Enumerate Windows Environments

author:: Nathan Acks
date:: 2022-08-17

Important Commands

cmdkey /list - show saved credentials
driverquery - list installed drivers
hostname - return system hostname
net group "Domain Admins" /domain - list domain admins
net localgroup - list all (local) groups
net localgroup $GROUP - list user in group $GROUP
net user - list all (local) users
net user $USERNAME - get details for user $USERNAME
netstat - query open/listening ports
query session - list other users who are currently logged in
reg - query (and manipulate) registry enteries
sc - query (and manipulate) services (conflicts with a PowerShell built-in!)
schtasks - list scheduled tasks
systeminfo - return system info
whoami /priv - current user + privileges

net

Windows’ net command is can also be used to manipulate user and group information (if you already have admin/SYSTEM permission)! For example:

# Change a user's password
#
net user $USERNAME $PASSWORD

# Add a user to a domain
#
net user $USERNAME /add /domain

# Make a user a domain admin
#
net group "Domain Admins" $USERNAME /add /domain

netstat

The netstat command on Windows almost works exactly like its Linux equivalent. The difference is that -o displays the PID of the process using the connection on Windows (which, IMHO, is more useful than -o on Linux).

Using “netstat”

systeminfo

Use findstr to filter the output of systeminfo:

systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version" /C:"System Type"

wmic

The wmic command is extremely useful, but is also deprecated (because of its usefulness to attackers!). It can be used on Windows 10 21H1 and earlier. For later systems, PowerShell command-lets will need to be used instead (which increases the risk that activity will be logged).

wmic product - list all installed software (but misses 32-bit applications installed on a 64-bit OS)
wmic service get name,displayname,pathname,startmode - list all services
wmic qfe get Caption,Description,HotFixID,InstalledOn - list installed updates
wimc service list brief - another way of listing services

Useful Scripts

Notes:

WinPEAS is detected and quarantined by Microsoft Defender (service windefend) by default.
PowerUp may require an unrestricted PowerShell session (powershell -nop -exec bypass), which can raise alerts.
Windows Exploit Suggester analyzes the output of systeminfo, and can be run on the attacker’s machine.
The multi/recon/local_exploit_suggester module works through Meterpreter to analyze a Windows system for potential vulnerabilities.