as possible just because, but to identify weak passwords and patterns that represent real risk to the domain. ...

May 31, 2026 · mollysec

Password Audits Part 2: Hash Organisation

Introduction In Part 1, we talked about how we can extract credentials from NTDS using DCSync and VSS. Now, it is time to think about how to best handle the NTDS file. Extracting NTDS is typically the last step in a CTF, but it is just the first one here: Extract NTDS → Clean/Organise NTDS → Crack hashes → Analyse results The good news is that this part is technically much simpler; no need to talk about weird acronyms, protocols, and methods. We just need to decide what we actually need from NTDS and extract it. ...

May 17, 2026 · mollysec

Password Audits Part 1: NTDS Extraction

Introduction This article is about pentesting, not red teaming. We are given a DA account to extract NTDS, we don’t need to be stealthy or anything of that sort. Therefore, OPSEC considerations out of scope. I recently went from just testing (close-to-zero-functionality) web apps and APIs to doing more varied stuff, including internal assessments. An internal test consists of many different parts, one of which is assessing the passwords used within the domain (what we call a password audit). ...

March 13, 2026 · mollysec