During post-exploitation enumeration, why should a penetration tester inspect the contents of local user profile directories (for example, C:\Users<name> on Windows or /home/ on Linux)?
They are always encrypted by default, so reviewing them validates whether full-disk encryption is active.
They only store personal documents and therefore provide no value for post-exploitation activities.
They include kernel boot logs that reveal CVE identifiers for remote code execution.
They often contain cached credentials, API tokens, SSH keys, or misconfigured files that can be reused for privilege escalation or lateral movement.
User profile folders frequently store leftover or cached credentials such as SSH private keys, API tokens, browser cookies, vault files, and other configuration data. Re-using or cracking these artifacts can let an attacker pivot to additional hosts or escalate privileges. Ignoring these directories risks missing a simple path to deeper access. They do not contain kernel boot logs, and they are not always encrypted by default.
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Why do cached credentials in user profile directories matter during penetration testing?
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