Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored. The SAM is a database file that contains local accounts for the host, typically those found with the net user command. Enumerating the SAM database requires SYSTEM level access.

A number of tools can be used to retrieve the SAM file through in-memory techniques:

• pwdumpx.exe
• gsecdump
• Mimikatz
• secretsdump.py

Alternatively, the SAM can be extracted from the Registry with Reg:

• reg save HKLM\sam sam
• reg save HKLM\system system

Creddump7 can then be used to process the SAM database locally to retrieve hashes.^[1]

Notes:

• RID 500 account is the local, built-in administrator.
• RID 501 is the guest account.
• User accounts start with a RID of 1,000+.

References

1. Flathers, R. (2018, February 19). creddump7. Retrieved April 11, 2018.

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