eighteen

Eighteen — HackTheBox Writeup Eighteen is a Windows Server 2025 Domain Controller that chains a creative MSSQL impersonation attack with a web app credential harvest to gain an initial foothold, then exploits BadSuccessor (CVE-2025-53779) — a novel Active Directory privilege escalation abusing delegated Managed Service Accounts — to achieve full domain compromise. What makes this box particularly instructive is how many standard Windows privesc paths are deliberately closed off, forcing you to understand cutting-edge AD attack primitives rather than reaching for familiar tools. ...

February 27, 2026 · 9 min · Logan Dawson

unified

Unified — Log4Shell to Root via MongoDB Hash Swap Unified is a Very Easy Linux box that demonstrates one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory: Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228). The box runs a vulnerable version of UniFi Network Controller, and exploitation chains together a JNDI injection for initial access with an unauthenticated MongoDB instance to escalate all the way to root. Reconnaissance I started with an automated Nmap scan to get a picture of what was running on the box. ...

January 31, 2026 · 5 min · Logan Dawson