CrowdStrike's comprehensive exploration of NTLM vulnerabilities highlights the persistent security challenges within Active Directory infrastructures, emphasizing the dangers posed by NTLM relay attacks that exploit message integrity code (MIC) bypasses. The blog details the technical intricacies of two critical vulnerabilities, CVE-2019-1166 and CVE-2019-1338, which allow attackers to circumvent NTLM protections by manipulating authentication flows and exploiting LMv2 clients. Despite modern mitigations like Enhanced Protection for Authentication (EPA) and server signing, the blog underscores that many networks remain vulnerable due to configuration errors or unsupported applications. It calls for robust enforcement of NTLM mitigations, regular patching, and the reduction of NTLM usage to mitigate the risk of full domain compromises. Furthermore, CrowdStrike recommends monitoring NTLM traffic and employing advanced detection techniques to safeguard networks, while acknowledging NTLM's inherent security risks compared to more secure protocols like Kerberos.