HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\sMarTdEpLoY – The (Static) Keys to Abusing PDQ SmartDeploy
specterops.io | blog
Summary
TL;DR: Prior to version 3.0.2046, PDQ SmartDeploy used static, hardcoded, and universal encryption keys for secure credential storage. Low-privileged users may recover and decrypt privileged credentials, such as Local Administrator or Active Directory domain-joined accounts, from the registry of managed devices or from operating system (OS) deployment files stored on deployment servers. Introduction PDQ SmartDeploy […]
- Published
- Collected
--- id: 9505 title: "HKLM\\SYSTEM\\Setup\\sMarTdEpLoY – The (Static) Keys to Abusing PDQ SmartDeploy" source_domain: specterops.io source_url: "https://specterops.io/blog/2025/08/12/hklmsystemsetupsmartdeploy-the-static-keys-to-abusing-pdq-smartdeploy/" published_at: "2025-08-12T18:36:32Z" phying_url: "https://phying.com/item/9505" lang: en --- # HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\sMarTdEpLoY – The (Static) Keys to Abusing PDQ SmartDeploy ## Summary TL;DR: Prior to version 3.0.2046, PDQ SmartDeploy used static, hardcoded, and universal encryption keys for secure credential storage. Low-privileged users may recover and decrypt privileged credentials, such as Local Administrator or Active Directory domain-joined accounts, from the registry of managed devices or from operating system (OS) deployment files stored on deployment servers. Introduction PDQ SmartDeploy […] ## Intelligence Metadata - **Sources:** specterops.io - **Published:** 2025-08-12T18:36:32Z - **Original:** https://specterops.io/blog/2025/08/12/hklmsystemsetupsmartdeploy-the-static-keys-to-abusing-pdq-smartdeploy/ - **Phying News:** https://phying.com/item/9505