{ "family": "pswdump", "sample_count": 1, "category": "advanced_threat", "description": "

Executive Summary

\nPSWDump is a malicious HackTool and credential dumper specifically designed to extract Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) password hashes from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database or directly from the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) memory. Widely utilized by penetration testers and malicious threat actors alike, it is a critical tool for lateral movement and privilege escalation during a network breach.\n\n

Technical Architecture and Exploitation

\nPSWDump (and its many variants like pwdump, fgdump, and components of Mimikatz) requires local administrative privileges to function. Once executed, it bypasses standard Windows security restrictions to access sensitive cryptographic data.\n\nIts core functionalities include:\n\n\n

Threat Impact

\nThe successful execution of PSWDump is a catastrophic failure of endpoint security. By obtaining NTLM hashes, an attacker can authenticate to other network resources without ever knowing the user's plaintext password, rapidly escalating a single compromised endpoint into a full Active Directory domain compromise.\n\n

Defense and Resilience Strategies

\n", "cta": "Published by the SystemHelpdesk team.", "aliases": [ "HackTool.PSWDump", "Tool.Pwdump", "Riskware.CredentialDumper" ], "enrichment_level": "expert-seo", "faq": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is Pswdump and what threat category does it belong to?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Pswdump is classified as a Advanced Threat. Documented across security telemetry, it is engineered to execute unauthorized operations, establish persistent footholds on target endpoints, and facilitate malicious campaigns targeting enterprise and individual environments." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does Pswdump establish persistence and evade defensive controls?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Pswdump typically establishes persistence through registry run keys, scheduled tasks, or service installations, while evading signature-based antivirus solutions through code obfuscation, memory injection, or anti-analysis sandbox checks." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the essential incident response steps for mitigating a Pswdump compromise?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Security teams responding to Pswdump should immediately isolate affected endpoints from the network, perform memory triage to capture volatile forensic artifacts, audit registry and startup persistence mechanisms, revoke exposed user credentials, and restore systems from verified, clean backups." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What lateral movement and credential access tactics does HackTool.PSWDump leverage in enterprise intrusions?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "HackTool.PSWDump frequently utilizes privileged account harvesting techniques such as LSASS memory dumping, Kerberoasting, and token impersonation to escalate privileges. Once administrative credentials are acquired, it pivots across the victim network utilizing living-off-the-land binaries (LOLBins) such as WMI, PowerShell remoting, and PsExec, or abuses remote desktop protocols (RDP) to reach critical internal repositories and domain controllers." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How does HackTool.PSWDump maintain covert communications and evade perimeter network monitoring?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "HackTool.PSWDump often relies on multi-stage command and control (C2) architectures utilizing encrypted protocols over standard web ports (HTTPS/443 or DNS tunneling) to blend in with legitimate enterprise network traffic. Many variants incorporate proxy networks, domain fronting, or cloud services (such as Microsoft Graph API, Google Drive, or Telegram) to masquerade C2 channels, bypassing traditional signature-based egress filtering." } } ], "faq_count": 5, "mitre_attack": [ "T1003.001", "T1003.002", "T1059.001", "T1055", "T1071.001", "T1027" ], "cisa_advisory": null, "last_updated": "2026-10-15", "type": "HackTool", "target_industries": [ "Global / Opportunistic" ], "motivation": "Opportunistic", "threat_actors": [ "Unknown / Cybercriminal" ], "target_geographies": [ "Global" ], "attack_stage": [ "execution", "persistence" ], "ecosystem": [ "windows_pe" ], "is_emerging": false, "mitre_attack_detail": [ { "id": "T1003.001", "name": "OS Credential Dumping: LSASS Memory (Behaviorally blocking access to credential stores)", "tactic": "Credential Access" }, { "id": "T1003.002", "name": "OS Credential Dumping: Security Account Manager (SAM)", "tactic": "Credential Access" }, { "id": "T1059.001", "name": "Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell (Used in infection chain)", "tactic": "Execution" }, { "id": "T1055", "name": "Process Injection", "tactic": "Defense Evasion" }, { "id": "T1071.001", "name": "Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols (C2 Communication)", "tactic": "Command and Control" }, { "id": "T1027", "name": "Obfuscated Files or Information", "tactic": "Defense Evasion" } ], "containment_steps": [ "Enforce forensic network isolation on all suspected endpoints while maintaining an out-of-band telemetry conduit to capture live Pswdump adversary activity.", "Perform full memory dumps across identified staging nodes to extract memory-only implants, kernel rootkit hooks, and decrypted Pswdump C2 infrastructure IP/domain lists.", "Review Active Directory domain controller authentication logs for anomalous Kerberos ticket requests (Pass-the-Ticket, Golden Ticket) and unauthorized DCSync operations associated with Pswdump.", "Block all confirmed C2 domains, dynamic DNS endpoints, and proxy IP addresses across perimeter firewalls, proxies, and DNS security gateways.", "Conduct an enterprise-wide sweep across surrounding subnets for secondary webshells, WMI event subscriptions, or remote execution tooling left behind by Pswdump operators." ], "what_to_avoid": [ "Do not assume the incident is resolved simply because an antivirus tool removed the initial Pswdump dropper; always verify that secondary payloads and persistence hooks have been eradicated.", "Avoid logging in with Domain Admin or privileged credentials on a machine suspected of running Pswdump until memory triage is complete.", "Do not delay host isolation; automated lateral movement and credential dumping can occur within minutes of initial execution." ], "target_platforms": [ "Windows 11", "Windows 10", "Windows Server 2022", "Windows Server 2019" ] }