The answer is Kerberoasting, which is the correct attack for cracking service account passwords offline after requesting Kerberos service tickets. This technique works because service accounts registered with Service Principal Names (SPNs) in Active Directory have their TGS-REP tickets encrypted using the account’s NTLM hash, allowing an attacker with local administrator access on a domain-joined workstation to extract these tickets using tools like Rubeus or Impacket and crack them offline to reveal the plaintext password. On the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-002 exam, this question tests your understanding of post-exploitation privilege escalation, often appearing as a scenario where you’ve gained initial foothold and need to move laterally or escalate to Domain Admin. A common trap is confusing Kerberoasting with AS-REP roasting—remember that Kerberoasting targets service tickets (TGS), not authentication requests (AS-REP). Memory tip: “Kerberos tickets for services, crack the hash to get the keys.”
PT0-002 Attacks and Exploits Practice Question
This PT0-002 practice question tests your understanding of attacks and exploits. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
During an internal penetration test, a tester gains access to a domain-joined Windows 10 workstation as a local administrator. The tester wants to escalate privileges to Domain Admin. Which attack involves requesting Kerberos service tickets that can be cracked offline to reveal the plaintext password of a service account?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Kerberoasting
Kerberoasting is the correct attack because it involves requesting Kerberos service tickets (TGS-REP) for service accounts registered with Service Principal Names (SPNs) in Active Directory. These tickets are encrypted with the service account's NTLM hash, which can be cracked offline to reveal the plaintext password. Since the tester has local administrator access on a domain-joined workstation, they can use tools like Rubeus or Impacket to request these tickets without needing domain admin privileges initially.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Pass-the-hash
Why it's wrong here
This attack uses captured NTLM hashes to authenticate, not by cracking tickets.
✓
Kerberoasting
Why this is correct
This attack requests and cracks Kerberos service tickets to obtain service account passwords.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Golden ticket
Why it's wrong here
This forges a TGT using the krbtgt hash, allowing domain-wide access, but does not involve cracking.
✗
Silver ticket
Why it's wrong here
This forges a TGS ticket using a service account hash, but does not involve cracking the hash.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
CompTIA often tests Kerberoasting by contrasting it with pass-the-hash, where candidates mistakenly think pass-the-hash involves cracking hashes offline, but it actually reuses the hash directly for authentication without offline cracking.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Kerberoasting exploits the fact that service tickets in Kerberos are encrypted with the service account's NTLM hash derived from its password. Tools like Rubeus request TGS-REP packets for SPNs, and the encrypted portion (ciphertext) is extracted for offline brute-forcing with hashcat or John the Ripper. A subtle behavior is that accounts with weak or guessable passwords (e.g., 'Service123') are prime targets, and the attack works even if the service account is not a domain admin—it only needs an SPN set.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PT0-002 question in full detail.
Attacks and Exploits — This question tests Attacks and Exploits — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Kerberoasting — Kerberoasting is the correct attack because it involves requesting Kerberos service tickets (TGS-REP) for service accounts registered with Service Principal Names (SPNs) in Active Directory. These tickets are encrypted with the service account's NTLM hash, which can be cracked offline to reveal the plaintext password. Since the tester has local administrator access on a domain-joined workstation, they can use tools like Rubeus or Impacket to request these tickets without needing domain admin privileges initially.
What should I do if I get this PT0-002 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Variation 1. A penetration tester has gained access to a Windows domain and wants to perform a Kerberoasting attack. Which account privileges are required to request service tickets for Kerberoasting?
medium
A.Domain Admin
✓ B.Any domain user
C.Local Administrator on the domain controller
D.Enterprise Admin
Why B: Kerberoasting exploits the Kerberos protocol's TGS-REP step, where any domain user can request a service ticket for any service principal name (SPN) in Active Directory. The domain controller returns the ticket encrypted with the service account's NTLM hash, which the attacker can then crack offline. No special privileges beyond being a valid domain user are required because the TGS request is part of normal Kerberos authentication.
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Question Discussion
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