type: attack-pattern
spec_version: 2.1
id: attack-pattern--7de1f7ac-5d0c-4c9c-8873-627202205331
created: 2022-08-03T03:20:58.955Z
created_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
revoked: no
external_references: source_name: mitre-attack
url: https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1649
external_id: T1649
source_name: GitHub GhostPack Certificates
description: HarmJ0y. (2018, August 22). SharpDPAPI - Certificates. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
url: https://github.com/GhostPack/SharpDPAPI#certificates
source_name: Microsoft AD CS Overview
description: Microsoft. (2016, August 31). Active Directory Certificate Services Overview. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
url: https://docs.microsoft.com/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-r2-and-2012/hh831740(v=ws.11)
source_name: Medium Certified Pre Owned
description: Schroeder, W. (2021, June 17). Certified Pre-Owned. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
url: https://posts.specterops.io/certified-pre-owned-d95910965cd2
source_name: SpecterOps Certified Pre Owned
description: Schroeder, W. & Christensen, L. (2021, June 22). Certified Pre-Owned - Abusing Active Directory Certificate Services. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20220818094600/https://specterops.io/assets/resources/Certified_Pre-Owned.pdf
source_name: O365 Blog Azure AD Device IDs
description: Syynimaa, N. (2022, February 15). Stealing and faking Azure AD device identities. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
url: https://o365blog.com/post/deviceidentity/
source_name: GitHub CertStealer
description: TheWover. (2021, April 21). CertStealer. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
url: https://github.com/TheWover/CertStealer
source_name: APT29 Deep Look at Credential Roaming
description: Thibault Van Geluwe De Berlaere. (2022, November 8). They See Me Roaming: Following APT29 by Taking a Deeper Look at Windows Credential Roaming. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
url: https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/apt29-windows-credential-roaming
object_marking_refs: marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168
modified: 2025-04-15T23:12:50.646Z
name: Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates
description: Adversaries may steal or forge certificates used for authentication to access remote systems or resources. Digital certificates are often used to sign and encrypt messages and/or files. Certificates are also used as authentication material. For example, Entra ID device certificates and Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) certificates bind to an identity and can be used as credentials for domain accounts.(Citation: O365 Blog Azure AD Device IDs)(Citation: Microsoft AD CS Overview)

Authentication certificates can be both stolen and forged. For example, AD CS certificates can be stolen from encrypted storage (in the Registry or files)(Citation: APT29 Deep Look at Credential Roaming), misplaced certificate files (i.e. [Unsecured Credentials](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1552)), or directly from the Windows certificate store via various crypto APIs.(Citation: SpecterOps Certified Pre Owned)(Citation: GitHub CertStealer)(Citation: GitHub GhostPack Certificates) With appropriate enrollment rights, users and/or machines within a domain can also request and/or manually renew certificates from enterprise certificate authorities (CA). This enrollment process defines various settings and permissions associated with the certificate. Of note, the certificate’s extended key usage (EKU) values define signing, encryption, and authentication use cases, while the certificate’s subject alternative name (SAN) values define the certificate owner’s alternate names.(Citation: Medium Certified Pre Owned)

Abusing certificates for authentication credentials may enable other behaviors such as [Lateral Movement](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0008). Certificate-related misconfigurations may also enable opportunities for [Privilege Escalation](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0004), by way of allowing users to impersonate or assume privileged accounts or permissions via the identities (SANs) associated with a certificate. These abuses may also enable [Persistence](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003) via stealing or forging certificates that can be used as [Valid Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078) for the duration of the certificate's validity, despite user password resets. Authentication certificates can also be stolen and forged for machine accounts.

Adversaries who have access to root (or subordinate) CA certificate private keys (or mechanisms protecting/managing these keys) may also establish [Persistence](https://attack.mitre.org/tactics/TA0003) by forging arbitrary authentication certificates for the victim domain (known as “golden” certificates).(Citation: Medium Certified Pre Owned) Adversaries may also target certificates and related services in order to access other forms of credentials, such as [Golden Ticket](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1558/001) ticket-granting tickets (TGT) or NTLM plaintext.(Citation: Medium Certified Pre Owned)
kill_chain_phases: kill_chain_name: mitre-attack
phase_name: credential-access
x_mitre_attack_spec_version: 3.2.0
x_mitre_contributors: Tristan Bennett, Seamless Intelligence
Lee Christensen, SpecterOps
Thirumalai Natarajan, Mandiant
x_mitre_deprecated: no
x_mitre_domains: enterprise-attack
x_mitre_is_subtechnique: no
x_mitre_modified_by_ref: identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5
x_mitre_platforms: Windows
Linux
macOS
Identity Provider
x_mitre_version: 1.2