CyberStack

MITRE ATT&CK / Techniques / T1003.004

OS Credential Dumping: LSA Secrets

ID
T1003.004
Tactics
TA0006 Credential Access
Sub-technique of
T1003 OS Credential Dumping
Platforms
Windows
Data sources
File Modification, Process Creation, Process Access, Module Load
Source
attack.mitre.org
MITRE last modified
25 Oct 2025

Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.[2][3][1] LSA secrets are stored in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY\Policy\Secrets. LSA secrets can also be dumped from memory.[4]

Reg can be used to extract from the Registry. Mimikatz can be used to extract secrets from memory.[4]

Detection

Mitigations (3)

M1017 User Training

Limit credential overlap across accounts and systems by training users and administrators not to use the same password for multiple accounts.

M1026 Privileged Account Management

Follow best practices for design and administration of an enterprise network to limit privileged account use across administrative tiers.[1]

M1027 Password Policies

Ensure that local administrator accounts have complex, unique passwords across all systems on the network.

Groups (10)

Software (9)

References

  1. Tilbury Windows Credentials
  2. Passcape LSA Secrets
  3. Microsoft AD Admin Tier Model
  4. ired Dumping LSA Secrets