What is crackmapexec?

byt3bl33d3r/crackmapexec — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 9,134PythonAudience · ops devopsComplexity · 3/5Setup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((crackmapexec))
    What it did
      Windows network testing
      Active Directory recon
      Credential checking
    Target Domains
      SMB shares
      PowerShell remoting
      Active Directory
    Status
      No longer maintained
      Community fork exists
      Archived repo
    Audience
      Pentesters
      Security teams

mindmap root((crackmapexec)) What it did Windows network testing Active Directory recon Credential checking Target Domains SMB shares PowerShell remoting Active Directory Status No longer maintained Community fork exists Archived repo Audience Pentesters Security teams

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Test a Windows network for weak or reused credentials across multiple SMB hosts during an authorized penetration test.

USE CASE 2

Enumerate Active Directory users, groups, and shared drives to map attack surface before a security assessment.

USE CASE 3

Assess SMB network exposure by running automated checks across a range of IP addresses in a corporate environment.

What is it built with?

PythonPowerShell

How does it compare?

	byt3bl33d3r/crackmapexec	langchain-ai/local-deep-researcher	httpie/http-prompt
Stars	9,134	9,151	9,116
Language	Python	Python	Python
Setup difficulty	moderate	moderate	easy
Complexity	3/5	3/5	2/5
Audience	ops devops	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

The original repo is archived and unmaintained, use the community fork instead for current functionality.

So what is it?

CrackMapExec is a Python tool built for network penetration testing, meaning it is designed to help security professionals assess Windows networks and Active Directory environments for weaknesses. The description calls it a swiss army knife for pentesting networks, indicating it covers a range of tasks rather than doing just one thing. The README for this repository is brief and contains an important notice: the project is no longer maintained by the original author, who states the reason is the existence of a hostile fork. Development has effectively moved elsewhere. The README points to a separate wiki site for documentation and usage examples, but that external resource is not reproduced here. The project was inspired by earlier tools in the Windows network security testing space, including CredCrack, smbexec, and smbmap, and it drew from techniques found in PowerShell-based offensive security projects. Topics listed with the repository include Active Directory, networks, pentesting, PowerShell, Python, and Windows, which gives a sense of its intended domain. Because this repository is archived and no longer actively developed, anyone looking to use or contribute to CrackMapExec should look for the maintained fork referenced by the community rather than this original repository.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I'm looking for the actively maintained fork of CrackMapExec for pentesting Windows networks. What is the current community-maintained version and where can I find it?

Prompt 2

What are the main techniques CrackMapExec used to test Active Directory environments, and what modern tools provide the same capabilities?

Prompt 3

I'm studying for OSCP and want to understand how tools like CrackMapExec enumerate SMB shares and test credentials. Explain the workflow step by step.

Frequently asked questions