🎯 Stop Wasting 30–60 Minutes Per Lab on DNS, Tooling & Copy/Paste
Auto-pwn HTB Active Directory labs in 2–5 minutes with ADscan LITE. Forest, Active & Cicada walkthroughs with baseline vs automated time comparisons.
The Problem Every AD Pentester Knows
You connect to a fresh HTB lab. The environment is ready. You know the attack path.
But before you can start the real work:
- 15–20 minutes configuring DNS, NTP sync, VPN routes, and tooling
- 10–15 minutes copy/pasting between BloodHound,
nxc,certipy, and your notes - 5–10 minutes manually chaining credentials, re-typing queries, managing evidence
30–60 minutes of plumbing work before you even start exploiting the actual AD weaknesses.
ADscan LITE: From “Fresh Lab” to “Full Domain Compromise” in 2–5 Minutes
ADscan LITE orchestrates the boring parts so you can focus on learning real attack paths and building repeatable mental models.
Proven Speed on Real Labs
| Lab | Manual path (experienced) | ADscan LITE auto-pwn | Time saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTB Active | ~15–30 min | ~2 min | 13–28 min |
| HTB Forest | ~20–35 min | ~3 min | 17–32 min |
| HTB Cicada | ~25–40 min | ~5 min | 20–35 min |
What you get
Same tools (BloodHound, nxc, certipy) — just orchestrated, logged, and tied to a workspace so you’re not copy/pasting credentials or losing track of evidence.
Getting Started with Labs
🎓 Individual pentesters (learning AD attacks)
Use these walkthroughs to learn the chain, then repeat it faster with a clean, logged workflow.
👉 Install ADscan LITE or view the GitHub repo
About These Walkthroughs
These walkthroughs demonstrate how ADscan can automatically compromise retired CTF machines and intentionally vulnerable labs. Each guide includes:
- Complete attack chain breakdown
- Automated ADscan approach vs manual techniques
- Security lessons and detection opportunities
- Template outputs for you to fill with real data
Hack The Box Labs
HTB Forest
AS-REP Roasting and Exchange Permissions abuse. Auto-pwn in ~3 minutes.
HTB Active
GPP password extraction and Kerberoasting. Auto-pwn in ~2 minutes.
HTB Cicada
SMB share spidering, password spraying, and DCSync-based credential dumping. Auto-pwn in ~5 minutes.
Labs Scope & Coverage
See which lab types ADscan automates end-to-end, and which scenarios stay intentionally out of scope.
Difficulty Levels
Easy
- HTB Forest - Perfect introduction to automated AD pentesting
- HTB Active - Classic GPP and Kerberoasting attacks
- HTB Cicada - Guest HR share spidering, password spraying, and DCSync chaining
Medium
- More labs coming soon
Attack Techniques Covered
Initial Access
Credential Access
Privilege Escalation
Using These Walkthroughs
For Learners
- Set up the lab environment (VPN to HTB network)
- Follow the walkthrough with ADscan in automatic mode
- Review the attack chain breakdown to understand what happened
- Try manual mode to make decisions at each step
- Study the manual equivalent commands to learn traditional techniques
For Practitioners
- Use as reference for penetration testing techniques
- Understand how ADscan automates complex attack chains
- Learn detection opportunities for defensive security
- Compare manual vs automated approach timings
For CTF Players
- Speed run retired machines with ADscan
- Verify your manual approach against automated paths
- Practice for OSCP/CRTP style exams
- Share your times in the ADscan community
Prerequisites
All labs require:
- ADscan installed and configured
- Active VPN connection to CTF network
- Network interface configured (typically
tun0)
See Installation Guide for setup instructions.
Contributing
Have you auto-pwned a machine with ADscan? Share your walkthrough:
- Join ADscan Discord
- Share your attack timeline and output
- Help expand the lab collection
Legal Notice
All labs and machines featured are:
- Retired from active CTF platforms
- Intended for educational purposes
- Authorized for testing by platform owners
Never use these techniques on systems without explicit authorization.
Next Steps
Getting Started
New to ADscan? Start here
Scanning Commands
Deep dive into ADscan capabilities
Best Practices
Tips for effective AD pentesting