Suspicious Active Directory Database Snapshot Via ADExplorer
Detects the execution of Sysinternals ADExplorer with the "-snapshot" flag in order to save a local copy of the active directory database to a suspicious directory. This can be used by attackers to extract data for Bloodhound, usernames for password spraying or use the meta data for social engineering. The snapshot doesn't contain password hashes but there have been cases, where administrators put passwords in the comment field.
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Open this Sigma rule in the converter with the YAML preloaded and ready for backend selection.
Events generated when a new process is spawned on the system. Covers command-line arguments, parent/child relationships, and process metadata.
detection:
selection_img:
- Image|endswith:
- '\ADExp.exe'
- '\ADExplorer.exe'
- '\ADExplorer64.exe'
- '\ADExplorer64a.exe'
- OriginalFileName: 'AdExp'
- Description: 'Active Directory Editor'
- Product: 'Sysinternals ADExplorer'
selection_flag:
CommandLine|contains: 'snapshot'
selection_paths:
CommandLine|contains:
# TODO: Add more suspicious paths
- '\Downloads\'
- '\Users\Public\'
- '\AppData\'
- '\Windows\Temp\'
condition: all of selection_*False positive likelihood has not been assessed. Additional context may be needed during triage.
Tactics
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Sub-techniques