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Latest Articles

Extending and automating NightHawk with DayBird

13 min read - NightHawk, MDSec’s commercial C2 product, has focused on operational security and detection avoidance since its initial release in December 2021. While the core functionality of the framework has been effective within the scope of these objectives, our team noticed certain features were missing as we started incorporating NightHawk into our engagements alongside our other C2 options. Most notably, there was no equivalent in NightHawk to Cobalt Strike’s Aggressor scripting platform, severely limiting automation capabilities. While I know how big of…

Critically close to zero(day): Exploiting Microsoft Kernel streaming service

10 min read - Last month Microsoft patched a vulnerability in the Microsoft Kernel Streaming Server, a Windows kernel component used in the virtualization and sharing of camera devices. The vulnerability, CVE-2023-36802, allows a local attacker to escalate privileges to SYSTEM. This blog post details my process of exploring a new attack surface in the Windows kernel, finding a 0-day vulnerability, exploring an interesting bug class, and building a stable exploit. This post doesn’t require any specialized Windows kernel knowledge to follow along, though…

Reflective call stack detections and evasions

6 min read - In a blog published this March, we explored reflective loading through the lens of an offensive security tool developer, highlighting detection and evasion opportunities along the way. This time we are diving into call stack detections and evasions, and how BokuLoader reflectively loads call stack spoofing capabilities into beacon. We created this blog and public release of BokuLoader during Dylan’s summer 2023 internship with IBM X-Force Red. While researching call stack spoofing for our in-house C2, this was one of…

Databases beware: Abusing Microsoft SQL Server with SQLRecon

20 min read - Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privileged opportunity to peek behind the veil of some of the largest organizations in the world. In my experience, most industry verticals rely on enterprise Windows networks. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen a decentralized zero-trust network, enterprise Linux, macOS network, or Active Directory alternative (FreeIPA). As I navigate my way through these large and often complex enterprise networks, it is common…

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