Windows Default Domain GPO Modification via GPME

Status: experimental
Severity: medium
Log source: product windows, category process_creation
Author: TropChaud
Source: github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma

Detects the use of the Group Policy Management Editor (GPME) to modify Default Domain or Default Domain Controllers Group Policy Objects (GPOs). Adversaries may leverage GPME to make stealthy changes in these default GPOs to deploy malicious GPOs configurations across the domain without raising suspicion.

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Privilege Escalation	`T1484.001` Domain or Tenant Policy Modification: Group Policy Modification
Defense Impairment	`T1484.001` Domain or Tenant Policy Modification: Group Policy Modification

Event coverage

Provider	Event	Title
Sysmon	Event ID 1	Process creation

Rule body yaml

title: Windows Default Domain GPO Modification via GPME
id: dcff7e85-d01f-4eb5-badd-84e2e6be8294
related:
    - id: e5ac86dd-2da1-454b-be74-05d26c769d7d
      type: similar
status: experimental
description: |
    Detects the use of the Group Policy Management Editor (GPME) to modify Default Domain or Default Domain Controllers Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
    Adversaries may leverage GPME to make stealthy changes in these default GPOs to deploy malicious GPOs configurations across the domain without raising suspicion.
references:
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/25/i/unmasking-the-gentlemen-ransomware.html
    - https://adsecurity.org/?p=3377
    - https://sdmsoftware.com/general-stuff/launching-the-new-gp-management-editor-from-the-command-line/
    - https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/living-off-the-land-gpo-style/
author: TropChaud
date: 2025-11-22
tags:
    - attack.privilege-escalation
    - attack.defense-impairment
    - attack.t1484.001
logsource:
    product: windows
    category: process_creation
detection:
    # "C:\Windows\System32\gpme.msc" /s /gpobject:"LDAP://<REDACTED>/cn<REDACTED>,cnpolicies,cnsystem,DC<REDACTED>,DClocal"
    selection_mmc:
        - Image|endswith: '\mmc.exe'
        - OriginalFileName: 'MMC.exe'
    selection_gpme:
        CommandLine|contains|all:
            - 'gpme.msc'
            - 'gpobject:'
    selection_default_gpos:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - '31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9' # Default Domain Policy GUID
            - '6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9' # Default Domain Controllers Policy GUID
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of GPME to modify GPOs
level: medium

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

all of selection_*

Stage 1: `selection_mmc`

selection_mmc:
    - Image|endswith: '\mmc.exe'
    - OriginalFileName: 'MMC.exe'

Stage 2: `selection_gpme`

selection_gpme:
    CommandLine|contains|all:
        - 'gpme.msc'
        - 'gpobject:'

Stage 3: `selection_default_gpos`

selection_default_gpos:
    CommandLine|contains:
        - '31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9'
        - '6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9'

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
`CommandLine`	match	`31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `6AC1786C-016F-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `gpme.msc` corpus 2 (sigma 1, splunk 1) `gpobject:`
`Image`	ends_with	`\mmc.exe` corpus 5 (sigma 5)
`OriginalFileName`	eq	`MMC.exe` corpus 2 (sigma 2)

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`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
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`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)

Windows Default Domain GPO Modification via GPME

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_mmc`

Stage 2: `selection_gpme`

Stage 3: `selection_default_gpos`

Indicators

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

Windows Default Domain GPO Modification via GPME

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Event coverage

Rule body yaml

Stages and Predicates

Stage 0: condition

Stage 1: selection_mmc

Stage 2: selection_gpme

Stage 3: selection_default_gpos

Indicators

Stage 0: `condition`

Stage 1: `selection_mmc`

Stage 2: `selection_gpme`

Stage 3: `selection_default_gpos`