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Microsoft Windows Hardening

·3 mins·
Mahir
Author
Mahir
I poke at code, dig into security, and write down whatever I learn along the way.
Table of Contents

Note:

  • The questions are shortened for a cleaner view
  • Questions that are straightforward will only have answers attached. Such questions can be easily answered by reading the documentation given in the room.

Task 1 - Introduction
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No answer needed


Task 2 - Understanding General Concepts
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1) What is the startup type of App Readiness service in the services panel?
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Search for services in the search box and open it. Double click on App Readiness to know more.

Ans: Manual

2) What is the default value of the key?
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Search for registry in the search box and open it. Ctrl + F to open the search box and search for tryhackme.

Ans: {THM_REG_FLAG}

3) Can you find the flag?
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The flag is in the following location: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Diagnosis\flag.txt.txt. Its not possible to open it as is, so open Notepad with admin privileges and then open the file.

Ans: {THM_REG_FLAG}


Task 3 - Identity & Access Management
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1) Find the name of the Administrator Account of the attached VM.
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Go to Control Panel > User Accounts

Ans: Harden

2) What is the default level of Notification?
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To access UAC, go to Control Panel -> User Accounts and click on Change User Account Control Setting.

Ans: Always Notify

3) How many standard accounts are created in the VM?
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There is only 1 admin account, no standard accounts.

Ans: 0


Task 4 - Network Management
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1) Which of the following profiles is active?
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For me it was showing that the Public Profile is Active so I’m not really sure why the answer is Private

Ans: Private

2) How many standard accounts are created in the VM?
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Run, the following command in command prompt or powershell.

type C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\hosts

Ans: 0

3) What is the Physical address for the IP address 255.255.255.255?
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C:\Users\Harden>arp -a

Interface: 10.49.186.172 --- 0x5
  Internet Address      Physical Address      Type
  10.49.128.1           0a-8d-9c-ee-ea-81     dynamic
  10.49.191.255         ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff     static
  169.254.169.254       0a-8d-9c-ee-ea-81     dynamic
  224.0.0.22            01-00-5e-00-00-16     static
  224.0.0.251           01-00-5e-00-00-fb     static
  224.0.0.252           01-00-5e-00-00-fc     static
  239.255.255.250       01-00-5e-7f-ff-fa     static
  255.255.255.255       ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff     static

Ans: ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff


Task 5 - Application Management
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1) What is the extension?
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Go to Virus and Threat Protection -> Exclusions.

Ans: .ps

2) Is it best practice to open it immediately on your personal computer ?
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Ans: nay

3) What is the flag you received after executing the Office Hardening Batch file?
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Ans: {THM_1101110}


Task 6 - Storage Management
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1) Can you read the last six digits of the recovery key?
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The recovery key can be found in the Documents folder.

Recovery Key:

	132858-327525-689172-680790-354607-080454-642268-377564

Ans: 377564

2) How many characters does the BitLocker recovery key have…?
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I used python to find the length:

print(len("132858327525689172680790354607080454642268377564"))

Ans: 48

3) What is the extension of that file?
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Ans: .bkf


Task 7 - Updating Windows
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1) What is the CVE score for the vulnerability CVE ID CVE-2022-32230?
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You can find more information about the cve here.

Microsoft Windows SMBv3 suffers from a null pointer dereference in versions of Windows prior to the April, 2022 patch set. By sending a malformed FileNormalizedNameInformation SMBv3 request over a named pipe, an attacker can cause a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crash of the Windows kernel. For most systems, this attack requires authentication, except in the special case of Windows Domain Controllers, where unauthenticated users can always open named pipes as long as they can establish an SMB session. Typically, after the BSOD, the victim SMBv3 server will reboot.

Ans: 7.8


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