New DFSCoerce NTLM relay attack allows taking control over Windows domains

Play ransomware Microsoft Windows DOS-to-NT path conversion process to achieve rootkit-like capabilities

Experts discovered a new kind of Windows NTLM relay attack dubbed DFSCoerce that allows taking control over a Windows domain.

Researchers warn of a new Windows NTLM relay attack dubbed DFSCoerce that can be exploited by threat actors to take control over a Windows domain.

The DFSCoerce attack relies on the Distributed File System (DFS): Namespace Management Protocol (MS-DFSNM) to take full control over a Windows domain. The Distributed File System (DFS): Namespace Management Protocol provides an RPC interface for administering DFS configurations.

The security researcher Filip Dragovic published a proof-of-concept script for the new NTLM relay attack.

The PoC is based on the PetitPotam exploit, and abuse the MS-DFSNM protocol instead of using the MS-EFSRPC.

The popular CERT/CC Expert Will Dormann confirmed that the attack could allow threat actors to obtain Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT) from the domain controller.

To mitigate the attack, researchers suggest following Microsoft’s advisory for the mitigation of the PetitPotam NTLM relay attack, such as disabling the NTLM on domain controllers and enabling Extended Protection for Authentication (EPA) and signing features, and turning off HTTP on AD CS servers.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, DFSCoerce)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.