H3XAOperational intelligence
Live analytical pictureEvidence before assessment
TypeTechnique
External ID—
First seen2026-08-14
Last seen2026-08-14

Confidence

—

Adversaries who have the KRBTGT account password hash may forge Kerberos ticket-granting tickets (TGT), also known as a golden ticket.(Citation: AdSecurity Kerberos GT Aug 2015) Golden tickets enable adversaries to generate authentication material for any account in Active Directory.(Citation: CERT-EU Golden Ticket Protection) Using a golden ticket, adversaries are then able to request ticket granting service (TGS) tickets, which enable access to specific resources. Golden tickets require adversaries to interact with the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in order to obtain TGS.(Citation: ADSecurity Detecting Forged Tickets) The KDC service runs all on domain controllers that are part of an Active Directory domain. KRBTGT is the Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) service account and is responsible for encrypting and signing all Kerberos tickets.(Citation: ADSecurity Kerberos and KRBTGT) The KRBTGT password hash may be obtained using [OS Credential Dumping](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003) and privileged access to a domain controller.

8 recorded

Relationships

mitigatesMitigation
mitigatesMitigation
subtechnique-ofTechnique
uses
from Empire
Tool
usesGroup
usesTool
uses
from Rubeus
Tool
uses
from Sliver
Tool
7 external

References

mitre-attack
T1558.001
open
AdSecurity Kerberos GT Aug 2015
https://adsecurity.org/?p=1640
open
CERT-EU Golden Ticket Protection
https://cert.europa.eu/static/WhitePapers/UPDATED%20-%20CERT-EU_Security_Whitepaper_2014-007_Kerberos_Golden_Ticket_Protection_v1_4.pdf
open
ADSecurity Detecting Forged Tickets
https://adsecurity.org/?p=1515
open
ADSecurity Kerberos and KRBTGT
https://adsecurity.org/?p=483
open
Stealthbits Detect PtT 2019
https://blog.stealthbits.com/detect-pass-the-ticket-attacks
open
Microsoft Kerberos Golden Ticket
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Kerberos-Golden-Ticket-b4814285
open