The security discussion titled "WSASS - Old But Gold, Dumping LSASS With Windows Error Reporting On Modern Windows 11" highlights a technique for extracting credentials from the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process on Windows 11 systems by leveraging Windows Error Reporting (WER). LSASS is a critical Windows process responsible for enforcing security policies, including managing user logins and storing sensitive authentication tokens and credentials in memory. Attackers often target LSASS to dump credentials and escalate privileges within a compromised environment. The technique referenced appears to revive or adapt older methods of dumping LSASS memory by exploiting the WER mechanism, which is designed to capture crash dumps and error reports. By triggering or manipulating WER on modern Windows 11 systems, an attacker with sufficient privileges can cause LSASS to generate a memory dump that includes sensitive credential information. This approach is notable because Windows 11 includes enhanced security features such as Credential Guard and improved memory protections, which are intended to prevent straightforward LSASS dumping. However, the use of WER as a vector suggests a bypass or workaround to these protections, making it a relevant concern for defenders. The discussion is sourced from a Reddit NetSec post linking to an external blog on zerosalarium.com, indicating a recent and emerging technique rather than a widely exploited vulnerability. There are no known exploits in the wild yet, and the severity is assessed as medium, reflecting the requirement for local access and privileges to execute the technique. No specific affected versions or patches are mentioned, implying this is a technique rather than a software vulnerability with a direct fix.

For European organizations, this technique poses a significant risk primarily in environments where attackers have already gained some level of access or foothold. If an adversary can leverage WER to dump LSASS memory, they can extract plaintext credentials, hashes, or Kerberos tickets, enabling lateral movement, privilege escalation, and persistence within the network. This can lead to data breaches, disruption of services, and potential compromise of critical infrastructure. Given the widespread adoption of Windows 11 in enterprise environments across Europe, especially in sectors like finance, government, healthcare, and manufacturing, the ability to bypass modern security mitigations and extract credentials could facilitate sophisticated attacks. The medium severity reflects that exploitation requires local administrative privileges or equivalent, so initial compromise vectors (phishing, malware, insider threat) remain necessary. However, once inside, this technique could accelerate attacker progression and complicate incident response. Organizations relying heavily on Windows authentication and Active Directory are particularly at risk, as credential theft undermines the trust model of these systems.

To mitigate this threat effectively, European organizations should implement layered defenses beyond generic advice: 1) Enforce strict least privilege policies to limit administrative access and reduce the number of accounts capable of triggering WER dumps. 2) Enable and enforce Credential Guard and virtualization-based security features on Windows 11 endpoints to provide hardware-backed protection of LSASS memory. 3) Monitor and restrict the use of Windows Error Reporting tools and related APIs, employing application control or endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to detect anomalous WER activity indicative of dumping attempts. 4) Implement robust logging and alerting on LSASS access and WER dump creation events, integrating these into Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems for real-time analysis. 5) Regularly audit and update endpoint security configurations to ensure no legacy or misconfigured settings allow easy dumping of LSASS. 6) Conduct user training to prevent initial compromise vectors and maintain strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the likelihood of attackers gaining the necessary privileges. 7) Consider deploying decoy credentials or honeytokens to detect credential dumping attempts early. These targeted measures will help detect, prevent, and respond to this specific dumping technique more effectively than generic endpoint hardening alone.