{
  "id": 7397428,
  "title": "HTB - Tactics",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/htb-tactics",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-14T21:05:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/zkrnvkf/htb-tactics-1bg9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The target machine, identified as 10.129.188.198, runs the Windows operating system. By utilizing Nmap, the researcher discovered that ports 135, 139, and 445 are open. Port 445 suggests the presence of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.\n\nTo gain remote shell access over SMB, the researcher employed impacket-psexec, a tool provided by the Impacket package. This package includes several useful tools for interacting with Windows machines. Using impacket-psexec, remote commands could be executed on the target machine. Normally, valid credentials like usernames, passwords, or hash values are required for authentication. However, the researcher opted to test the Administrator account with an empty password, which was unexpectedly successful.\n\nThe ultimate goal of the operation was to locate the flag, which was reported to be on the Administrator user's Desktop. After gaining access, the researcher navigated to the Administrator Desktop directory and retrieved the flag.",
  "summary": "OS: Windows Difficulty: Very Easy After Nmap Enumeration nmap -T4 --min-rate 5000 -p- -sC -sV -Pn 10.129.188.198 We get: └─# nmap -T4 --min-rate 5000 -p- -sV -sC -Pn 10.129.188.198 Starting Nmap 7.99 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2026-09-14 16:11 -0400 Nmap scan report for 10.129.188.198 Host is up (0.23s latency). Not shown: 65532 filtered tcp ports (no-response) PORT STATE SERVICE VERSION 135/tcp…",
  "key_points": [
    "Target machine runs Windows OS",
    "Ports 135, 139, 445 identified as open",
    "Remote shell accessed via impacket-psexec"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}