[jcifs] NtlmHttpFilter - authentication

[Chris_Conner at Dell.com]

Can someone tell me how the NtlmHttpFilter authenticates the user to the
domain controller?

My understanding is that IE only passes the username, password hash and
domain to the server. How does jcifs authenticate to the domain
controller with out having a cleartext password?

Is jcifs opening up a socket to the domain controller and passing in
these credentials or calling a microsoft API???

Are there any microsoft API's that can be called to authenticate with a
password hash?

Chris