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PT0-002 Practice Question: A penetration tester is attempting a…
A penetration tester is attempting a pass-the-hash (PtH) attack against a Windows domain-joined machine. The tester has obtained the NTLM hash of a local administrator account. Which tool can be used directly to authenticate using the hash to gain remote command execution?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Mimikatz's ability to perform pass-the-hash locally (spawning a cmd.exe with the hash) with the ability to directly execute commands remotely, but Mimikatz requires additional tools like PsExec or WinRM to achieve remote execution, whereas Metasploit's psexec module is a single-step solution.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Metasploit's psexec module
Metasploit's psexec module (exploit/windows/smb/psexec) directly accepts an NTLM hash via the 'SMBPass' option and uses it to authenticate over SMB, then creates a service on the target to execute commands. This is a classic pass-the-hash technique against Windows systems, as the module leverages the SMB protocol and Windows service control manager without needing the plaintext password.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
John the Ripper
Why it's wrong here
John the Ripper is an offline password-cracking tool, not an authentication relay. It performs CPU/GPU-based attacks (wordlist, brute force, rule-based) to recover the plaintext password from a captured hash, but it lacks the ability to send that hash to a remote service to authenticate. For a pass-the-hash attack, the attacker must reuse the hash directly in the SMB handshake—a capability John the Ripper does not implement.
- ✓
Metasploit's psexec module
Why this is correct
Metasploit's psexec module is correct because it accepts an NTLM hash as the credential and uses it to authenticate to a Windows machine via SMB, then creates a remote service to execute an arbitrary payload. This is a direct implementation of pass-the-hash: the hash is supplied to the server in the NTLM challenge/response exchange, and no plaintext password is needed. It provides full remote code execution, making it an ideal fit for a pass-the-hash attack.
- ✗
Mimikatz
Why it's wrong here
Mimikatz can perform pass-the-hash locally by using the `sekurlsa::pth` command to inject the NTLM hash into a new process, such as `cmd.exe`, allowing the attacker to act as the target user on the same system. However, it does not natively communicate with remote SMB shares to execute commands across a network; remote execution would require piping its spawned session into tools like PsExec or Schtasks. Thus, while Mimikatz is a credential tool, it is not the tool for directly executing a remote pass-the-hash attack.
- ✗
Nmap
Why it's wrong here
Nmap is primarily a network discovery and vulnerability scanner that sends crafted packets to identify open ports and services. It does not have an authentication component that can pass a hash to a service like SMB, nor can it execute commands on a target system using credentials. Some NSE scripts can use default credentials or interact with services, but they cannot replay an NTLM hash to gain remote code execution, so it is irrelevant to a pass-the-hash attack.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Penetration Testing Methodology
Key term
Metasploit
Metasploit is a powerful penetration testing framework that helps security professionals find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems.
Key term
Pass-the-hash
Pass-the-hash is a cyberattack where an attacker captures the hash of a user's password and uses it to authenticate to other systems without ever knowing the actual password.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PT0-003 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PT0-003 exam.