Detectionhightest

Suspicious Process Patterns NTDS.DIT Exfil

Detects suspicious process patterns used in NTDS.DIT exfiltration

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Florian Roth (Nextron Systems)Created Fri Mar 11Updated Thu Nov 108bc64091-6875-4881-aaf9-7bd25b5dda08windows

Log Source

WindowsProcess Creation

ProductWindows← raw: windows

CategoryProcess Creation← raw: process_creation

Events generated when a new process is spawned on the system. Covers command-line arguments, parent/child relationships, and process metadata.

Detection Logic

detection:
    selection_tool:
        # https://github.com/zcgonvh/NTDSDumpEx
        - Image|endswith:
              - '\NTDSDump.exe'
              - '\NTDSDumpEx.exe'
        - CommandLine|contains|all:
              # ntdsdumpex.exe -d ntds.dit -o hash.txt -s system.hiv
              - 'ntds.dit'
              - 'system.hiv'
        - CommandLine|contains: 'NTDSgrab.ps1'
    selection_oneliner_1:
        # powershell "ntdsutil.exe 'ac i ntds' 'ifm' 'create full c:\temp' q q"
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'ac i ntds'
            - 'create full'
    selection_onliner_2:
        # cmd.exe /c copy z:\windows\ntds\ntds.dit c:\exfil\ntds.dit
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - '/c copy '
            - '\windows\ntds\ntds.dit'
    selection_onliner_3:
        # ntdsutil "activate instance ntds" "ifm" "create full c:\windows\temp\data\" "quit" "quit"
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'activate instance ntds'
            - 'create full'
    selection_powershell:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'powershell'
            - 'ntds.dit'
    set1_selection_ntds_dit:
        CommandLine|contains: 'ntds.dit'
    set1_selection_image_folder:
        - ParentImage|contains:
              - '\apache'
              - '\tomcat'
              - '\AppData\'
              - '\Temp\'
              - '\Public\'
              - '\PerfLogs\'
        - Image|contains:
              - '\apache'
              - '\tomcat'
              - '\AppData\'
              - '\Temp\'
              - '\Public\'
              - '\PerfLogs\'
    condition: 1 of selection* or all of set1*