MITRE ATT&CK Technique
Description
Pass the ticket (PtT) is a method of authenticating to a system using Kerberos tickets without having access to an account's password. Kerberos authentication can be used as the first step to lateral movement to a remote system. In this technique, valid Kerberos tickets for [Valid Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078) are captured by [OS Credential Dumping](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003). A user's service tickets or ticket granting ticket (TGT) may be obtained, depending on the level of access. A service ticket allows for access to a particular resource, whereas a TGT can be used to request service tickets from the Ticket Granting Service (TGS) to access any resource the user has privileges to access. (Citation: ADSecurity AD Kerberos Attacks) (Citation: GentilKiwi Pass the Ticket) Silver Tickets can be obtained for services that use Kerberos as an authentication mechanism and are used to generate tickets to access that particular resource and the system that hosts the resource (e.g., SharePoint). (Citation: ADSecurity AD Kerberos Attacks) Golden Tickets can be obtained for the domain using the Key Distribution Service account KRBTGT account NTLM hash, which enables generation of TGTs for any account in Active Directory. (Citation: Campbell 2014)
Supported Platforms
Created
April 29, 2026
Last Updated
April 29, 2026
STIX Data
{'created': '2017-05-31T21:31:11.623Z',
'created_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'description': 'Pass the ticket (PtT) is a method of authenticating to a '
'system using Kerberos tickets without having access to an '
"account's password. Kerberos authentication can be used as "
'the first step to lateral movement to a remote system.\n'
'\n'
'In this technique, valid Kerberos tickets for [Valid '
'Accounts](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1078) are '
'captured by [OS Credential '
"Dumping](https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1003). A user's "
'service tickets or ticket granting ticket (TGT) may be '
'obtained, depending on the level of access. A service ticket '
'allows for access to a particular resource, whereas a TGT can '
'be used to request service tickets from the Ticket Granting '
'Service (TGS) to access any resource the user has privileges '
'to access. (Citation: ADSecurity AD Kerberos Attacks) '
'(Citation: GentilKiwi Pass the Ticket)\n'
'\n'
'Silver Tickets can be obtained for services that use Kerberos '
'as an authentication mechanism and are used to generate '
'tickets to access that particular resource and the system '
'that hosts the resource (e.g., SharePoint). (Citation: '
'ADSecurity AD Kerberos Attacks)\n'
'\n'
'Golden Tickets can be obtained for the domain using the Key '
'Distribution Service account KRBTGT account NTLM hash, which '
'enables generation of TGTs for any account in Active '
'Directory. (Citation: Campbell 2014)',
'external_references': [{'external_id': 'T1097',
'source_name': 'mitre-attack',
'url': 'https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1097'},
{'external_id': 'CAPEC-645',
'source_name': 'capec',
'url': 'https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/645.html'},
{'description': 'Metcalf, S. (2014, November 22). '
'Mimikatz and Active Directory '
'Kerberos Attacks. Retrieved June 2, '
'2016.',
'source_name': 'ADSecurity AD Kerberos Attacks',
'url': 'https://adsecurity.org/?p=556'},
{'description': 'Deply, B. (2014, January 13). Pass '
'the ticket. Retrieved June 2, 2016.',
'source_name': 'GentilKiwi Pass the Ticket',
'url': 'http://blog.gentilkiwi.com/securite/mimikatz/pass-the-ticket-kerberos'},
{'description': 'Campbell, C. (2014). The Secret Life '
'of Krbtgt. Retrieved December 4, '
'2014.',
'source_name': 'Campbell 2014',
'url': 'http://defcon.org/images/defcon-22/dc-22-presentations/Campbell/DEFCON-22-Christopher-Campbell-The-Secret-Life-of-Krbtgt.pdf'},
{'description': 'Abolins, D., Boldea, C., Socha, K., '
'Soria-Machado, M. (2016, April 26). '
'Kerberos Golden Ticket Protection. '
'Retrieved July 13, 2017.',
'source_name': 'CERT-EU Golden Ticket Protection',
'url': 'https://cert.europa.eu/static/WhitePapers/UPDATED%20-%20CERT-EU_Security_Whitepaper_2014-007_Kerberos_Golden_Ticket_Protection_v1_4.pdf'}],
'id': 'attack-pattern--a257ed11-ff3b-4216-8c9d-3938ef57064c',
'kill_chain_phases': [{'kill_chain_name': 'mitre-attack',
'phase_name': 'lateral-movement'}],
'modified': '2025-10-24T17:49:10.811Z',
'name': 'Pass the Ticket',
'object_marking_refs': ['marking-definition--fa42a846-8d90-4e51-bc29-71d5b4802168'],
'revoked': True,
'spec_version': '2.1',
'type': 'attack-pattern',
'x_mitre_attack_spec_version': '3.2.0',
'x_mitre_contributors': ['Ryan Becwar', 'Vincent Le Toux'],
'x_mitre_deprecated': False,
'x_mitre_detection': '',
'x_mitre_domains': ['enterprise-attack'],
'x_mitre_is_subtechnique': False,
'x_mitre_modified_by_ref': 'identity--c78cb6e5-0c4b-4611-8297-d1b8b55e40b5',
'x_mitre_platforms': ['Windows'],
'x_mitre_version': '1.1'}