Non Domain Controller Active Directory Replication

Status: available
Severity: high
Time window: 7d
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

This query detects potential attempts by non-computer accounts (non domain controllers) to retrieve/synchronize an active directory object leveraging directory replication services (DRS). A Domain Controller (computer account) would usually be performing these actions in a domain environment. Another detection rule can be created to cover domain controllers accounts doing at rare times. A domain user with privileged permissions to use directory replication services is rare.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Credential Access	`T1003.006` OS Credential Dumping: DCSync

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4624	An account was successfully logged on.
Security-Auditing	Event ID 4662	An operation was performed on an object.

Rule body kusto

id: b9d2eebc-5dcb-4888-8165-900db44443ab
name: Non Domain Controller Active Directory Replication
description: |
  'This query detects potential attempts by non-computer accounts (non domain controllers) to retrieve/synchronize an active directory object leveraging directory replication services (DRS).
  A Domain Controller (computer account) would usually be performing these actions in a domain environment. Another detection rule can be created to cover domain controllers accounts doing at rare times.
  A domain user with privileged permissions to use directory replication services is rare.'
severity: High
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
  - connectorId: WindowsSecurityEvents
    dataTypes:
      - SecurityEvent
queryFrequency: 1d
queryPeriod: 7d
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
status: Available
tactics:
  - CredentialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1003.006
query: |
  // Enter a reference list of hostnames for your DC servers
  //let DCServersList = dynamic (["DC01.simulandlabs.com","DC02.simulandlabs.com"]);
  SecurityEvent
  //| where Computer in (DCServersList)
  | where EventID == 4662 and ObjectServer == 'DS'
  | where AccountType != 'Machine'
  | where Properties has '1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2' //DS-Replication-Get-Changes
      or Properties has '1131f6ad-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2' //DS-Replication-Get-Changes-All
      or Properties has '89e95b76-444d-4c62-991a-0facbeda640c' //DS-Replication-Get-Changes-In-Filtered-Set
  | project TimeGenerated, Account, Activity, Properties, SubjectLogonId, Computer
  | join kind=leftouter
  (
      SecurityEvent
      //| where Computer in (DCServersList)
      | where EventID == 4624 and LogonType == 3
      | where AccountType != 'Machine'
      | project TargetLogonId, IpAddress, Computer
  )
  on $left.SubjectLogonId == $right.TargetLogonId and $left.Computer == $right.Computer
  | project-reorder TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, IpAddress
  | extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
  | extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
  | extend AccountNTDomain = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[0]), AccountName = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[1])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Account
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Account
      - identifier: Name
        columnName: AccountName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: AccountNTDomain 
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: FullName
        columnName: Computer
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: HostNameDomain
  - entityType: IP
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: Address
        columnName: IpAddress
version: 1.0.6
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

SecurityEvent

Stage 2: `where`

| where EventID == 4662 and ObjectServer == 'DS'

Stage 3: `where`

| where AccountType != 'Machine'

Stage 4: `where`

| where Properties has '1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2'
    or Properties has '1131f6ad-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2'
    or Properties has '89e95b76-444d-4c62-991a-0facbeda640c'

Stage 5: `project`

| project TimeGenerated, Account, Activity, Properties, SubjectLogonId, Computer

Stage 6: `join`

| join kind=leftouter
(
    SecurityEvent
    | where EventID == 4624 and LogonType == 3
    | where AccountType != 'Machine'
    | project TargetLogonId, IpAddress, Computer
)
on $left.SubjectLogonId == $right.TargetLogonId and $left.Computer == $right.Computer

Stage 7: `project-reorder`

| project-reorder TimeGenerated, Computer, Account, IpAddress

Stage 8: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

| extend HostName = tostring(split(Computer, ".")[0]), DomainIndex = toint(indexof(Computer, '.'))
| extend HostNameDomain = iff(DomainIndex != -1, substring(Computer, DomainIndex + 1), Computer)
| extend AccountNTDomain = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[0]), AccountName = tostring(split(Account, "\\")[1])

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`AccountType`	ne	`Machine` transforms: `cased` corpus 2 (kusto 2)
`EventID`	eq	`4624` transforms: `cased` corpus 25 (splunk 13, kusto 8, chronicle 4) `4662` transforms: `cased` corpus 13 (splunk 7, kusto 4, elastic 1, chronicle 1)
`LogonType`	eq	`3` transforms: `cased` corpus 40 (splunk 13, sigma 12, elastic 9, kusto 6)
`ObjectServer`	eq	`DS` transforms: `cased` corpus 5 (sigma 3, kusto 2)
`Properties`	match	`1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2` transforms: `term` corpus 6 (sigma 3, elastic 2, kusto 1) `1131f6ad-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2` transforms: `term` corpus 6 (sigma 3, elastic 2, kusto 1) `89e95b76-444d-4c62-991a-0facbeda640c` transforms: `term` corpus 6 (sigma 3, elastic 2, kusto 1)

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`Account`	`project`
`Activity`	`project`
`Computer`	`project`
`Properties`	`project`
`SubjectLogonId`	`project`
`TimeGenerated`	`project`
`DomainIndex`	`extend`
`HostName`	`extend`
`HostNameDomain`	`extend`
`AccountNTDomain`	`extend`
`AccountName`	`extend`

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`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
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`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

Non Domain Controller Active Directory Replication

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `project`

Stage 6: `join`

Stage 7: `project-reorder`

Stage 8: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Non Domain Controller Active Directory Replication

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: where

Stage 4: where

Stage 5: project

Stage 6: join

Stage 7: project-reorder

Stage 8: extend (3 consecutive steps)

Indicators

Output fields

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `where`

Stage 4: `where`

Stage 5: `project`

Stage 6: `join`

Stage 7: `project-reorder`

Stage 8: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)