Credential Dumping: Wireless

Credential Dumping: Wireless


Manual Credential Dumping.

All the Wi-Fi password with their respective SSID is stored in an XML file. The location of these files is C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces\***. Here, you will find that the SSID of wifi is saved in clear text whereas passwords are stored as keys.



Credentials Dumping Using netsh

Netsh is a scripting utility provided by Microsoft itself. It can be used both in command prompt or Windows PowerShell. Netsh is short for network shell. When executed, it provides detailed information about the configuration of the network that the system ever had; including revealing the credentials of wireless networks that it has ever been connected to. This utility comes with various parameters that can be used to get various information as per the requirement. This method can be used both in internal and external penetration testing as netsh commands can be executed both locally and remotely. To get the list of the SSIDs that the device has been connected to use the following command:

netsh wlan show profiles


And as a result of the above command, you can see the names of the Wi-Fi networks that the system was connected to in the past or present such as Meterpreter, Linuxlab, etc. The same has been demonstrated in the image above.

Further, to know the passwords of any one of the mentioned SSIDs use the following command:

netsh wlan show profile name= key=clear




And just like it is shown in the image above, the result of the above command will give you the password. 

Wireless Credential Dumping:

  1. Packet Sniffing:
    • Description: Capturing data packets transmitted over a wireless network to extract login credentials.
    • Key Features: Requires proximity to the wireless network. Analyzes packets for plaintext login information.
  2. Keylogging:
    • Description: Recording keystrokes on a target device connected to a wireless network to obtain sensitive information.
    • Key Features: Operates in stealth mode. Effective against both encrypted and unencrypted wireless transmissions.
  3. Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attacks:
    • Description: Intercepting and manipulating communication between the victim and the target server to gather login credentials.
    • Key Features: Requires intercepting wireless signals. Can be executed through techniques like ARP spoofing or DNS spoofing.

Differences - Wired vs. Wireless Credential Dumping:

Aspect Wired Credential Dumping Wireless Credential Dumping
Medium of Transmission Wired networks (Ethernet) Wireless networks (Wi-Fi)
Access Requirement Physical access to the network infrastructure or device Proximity to the wireless network
Stealthiness May require physical presence, potentially less stealthy Can be performed remotely, often more stealthy
Mitigation Challenges Physical security measures needed Requires robust wireless security protocols and measures
Attack Complexity Varies, but physical access may limit scalability Potentially scalable, especially in crowded wireless environments





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