Game Of Active Directory (GOAD)

🎮 Game Of Active Directory (GOAD)

A vulnerable Active Directory lab project by Orange Cyberdefense designed for real‑world Red, Blue, and Purple Team training.

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📌 Overview

Game Of Active Directory (GOAD) is an open‑source Active Directory penetration testing lab created by Orange Cyberdefense. It allows security professionals to practice AD attacks, misconfiguration abuse, and detection engineering in a safe, isolated environment.

GOAD intentionally contains:

• Weak credentials

• Misconfigured ACLs

• Poor delegation models

• Vulnerable services (SMB, MSSQL, IIS)

This makes it ideal for hands‑on AD learning without building everything manually.

🔗 Official Docs: https://orange-cyberdefense.github.io/GOAD/

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🧠 Why GOAD for Active Directory Practice?

• Realistic multi‑domain AD environments

• Built by real incident responders & red teamers

• Repeatable, scripted lab deployment

• Supports multiple virtualization platforms

• Perfect for red team, blue team, and purple team workflows

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📦 Available GOAD Labs

Lab	Description
GOAD (Full)	5 VMs, 2 forests, 3 domains (complex enterprise‑like setup)
GOAD‑Light	3 VMs, 1 forest, 2 domains (hardware‑friendly)
MINILAB	2 VMs (DC + workstation) – beginner friendly
SCCM	Includes Microsoft SCCM for attack practice
NHA	No hints provided – discover the environment yourself

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🏗️ Architecture Overview

A typical GOAD lab includes:

• Windows Domain Controllers

• Domain Member Servers

• Workstations

• Multiple trusts and forests

Example (Full GOAD):

• kingslanding → sevenkingdoms.local

• winterfell → north.sevenkingdoms.local

• meereen → essos.local

• castelblack → IIS / MSSQL

• braavos → SMB / MSSQL

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⚙️ System Requirements

Host Requirements

• Linux (Ubuntu recommended)

• Python 3.10+

• 16–32 GB RAM recommended

• 150+ GB free disk space

Supported Providers

• VirtualBox

• VMware Workstation / ESXi

• Proxmox

• Azure / AWS

• Ludus

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🚀 Installation (Ubuntu + VirtualBox)

1️⃣ Install Dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y   virtualbox   vagrant   sshpass   lftp   rsync   python3.10-venv   git

2️⃣ Clone GOAD

git clone https://github.com/Orange-Cyberdefense/GOAD.git
cd GOAD

3️⃣ Validate Environment

./goad.sh -t check -l GOAD -p virtualbox

4️⃣ Deploy the Lab

./goad.sh -t install -l GOAD -p virtualbox

5️⃣ Interactive Mode

./goad.sh

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☁️ Using Other Providers

Example (VMware):

./goad.sh -t install -l GOAD -p vmware

Example (Azure):

./goad.sh -t install -l GOAD -p azure

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🧪 What You Can Practice in GOAD

🔴 Red Team

• AD enumeration

• Kerberos abuse

• ACL exploitation

• Lateral movement

• Persistence techniques

🔵 Blue Team

• Log analysis

• AD attack detection

• GPO hardening validation

• Incident replay

🟣 Purple Team

• Attack → Detect → Improve loops

• MITRE ATT&CK mapping

• Control validation

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🔁 Resetting & Rebuilding

Destroy lab:

./goad.sh -t destroy -l GOAD

Re‑deploy:

./goad.sh -t install -l GOAD

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📚 Recommended Learning Path

1. Deploy GOAD‑Light or MINILAB

2. Enumerate AD structure

3. Identify misconfigurations

4. Exploit in a controlled way

5. Observe impact and logs

6. Rebuild and repeat

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⚠️ Ethics & Safety

GOAD is intentionally vulnerable. ⚠️ Never expose labs to the internet. ⚠️ Use only for authorized training and learning.

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🔗 Useful Resources

• Official Docs: https://orange-cyberdefense.github.io/GOAD/

• GitHub Repo: https://github.com/Orange-Cyberdefense/GOAD

• Community Writeups: https://mayfly277.github.io/categories/goad/

• AD Fundamentals: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/identity/active-directory-domain-services

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🏁 Final Thoughts

GOAD is one of the best free Active Directory labs available today. If you want to master AD attack paths and defenses, this lab is a must‑have in your learning arsenal.

Happy hacking — responsibly ⚔️