ntds.dit

NTDS.DIT Extraction Explained | Semperis Identity Attack CatalogSemperis

Understanding NTDS.DIT: The Core of Active DirectoryMedium

The New Technology Directory Services Information Tree (NTDS.DIT), is the database for Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), which stores directory data of all objects in the domain, including user, groups, computers, etc.

Where is the ntds.dit file found?

The ntds.dit file can be found in %systemroot\NTDS\ntds.dit. The value of %systemroot% can be found with the command (refer to docs):

C:\> echo $Env:systemroot

The directory is commonly: C:\Windows\NTDS\ntds.dit.

Important note

By default, the ntds.dit file is stored only on the domain controller. We can utilize tools such as ntdsutil.exe to dump the ntds files (with administrator access to the DC).

New Technologies Directory Services (NTDS) | Penetration testing & ethical hacking conceptsjarrettgxz-sec.gitbook.io

Common exploitation techniques

New Technologies Directory Services (NTDS) | Penetration testing & ethical hacking conceptsjarrettgxz-sec.gitbook.io