Threats Tagged 'pass-the-hash'

BlueHammer (CVE-2026-33825) is a local privilege escalation chain targeting Windows Defender Antimalware Platform versions before 4.18.26030.3011. It requires initial code execution as a standard user and uses a series of legitimate Windows mechanisms to escalate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. The exploit freezes the MsMpEng.exe process via CloudFilter manipulation and stages malicious update files. Laboratory tests demonstrated successful privilege escalation, recovery of domain-admin credentials from LSASS, and lateral movement using pass-the-hash techniques to compromise domain controllers. Exploitability depends on runtime factors such as pending signature updates, Defender state, filter drivers, VSS, and CloudFilter reachability. No known exploits are reported in the wild, and no patch information is provided.